Brandan Robertson (born June 24, 1992) is a gay writer, activist, minister, and TikTok "religious" influencer. [1] He has written on the subjects of millennials, social justice, and Progressive "Christianity", and he is an LGBTQ activist. Robertson serves as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.
| Brandan Robertson | |
| Birth Date: | 24 June 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. |
| Era: | Early 21st centuries |
He became a Christian at the age of 12 in a Baptist church.[2]
In 2014, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the Moody Bible Institute.[3]
In September 2014, Robertson was named the national spokesman of "Evangelicals for Marriage Equality", an organization that sought to encourage evangelicals to support civil marriage equality, even if they were unable to support sacramental marriage equality in the church.[4]
In November 2014, Robertson led the effort to convene a historic meeting between Southern Baptist leaders and LGBT+ movement leaders during the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. This meeting opened the doors for conversations and collaboration between some of the most influential religious leaders in America and leading LGBT+ activists. In 2015, Robertson's work was the subject of an MSNBC documentary film about his work to convince Southern Baptist leaders to support marriage equality.[5]
In February 2015, publisher Destiny Image canceled its book deal with Robertson, citing his support for LGBTQ inclusion.[6] The book was later published.
In March 2016, Robertson wrote an op-ed for Time magazine in which he claimed that he could not "in good conscience, remain aligned with the modern manifestation of the [evangelical] movement."[7] Robertson's writing and work now focus on mindfulness, contemplation, and progressive Christianity, rather than espousing traditional doctrines or dogmas of a particular religious denomination.
In 2017, he also obtained a master's degree from the Iliff School of Theology.[8]
In 2017, he became pastor of the Missiongathering Christian Church (CC(DOC)) in San Diego.[9] Robertson also obtained a Masters of Arts in Political Science from Eastern Illinois University in 2020. [10]
In 2022, Robertson began his PhD in Biblical Studies at Drew University.[11] In 2023, Robertson was called as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York (interdenominational congregation part of both RCA & UCC). [12]
Robertson previously identified as bisexual, but now identifies himself as gay.[13]