ABOUT AMANDA PENCE
Biblically Grounded. Fully Affirming.
I’m Amanda Pence, a Talbot educated Bible Teacher and LGBTQIA+ Advocate committed to helping people study Scripture faithfully.
I grew up in sunny Southern California and spent most of my life as a devoted member of Fullerton Free Church (also known as EV Free Fullerton). Over the years, I’ve served in just about every church role possible: Sunday school teacher and discussion facilitator for children and adult classes, women’s ministry Bible teacher, missionary, orchestra member, deacon, even behind the scenes doing accounting and nonprofit support. As a young adult, I served as a missionary in Central Asia with SEND International. I have a BS in Business Administration from Biola University, where all students complete a rigorous 30 units of Bible, with emphases in Accounting and International Business. I ran my own CPA business focused on serving ministries and nonprofits.
When I became a mom, I paused my CPA work to stay home with my young kids, fully immersed in the world of “biblical womanhood.” I know firsthand the pressure to fit the mold, and how difficult it is to live up to high religious standards.
You see, I knew I was attracted to other girls from a young age, but was terrified to tell anyone. The youth pastor had taught that people who were attracted to others of the same sex were more degenerate than other people. He talked about us as if we were inherently more evil than anyone else. This didn't fit with my lived reality, as I was usually the most well behaved kid in any room.
I told myself over and over throughout my teens that "this is just a phase," but in undergrad at Biola, I had a moment where I said to myself: "I don't think this is going away. I think I'm a lesbian." I was horrified. I didn't know what to do. I was too afraid to tell anyone. Someone at Biola suggested that a gay person entering a heteronormative relationship would make them not gay anymore, so I hoped that marrying a man would fix me.
I tried really hard to just be straight. Any time I was attracted to a woman, I'd just put myself down for not being as pretty as she was. I kept telling myself that what I was feeling wasn’t actually attraction, it was envy. I developed severe anxiety and self-loathing, and struggled socially.
I fell in love with a dear friend with whom I felt safe and secure. We made, and still make, a great team. Before getting married, I told them (“him”) that I was attracted to women but had never acted on it. I had never told anyone else. They ("he") loved and accepted me just as I was. (My spouse came out as nonbinary recently, and uses they/them pronouns.) We have been married over 13 years and remain committed to each other.
While I’m now affirming (more on that below), I remain in that marriage—happily, intentionally, and with deep mutual respect.
My mission isn’t to rewrite the Bible. Rather, I am calling my community to apply our interpretive tools with consistency. When we do, the result is a more faithful, more inclusive, more Christlike reading of God’s Word. I’m not trying to rewrite Scripture. I’m trying to read it the way my spiritual leaders taught me to read it from a young age.
My Theological Journey
In 2021, I started to change my mind on women’s role in ministry, and felt called by the Holy Spirit to start seminary at Biola University Talbot School of Theology. In a class called “Church as Family” with Dr. Joe Hellerman, everything I thought I knew about how the church should function began to shift.
I realized that Jesus consistently tore down the boundaries people had built between who was “in” and who was “out,” and that anyone, regardless of gender or status, was invited to full participation in the family of God.
At first, that realization continued the expansion of my view of women in ministry. As I kept studying, I realized the same principles applied to the LGBTQIA+ community: The Holy Spirit does not discriminate based on gender or marital status. The arguments used to exclude queer people from full participation in the church didn’t hold up under biblical scrutiny. The more I applied the methodology I was honing during my master’s program, the more I became convinced: full inclusion isn’t a theological compromise. It’s a gospel imperative.
Analyze yourself! Ask: What are my assumptions about the text? How do my assumptions (biases) affect my interpretation?
Analyze the text! Ask: What did the passage originally mean? Then, study it in its literary, historical, and cultural context.
Read in community! Ask: What interpretive lenses are relevant to this text? What Protestant Historical Doctrines of the Faith should I apply to this passage?
What I Teach: Reading the Bible Biblically
We don’t need new tools to study the Bible faithfully. We just need to use the ones we already have—with consistency, humility, and courage.
If you're tired of shallow interpretations, tired of watching good people get pushed out of the church, and tired of feeling like you have to choose between truth and love—you’re not alone.
I’m here to help you wrestle well, study deeply, and build a faith that holds up.
