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“As YQC grows, we’d love to see more support groups, maybe more than once-a-month service,” he said.

“My goal is to start the conversation, to redefine what Christianity is all about.”

Anhorn grew up in the church and traces the moment when he “became a Christian” to attending a bible camp when he was 14.

But he didn’t fit within his church’s narrow definition of acceptable sexuality. Now a female-to-male transgender man, Anhorn looks back on how hard his journey of faith has been.

“I walked away from the church for a long time because I was not OK with the conformity it required,” said Anhorn, 34.

“I had to choose: who I am, or my faith … I didn’t walk away from my faith, I walked away from the church.”

The resistance Anhorn faced in his youth re-emerged as he and a committee of organizers launched their Young Queer Church project. Christians with a conservative view of the subject have scolded him on social media, he said.

“People who hear about it say, ‘You’re actually doing this? This is actually happening? In Calgary, of all places?’” said Anhorn laughing.

But he’s expecting the bulk of the response to be positive, with hopes of a solid turnout Sunday evening.

The contemporary music is a key part of the service, and Anhorn expects the modern audience will identify with it more than traditional hymns.

But with members of the local LGBTQ community and their allies meeting together in a Christian setting, the potential to create and strengthen connections is an important motivation behind the event.

Anhorn knows firsthand the pain of being caught between identity and belief, and he hopes that by bringing like-minded people together, others might be able to avoid his experience.

“Reconciliation is so different for everybody,” he said. “It’s time to revolutionize what we’re doing.”

tlambert@postmedia.com