A former Adventist pastor in the Pacific Northwest is preparing to discuss coming out, faith and family in an online Sabbath Seminar, offering a thoughtful look at what happens when personal truth collides with religious expectations. The session matters because it brings lived experience, pastoral insight and honest conversation into a space where many people still feel unseen.

Essential Takeaways

  • Personal story: Matt Segebartt came out as gay in 2017, aged 43, after 14 years as a pastor.
  • Faith background: He was raised as a fifth-generation Adventist before rethinking his relationship with the church.
  • Online event: The AT Sabbath Seminar is planned as a roughly two-hour Zoom discussion.
  • Pastoral focus: Segebartt now works as a certified Spiritual Director, supporting people exploring faith and identity.
  • Respectful format: Attendees are asked to stay on topic, keep microphones muted and make space for others.

A pastor's private realisation becomes a public conversation

Coming out rarely arrives as a single, neat announcement. For Matt Segebartt, the process involved facing his sexuality at 43, then speaking honestly with his family and wider community after years spent serving as an Adventist pastor.

That history gives his upcoming conversation particular weight. He isn't approaching the subject from a distance, but from inside the traditions, language and expectations that shaped his life. For anyone wrestling with faith and identity, that combination may feel both reassuring and quietly challenging.

Why this story resonates beyond one church

Segebartt's experience sits within a wider debate over how Christian communities respond to LGBTQ+ people. Earlier reporting from Christian Post, LGBTQ Nation and Religion News covered the case of an Adventist pastor who came out as bisexual and resigned amid disagreement with church teaching.

Those stories reflect a familiar tension: congregations often speak warmly about care and belonging, while institutional policies and doctrinal positions can leave LGBTQ+ members uncertain about their place. The result is deeply personal, especially for ministers whose work, friendships and sense of purpose are tied to the church.

From Adventist ministry to spiritual direction

Segebartt describes himself as a fifth-generation Adventist and spent 14 years as a pastor. Today, his work has shifted towards spiritual direction and coaching, helping individuals and groups explore their own journeys of faith or faith reframing.

That change is significant. Rather than treating faith as something that must be abandoned or accepted wholesale, spiritual direction can make room for questions, ambiguity and gradual change. It sounds less like a verdict and more like an open door, which may be exactly what people need when old certainties no longer fit.

What attendees can expect from the online seminar

The AT Sabbath Seminar is designed as a courteous forum, with participants encouraged to keep comments brief and relevant. Attendees should use their real names when joining, remain muted unless invited to speak and use Zoom's electronic hand function if they want to contribute.

The session is expected to last about two hours, although the start time depends on location. The organisers list a morning start on the US west coast and an early afternoon start on the east coast, while participants elsewhere are advised to check the local time carefully.

A gentler model for difficult faith conversations

The seminar's format may be as important as its subject. Sensitive discussions can easily become combative online, but clear ground rules help create room for listening rather than point-scoring. That matters when participants may be arriving with very different histories, beliefs and emotional stakes.

Segebartt's love of nature, philosophy, music, road trips and conversation also hints at a speaker interested in the texture of ordinary life, not just institutional arguments. For many people, the most powerful part of a coming-out story isn't the headline moment. It's the long, human work of rebuilding a life that feels honest.

A candid conversation can help faith and identity feel less like opposing sides of a divide.

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