Where You May Have Seen My Work
I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to teach, speak, and support others at the intersection of Scripture and inclusion.
Speaker at Q Christian Fellowship Conference (QCF), January 2025, January 2026
Shared tools for biblically grounded LGBTQIA+ inclusion with attendees from across the theological spectrum.
Featured on the “Radical Love Live” Podcast
Regular contributor of A Bible Moment—a short-form teaching segment bringing fresh eyes to well-known Scriptures.
Talbot School of Theology (Biola University)
Earned a Master’s in Bible Exposition with deep focus on exegesis, hermeneutics, and literary, historical, and cultural context.
Bible Teacher & Workshop Leader
Led local and online studies for Christians seeking a faithful, compassionate way to engage Scripture around gender, sexuality, and inclusion.
“Amanda is the best biblical scholar I think I've ever met... She has this disarming capability of doing "both-and" and shredding, yet doing it with a smile and doesn't poke. I saw it both in her breakout that she did at QCF and even in the conversations we had at dinner... She has this rare gift of doing something that most people would not be able to do, which is to explain things in a way that makes sense... She can go into conversations with people who don't agree with her and take them on a journey.”
-Mark Dilcom, DIVINE All Along
Amanda Pence’s contributions to the last two Q Christian Fellowship conferences have been nothing short of transformative. Her teaching is both academically rigorous and pastorally grounded - a rare and powerful combination.
What makes Amanda’s work especially impactful is her commitment to hermeneutical clarity. She helps people recognize the interpretive lenses we all bring to the text, and she models how to engage Scripture with intellectual honesty, theological depth, and deep compassion.
Her exegetical work is helping shift the conversation in biblical scholarship by showing that affirming theology can be rooted in careful textual analysis and reverence for Scripture.
-Rev. Samantha Hasty, MDiv
I’m writing a book!
A Resource for the Queer Christian Community—and Their Families
I’m currently writing a book that will equip queer Christians to share their faith with their non-affirming families and communities. This won’t be another emotional plea or abstract theology text—it will be a biblically credible, methodologically sound resource written in language evangelical audiences will understand and respect.
If your parents, church leaders, or small group wouldn't read most affirming books out there, this one is for you to share with them.
It’s not about winning arguments. It’s about planting seeds of understanding, rooted in Scripture.
My sources for becoming affirming remain Biola-approved and include:
Being God's Image, Carmen Imes
Christianity in the Greco-Roman World, Moyer Hubbard
Jesus and the People of God, Joseph Hellerman
Reading Romans Backwards, Scot McKnight
Privilege the Text!, Abraham Kuruvilla
The Hermeneutical Spiral, Grant R. Osborne
The Ancient Church as Family, Joseph Hellerman
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, William Klein, Craig Blomberg, Robert Hubbard
You’ll connect with this book if…
You want tools rooted in evangelical theology, not emotional appeals or shallow proof-texting.
You’d welcome LGBTQIA+ inclusion if there were biblical support for it—you just haven’t seen anyone present it faithfully yet.
Your child came out, and you’re trying to reconcile your love for them with your commitment to Scripture.
You care deeply about the Bible, but your church won’t touch the topic of LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
Want to support the writing and publishing process?
→Donate or Become a Monthly Supporter
Your support helps cover research time, writing retreats, travel to conferences, and outreach to build the platform required to secure a publishing deal.
You’ve studied the Bible seriously—and started noticing the inconsistencies.
Join the Conversation
Join the Conversation
Inside, you’ll find:
The “Loving LGBTQ+ Neighbors Challenge”
Thought-provoking prompts and Scripture discussions
Resource recommendations rooted in solid methodology
People who care deeply about theology, truth, and each other
A space where your questions—and your faith—are welcome. If that sounds like what you've been looking for, I’d love to have you join us.
→ Join the Facebook Group
“Affirming Theology Exploration Zone” on Facebook
I started the “Affirming Theology Exploration Zone” Facebook group as a space for thoughtful, respectful conversation—because I know how hard it is to find places where both the Bible and LGBTQIA+ inclusion are taken seriously.
Whether you’re LGBTQIA+ yourself, a parent or friend looking for clarity, or someone who just wants to study the Bible faithfully without sacrificing compassion—this group is for you.
A Community for Christians Who Take Scripture—and Inclusion—Seriously