When Children Come Out - by Mark A Yarhouse & Olya Zaporozhets (Paperback)

About the Book

When a child comes out as LGBTQ+, Christian parents often find themselves in unfamiliar terrain. This hopeful resource delivers research-based insights for parents and church leaders, offering stories and advice from other parents while reframing the focus from fear-based choices towards practical counsel for maintaining and deepening relationships.

Book Synopsis

When a child comes out as LGBTQ+, Christian parents often find themselves in unfamiliar terrain. This hopeful resource delivers research-based insights for parents and church leaders, offering stories and advice from other parents while reframing the focus from fear-based choices towards practical counsel for maintaining and deepening relationships.

Review Quotes

"When Children Come Out is an essential read for conservative Christian parents who have discovered their child is LGBTQ+. Mark Yarhouse and Olya Zaporozhets have done an extraordinary job in marrying statistical data with real-life stories. This book lays the framework that helps parents become educated on the topic and provides applications that will bring hope and healing to hurting families. We wish this book had been available to us when we found out our son is gay. This book will indeed save lives."

"I have often wished that I could clone this team for thousands of parents. They arrive in therapy or Christian ministry disoriented and distressed about their children coming out. This book is a grounded, fact-based resource that is also full of personal stories, bringing hope to these families in a personal and relatable way. Some of the research may be difficult to hear, but it offers a realistic view of the path ahead. Yarhouse and Zaporozhets have shared their valuable experience for families who have landed in the middle of a culture war. It is a guide to loving their children well in this circumstance."

"This is the very book I've wished I had on my bookshelf every time a Christian parent reaches out to me after their child comes out to them. In these pages, they hear their own story-what has been, what is, and what might yet unfold-and they see that they are neither alone nor way off mark in walking this journey with their child, with God, and with their church. Yarhouse and Zaporozhets provide grounding, empathy, and hope for parents as well as insight and direction for pastors and churches who want to minister to them."

"This much-needed research is a gift not only to Christian parents of LGBTQ+ kids but also to the communities that love them. In these pages, Christian parents can learn from others with similar experiences and be reminded that they're not alone, and supportive communities can gain insight into the likely milestones of these parents' journeys. As an LGBTQ+ kid who loves my own Christian parents (and many others as well), I'm thrilled to see this book out in the world."

"Yarhouse and Zaporozhets helpfully illumine the complex realities Christian parents face when journeying with their children who identify as LGBTQ+. Drawing from decades of research and the extensive experiences of other parents who have already taken this road, this book offers wise guidance for both Christian parents and churches. In particular, it offers a map of what to expect along the pilgrimage and advice for loving conversations in pursuit of redemptive, Christlike relationships along the way."

About the Author

Mark A. Yarhouse (PsyD, Wheaton College) is the Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, where he directs the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and author or coauthor of many books, including Gender Identity and Faith, Family Therapies, and The Integration of Psychology and Christianity.

Olya Zaporozhets (PhD, University of Toledo) is an associate professor in the School of Psychology and Counseling at Regent University. Dr. Zaporozhets is coauthor (with Mark Yarhouse) of Costly Obedience: What We Can Learn from the Celibate Gay Christian Community. She has diverse clinical experiences and has trained Christian leaders in mental health counseling in Europe and Asia.