Brian M. Eckstein Faithful Servant Award

Candice Czubernat has been a therapist for 20 years and is the founder of the LGBTQ+ affirming counseling and coaching practice, The Christian Closet, as well as the non-profit Affirming Therapy.  She and her team of LGBTQ+ identified clinicians work with queer people from all over the world through online telehealth services, helping them navigate the intersections of queer identity with a Christian faith. 

Candice is a graduate of The Moody Bible Institute and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.   She identifies as a lesbian and a Christian.  She lives in a small mountain town in southern California with her wife, Crystal, and their 10-year-old boy/girl twins Deacon and Dylan.  When she's not working, you can find her spending time with her wife, attending one of her kids' sports games, or cuddling with their dog, Charlie Bonz.

Bobbi identifies as a non-binary, gender fluid transwoman. Her pronouns are her/she, just like the chocolate bar. Bobbi met and married her wife, Cathy, in college, and they have lived in Kent, OH, home of Kent State University for 48 years. In 2007, Bobbi shocked Cathy with the news that she is transgender. Still very much in love, they worked to be committed to their marriage as Bobbi slowly transitioned over the following 15+ years. Bobbi has facilitated peer support groups for the transgender community both in person and online, as well as the Q Christian Fellowship community group for persons in mixed orientation marriages. She is on the board United Christian Ministries at Kent State University, and has spoken to both undergrad and graduate level college classes and church groups, and has lobbied local and state law makers for LGBTQ rights. As an active member of The Church in Silver Lake (UCC), Bobbi has lead Bible studies and book discussion groups, and is honored to preach at Sunday morning services a couple times a year. Bobbi is the proud parent of 5 adult kids (their youngest is gay), and Pap Paw to 7 grandkids. She is a retired firefighter/paramedic, and currently works for an audio production company where she makes rock bands loud.

Carmie Cuda (she/her) lives in Detroit, MI with her partner and two catatouilles.  She helped organize the Spanish Translation Team that worked on translating QCF resources into Spanish from 2020-2022 which included significant contributions from Karla Alejandre, Regan Burridge, Jacob Castañeda, Mercedes de la Sierra, Joshua Hastings, Lorinda Hernandez, Emily Knott, Joseph Parodi Brown, Eva Puerta Lopez y Amanda Van Engen.

Rev. Erica Lea-Simka [she/they] is a graduate of San Jacinto College, Texas A&M University, and Truett Theological Seminary. She has also studied as a continuing education student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Eastern Mennonite University, and Hebrew College. Pastor Erica has served Baptist and Mennonite congregations, and began serving as Pastor of Albuquerque Mennonite Church November 2017. When not at church, they can be found cooking, visiting the public library, nature-walking, watching British mysteries, and spending time with her interfaith family.

Rev. Kipp Nelson serves as the Pastor of St. John's on the Lake United Methodist Church located in Miami Beach, Florida. He has been a part of the QCF community since 2017 and has dedicated his vocational ministry to advocating for LGBTQ+ justice and inclusion. He leads various LGBTQ+ ministries in Miami which aim to provide hope, love, and belonging for all of God's beloved children. As the first openly gay pastor appointed to a local church in the Florida Conference, Kipp continues to be a voice for change within the United Methodist Church.

Lē Isaac Weaver (formerly Marg Herder) identifies as a non-binary writer, musician, creator, and feminist spiritual seeker. In their work, they have primarily been concerned with drawing attention to the ongoing trauma experienced by women and LGBTQIA2+ people at the hands of patriarchal religious leaders and systems, especially those claiming to follow the teachings of Jesus.

As the Director of Public Information for Christian Feminism Today, Lē worked with GCN/QCF staff members to help facilitate the earliest women’s retreats during the Q Christian Fellowship conferences, and coordinated the establishment of the Mother Eagle Award, presented to three important early foremothers of the LGBTQIA2+ Christian movement.

As an author, Lē’s work, including several articles, posts, and interviews related to their involvement with QCF, is available online.

They have served as the website developer for Christian Feminism Today’s website for over a decade. That website includes almost 2000 pages of opinion, interviews, reviews, audio, and poetry of interest to all progressive Christians, especially feminists and LGBTQIA2+ people.

