Meet Refuge
Refuge Faith Community is led by Gaines Taylor, a youth leader and business coach who knows what it feels like to be a gay student on a conservative college campus. He’s been organizing story nights and faith conversations in local tea shops and breweries around Bristol, PA for years.
When the pandemic began, Gaines realized using these stories and experiences to build a faith community was something he was called to do. Through producing stories for Refuge Radio, Gaines hopes to show those who feel alone and abandoned that there are people who care and that the Divine loves them for who they are in their entirety.
What We Do For Them
We met Gaines through the Q Christian Fellowship 2021 virtual conference. He stopped by our “booth” and we made an instant connection. He was ready to start organizing a community, so we came along as coaches to help him discern his story, recognize his leadership strengths, speak up on justice issues, and start strategizing for what was ahead.
What They Do For Us
Gaines is a leader with coaching expertise of his own. He’s introduced us to the PRO-D assessment for leaders and given us valuable feedback that’s helped us identify our coaching and consulting strengths. He is one of several leaders who has helped us develop and own our role of pastoring our fellow pastors. He’s a generous networker and believes in building the bigger vision of Launchpad. We’re proud to lift him up as an example of what it looks like to navigate this messy path of launching new things and land on your feet in unexpected ways.
What They Do for the World
Over time, we’ve helped Gaines recognize that his gifts and skills might not be in launching something from scratch, but rather, that his experience and passion for our national movement is what he should be listening to. Throughout the past two years, we’ve introduced him to folks across our network, and we’re excited for the many collaborators he’s been connecting with along the way. He’s now navigating the next phase of his calling, so stay tuned for some exciting updates on his story in 2023.