Embracing Love & Sexuality: His Plan

Embracing Love & Sexuality: His Plan - Our Joy!
Monday, April 13, 2026 by Dr James H Dotson Jr

On October 26, 2025, Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Community Church hosted the second annual God’s Design for Sexuality Conference (GDFS-2), a ministry of Training for Transformation®. The event’s theme was “Embracing Love & Sexuality: His Plan – Our Joy!”

The conference was designed primarily for family and friends of LGBTQ+, and pastors, ministry leaders and professionals who serve LGBTQ+ individuals. We engaged with attendees around two topics: identity and relating with the LGBTQ+ community.

In this blog, we sincerely thank everyone who helped organize and run the conference, along with all attendees. We also share the main takeaways from the event.

Guiding Principles

We deeply appreciate everyone who took part in the conference; your presence made it possible. Thank you for fitting this event into your schedule.

While there isn’t space to cover every insight from our gathering, we'll briefly highlight three important principles below. If you attended, we encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section for this blog.

Love

Love is central to both the gospel of Jesus Christ and the life of His disciples—loving God and loving others, as outlined in Matthew 22:34-40. This connection underscores that love lies at the heart of God’s design for sexuality; the acts of loving God and loving others are fundamental and interwoven elements in this design. That understanding inspired our conference theme: Embracing Love & Sexuality: His Plan–Our Joy.

Surrender

We are ALL sinners (Romans 3:23), and we are ALL tempted to sin—temptations both from outside self (Ephesians 6:11-12) and from inside self (James 1:13-14). We believe that the way forward for ALL is to surrender one’s entire life—including one’s sexuality—to Jesus Christ as Savior AND Lord (John 3:16; Romans 6:22-23), and live by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-24).

We ALL need the love, grace and mercy, forgiveness, and gift of salvation through Jesus Christ (Acts 2:37-38; 1 John 4:9-10; Ephesians 2:8). Following Jesus is voluntary, not mandatory—it’s a choice. We accept that there are those who will accept and those who will reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Moreover, we accept that it’s the Holy Spirit, not us, who convicts and transforms (Romans 8:9-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Those in whom Christ Jesus abides and who abide in Christ Jesus (John 15:4-5), become new creations—the old is passed away and the new is come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our unity with Christ defines our identity, which is rooted in Him. And through Him, ALL things are possible (Luke 18:27)!!!

Compassion Without Compromise

When considering how loving God connects with loving others, Jesus Christ serves as our example. He cared deeply for people, all while consistently living harmoniously with and remaining open to God's guidance. His compassion never came at the expense of his core values—loving without sacrificing God’s truth/principles for living (John 5:19; John 14:23-26; Matthew 6:10; Matthew 7:21; Luke 9:26).

Acknowledgements

The successful realization of this conference was the result of collaborative efforts among numerous individuals, groups, and organizations. We would like to formally recognize those whose contributions ensured its success.

Host Venue

We extend our sincere appreciation to Pastor Christian Martin, the Board of Elders, the Church Board, and the congregation of Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Community Church for graciously hosting GDFS-2 at their facility located at 5235 Merchants View Square in Haymarket, Virginia. The venue provided an ideal setting for the conference.

Speakers

We appreciate Jennifer Jill Schwirzer, LPC, EdD, Counselor and Founder of Abide Network, for her presentation on identity, and Michael Carducci, Co-Founder, Senior Speaker, and Executive Director of Ministry Development at Coming Together Ministries, for his talk about relating with people in the LGBTQ+ community.

Facilitators

After each presentation, four breakout sessions took place. We would like to thank the following individuals for skillfully guiding these groups (clockwise from top left):

Raymond W. Torres, Associate Pastor at Living Hope SDA Community Church and Lead Pastor at Blessed Hope SDA Church;
Christian Martin, M.Div., Pastor at Living Hope SDA Community Church;
Louis R. Preston, Jr., M.Div., C.D.M., Retired Pastor, Church Administrator, and Chief Diversity Officer at Advent Health & Janice M. Preston, PhD, RM, RN, Retired Professor and former Chair of the Department of Nursing at Advent Health University; and
Juliet Van Heerden, M.S.Ed., Author, Speaker, and President of Relevant Life Solutions.

On-Call Counselor

We also extend our appreciation to Heidi Martin, MSW, LCSW, Youth Sabbath School Division Leader and Music Ministry Committee Chair at Living Hope SDA Community Church, who was present on-site and served as our on-call counselor for attendees.

Meeting Planner

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Chariolett M. Johnson, CFMP, CMP, MTA, Owner & Principal Event Planner at CharMari Events, for her outstanding leadership and expertise during the entire event planning process. She played an essential role as a member of the GDFS-2 Planning Committee. If you are looking for experienced and dependable event support, CharMari Events comes highly recommended.

Volunteer Contributions to GDFS-2

Many volunteers played a crucial role in both the planning and execution of GDFS-2. Their dedication and hard work were pivotal to the event's overall success.

Well ahead of the conference, a group of committed individuals formed a planning committee to oversee every detail of the event. While some members were part of the team from the inception, others joined as preparations progressed, and a few had to step away before the conference for various reasons. At the time of the conference, the committee consisted of:

Christian Martin, M.Div., Pastor, Living Hope Community SDA Church
Crystal Hollingsworth, BS, Security+, Senior CyberSecurity Auditor
Laura S. Pierce, MBA, M.Ed., NBCT, Co-Director, Emotional Wellness Ministry, Seabrook SDA Church
Louis R. Preston, Jr., M.Div., C.D.M.
Janice M. Preston, PhD, RM, RN
Chariolett Johnson, Certified Faith-Based Meeting Professional
The committee chair (myself)

In addition to the Planning Committee, a remarkable group of volunteers contributed their time and energy to manage the on-site aspects of the event. These individuals assisted with setup and takedown, as well as other aspects of event management.

Special recognition is due to:

Alessa Wilson and Monica R. Mack, who provided English/ASL interpretation services;
Anne Pound and Kim Moody, who managed all AV and media services at the conference; and
Morris Dotson, my dear brother, for travelling from Tenessee to attend the conference and serve as photographer.

The success of GDFS-2 would not have been possible without the commitment and contributions of these dedicated volunteers.

Sponsors and Vendors

And last, but by no means least, we gratefully acknowledge our sponsors and vendors.

Sponsors: Steven “Steve” Jewell; Robert “Rob” and Linda Wood; Cynthia L. Brame; and Rose Li.
In-kind Donors: Staples and The Woodlands Retirement Community.
Vendors: DC Vegan (catering), Hampton Inn Gainesville-Haymarket (lodging), Day & Night Printing Inc (printing services); and Rent-A-Cop | Hire an Off-Duty Police Officcer (onsite security).

To Learn More

For further information on this subject, as well as additional resources about sexuality and transformative change, please visit our Online Resource Center.

We welcome your comments on this blog, particularly if you participated in the conference.