Stefany Fontela, 32, was an original member of Forefront Brooklyn who became close to Jonathan Williams during this period. Like him, she had also spent her early adult years estranged from the church. On a recent Sunday at the performance space Roulette, where the church meets, Ms. Fontela bounded down an aisle in a denim jacket, hugging friends from the congregation, which on this day numbered about 100, mostly in their 20s and 30s. In college in California, Ms. Fontela had been asked to leave her church and Christian sorority because she was a lesbian, and she ultimately dropped out of school.

“I felt that the church gave up on me,” she said recently over lunch near the tech company where she works as a designer. “If anything, me not going to church forced me to develop a personal relationship with God that helped me at that moment in a way I needed it to. I was really upset. I was depressed. So I really leaned into faith. In those moments that are really dark, and you can’t go to church, I could pray, I could read Scripture and try to focus.

“But it was one of the darkest times of my life. The girl that I fell for abandoned me. The church abandoned me. Certain friends abandoned me because of coming out. I would sleep and listen to sad music and go to work so I could pay the rent, and that was it.”

When she got to New York and started visiting churches that described themselves as “gay affirming,” meaning that gay people could participate in all aspects of church life, including marrying within the church, some were too small, some not theologically rigorous enough for her. She saw an internet listing for Forefront in Manhattan, which predated the Brooklyn branch, and decided to give it a try. Though the website did not say the church was gay-affirming, there were no statements opposed to same-sex marriage, and a Google search of the pastors did not turn up any antigay remarks. At a brunch with some members, when the topic of same-sex marriage came up, Ms. Fontela waited for someone to say something that would force her to leave, she said. But everyone supported it, she said.

“I’m sitting in this big table of Christians, and they’re all completely for this thing that I’ve been hiding and afraid of sharing,” she said. “It got to my turn to chime in, and I could barely get the words out. I said: ‘I don’t think you guys realize how important all the things you’re saying are to me right now, because I’m gay and I’ve been afraid to tell you guys. I feel safe.’ They just embraced me even more.”

Ms. Fontela was energetic and vivacious, eager to get more involved in the church. But Forefront was “gay welcoming” rather than “gay inclusive” or “gay affirming,” meaning that she could attend but not participate except from the seats. When a local blog wrote about the church — a potential boon for a new congregation seeking members — Mr. Williams and his staff did not publicize the article because Ms. Fontela talked about being a lesbian. “We could lose our support,” she said.