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Welcome to the Sanctuary
Welcome to the Sanctuary
The Sanctuary for the Sacred Deviant is an 18+ faith community rooted in Christian Anarchist theology. We're committed to uplifting marginalized voices, collectively liberating ourselves from imperialism, and writing a joyful counter-narrative to Christian Nationalism as a community. While we're associated with the Christian tradition, our movement is decidedly Omnist and embraces different spiritual traditions.
The Sanctuary is sanctioned by and operated in covenant with Metropolitan Community Churches. It is run as a passion project by PunkPastor, with the hope that it will grow into a larger ministry. At this time, the Sanctuary is fully online.
Our Beliefs
Our Beliefs
We at the Sanctuary hold three overarching beliefs:
God is pure, unconditional Love;
a fragment of God is in all living things; and
Jesus Christ was God made manifest and our exemplar of perfect Christianity.
From these beliefs, we have come to the following five tenets:
We stand as staunch anti-war and anti-empire pacifists but civil disobedients;
We uphold the equality and sacredness of all people regardless of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, dis/ability, religion, profession, or economic status;
We uplift marginalized voices in our theology;
We demand justice for the voiceless, including our planet and its non-human inhabitants; and
As a spiritual group, we seek to build a community of faith rather than a religious institution.
These five tenets force us to recognize a sixth pseudo-tenet: these beliefs are antithetical to Christian Nationalism, which holds a religious hegemony in America, so we accept our place as sacred deviants.
For a deeper dive into our beliefs and the methodology behind them, visit our beliefs page.
Our Leadership
Our Leadership
Our founder and lead paster is PunkPastor (he/they), a queer, transgender, tattooed and pierced seminarian and Christian Anarchist theologian. PunkPastor created the Sanctuary to be a bastion of hope for everyone who connects with the message of Christ but not the church. He knows this experience personally: after escaping his evangelical roots, PunkPastor avoided Christianity for over a decade until he was "Moses'ed into ministry." He now seeks to reclaim sacred space for the marginalized and challenge the colonized image of what makes a "good" Christian.
Our Denominational Affiliation
Our Denominational Affiliation
Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) are collectively a Christian denomination established by and for queer people during the height of the AIDS crisis. Since its establishment, the MCC has continued to push past what’s accepted by mainline churches to champion justice for the marginalized. Learn more about the MCC here.
The Meaning of the Sacred Deviant
The Meaning of the Sacred Deviant
The term "sacred deviant" is inspired by Jesus and his closest followers in the gospel: upstarts that upset the church and empire, flippers of the tables of capitalism, breakers of laws and traditions to help others, and demonstrators who refused to sit quietly with the privileged. The sacred deviant is found in the shepherds, the tax collectors, the zealots, the sex workers, the blue collar fishermen, the Samaritan outcasts, the Roman empire traitors, the unmarried mothers, the immigrants and refugees, the broke and broken, the convicts, the fools, and the queers. It's for everyone on the margins who's been burned but still hasn't given up hope for a better world. It's a reminder that the ministry of Jesus gritty and subversive and radical. Jesus chose to surround himself with the people locked outside the temple. His message clear: we are sacred just as we are. This message extends back into the old testament as well, rooted deeply in the legacy of the prophets and extending all the way back to Moses. The story of the Bible is one of resistance, resilience, and collective liberation.
But most have never experienced the Bible like this. Many have been completely alienated from faith because they've only experienced cruelty, hypocrisy, and exclusion from Christian institutions. This isn't acceptable. So the sacred deviant isn't just an affirmation, but a charge: Resist. We have to set our faith apart, loudly and boldly, preaching unconditional love and inclusion as loudly as others preach the opposite. Together, we can make a brighter future.
Our Logo & Symbology
Our Logo & Symbology
The idea of the Sanctuary's logo came from crows and other birds building their nests along church windows with anti-bird spikes, creating a home amidst unwelcome. In our logo, the crow is positioned to look like it’s outside, symbolizing the view of being kept outside of the church. Yet it’s within the trefoil or trinity, showing that even if we're outside the church, we're still one with God.
We chose a crow because they capture the essence of the Sacred Deviant: While they're seen as bad omens, they're clever, resourceful, highly adaptive, empathetic, playful, and community-oriented. Through working together, they've been known to fend off larger, stronger predators.
Our Finances
Our Finances
The Sanctuary is currently operating entirely off of a personal use stipend that PunkPastor received as a pastoral fellow. Direct donations are currently not possible. If you would like to financially support us, you can:
Donate to the Sanctuary on Twitch via subs, bits, or watching streams; or
Donate directly to PunkPastor via Throne.
Donations are appreciated, but never expected.
Are your financial reports public? The Sanctuary currently does not generate revenue. If that changes, we will begin disclosing yearly financial statements.
How do you operate if you don't make money? The Sanctuary is fully volunteer-run. We would love for the Sanctuary to become a full-time ministry with multiple diverse, fairly-paid clergy one day, but that dream is a long way off.
Our Message of Welcome
Our Message of Welcome
Is the Sanctuary really open to all? No. :)
For a better explanation: We know that the Paradox of Tolerance is alive and well, so we keep our space welcoming by removing those who are unwelcoming. We welcome curiosity, discussions, and the exchange of ideas, but we will not prioritize debate over the safety, dignity, and humanity of others.
Additionally, our community spaces have to be 18+ for liability. Until queerness, non-whiteness, and femininity stop being treated as inherently sexual, this is an unfortunate reality that we have to deal with.
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