Lē has worked as a performing musician; engineered release recordings for GALA choruses, their own bands, and multi-instrumentalist Kara Barnard; created audio components for multimedia fine art exhibits and the Indianapolis Winter Solstice Celebration; shot photography featured in juried exhibitions; and created artwork for websites and online courses. They currently work as a web designer and technical consultant for a diverse roster of creators, businesses, and nonprofits.

Learn more at leisaacweaver.com.

Rev. Tonetta Landis-Aina currently serves as Lead Co-Pastor of The Table Church in Washington DC. She is a native of North Carolina and holds a Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary. Tonetta is passionate about marginalized people finding their stories in scripture as well as about the new shapes the church will take in the 21st century. When Tonetta isn't geeking out on the Bible or trying to piece together what God might be doing in her beautiful city, she enjoys spending time with her wife and two children, listening to jazz, and taking long walks around her community.

Colin is a retired teacher from Wellington, New Zealand. He has been comfortable as an openly gay man and follower of Jesus for many years, but in July 2008 when Colin was struggling with a faith issue, he finally entered the two words GAY & CHRISTIAN into Google. What he discovered was a community of people who understood what he was experiencing in ways that his church had been unable to. The support, care and grace offered by his new online friends from the Gay Christian Network was just what he needed. Colin didn't expect to be able to meet them but decided to attend the 2009 GCN Conference in Anaheim, CA. That conference was transformational! Not only did he engage with an amazing Christian community, God was clearly present and Colin began to discover a calling to a new ministry.

Long story short, a few weeks later Colin was invited to scope a new initiative involving conference hospitality. He is a people person but while he wondered how he could be involved because of distance, doors opened which allowed him to attend the next four conferences in the USA as Hospitality Team Leader. To receive a Brian Eckstein Faithful Servant Award in 2014 was an extra blessing. It's been a real privilege to continue attending many conferences since he supports Q Christian Fellowship in what has become a special ministry that he once could never envisage. Through that time Colin made countless new friends and been privileged to journey with an awesome group of people dedicated to sharing the love of Christ and breaking down barriers.

Colin often reflects on this verse from 1 Timothy 1:12 and totally relates to what Paul is writing. "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service." Be encouraged as you too discover that you are seen, you are heard and you are loved by God.

Shane Bauman was an active member of the GCN/QCF community for over 10 years.  This community was pivotal in his coming out and his self-acceptance.  It also introduced him to his husband Dave whom he married in 2010.  Shane is very passionate about helping queer people connect with their faith.  He led the Waiting Until Marriage community for a number of years where he supported many queer Christains in their exploration of sexual ethics. For over a decade he was greatly involved with Generous Space, a ministry in Canada that was quite similar to QCF.  He currently is an active member of an affirming church in Waterloo, Canada and he co-leads an online community called Queer People Talking about Jesus and Stuff. 

Daniel Contreras first discovered this community back in 2007, when he searched online for 'gay Christian podcasts'. From there he came across GCN Radio; listening to four years worth of episodes in a single week. And then listened to them all again! Daniel joined the site's online messageboards and followed that up with his first in-person conference, 2009 in Anaheim, California.

That was the first of 15 consecutive GCN/QCF conferences he attended; helping out by creating an unofficial conference guide, as well as organizing his age group's annual conference meal for The Breakfast Club (b. 1972-1976). Daniel was also heavily involved in his local Southern California gay Christian community, attending and hosting many events in his area. The most important of which is the annual West Coast Connection gathering in Pismo Beach, California, which still meets every spring; going strong since 2012. Beyond California, he also attended and helped to organize in-person gatherings across the US and Canada.

Things came full circle in 2019 when Daniel founded the Brian E. Eckstein Podcast Stage at QCF's Chicago conference; named after one of the co-hosts of the original GCN Radio show. He loves the fact that the stage honors his late friend; the person who helped him reconcile his faith and sexuality, and find a home in this community.

Stacey Chomiak (she/her) is an artist, author and LGBTQ+ speaker. She designs art for the animation industry, but her passion is illustrating and writing kids books that represent the queer community. Her illustrated memoir STILL STACE: MY GAY CHRISTIAN COMING-OF-AGE STORY published in 2021. Stacey also illustrated WHO YOU WILL BE, published in 2024 by Penguin Kids, and RAINBOW BOY AND THE PRIDE PARADE publishing 2025 by Beaming Books. Stacey loves to dance with her two kids, and paint anything that inspires her.

Photo credit Camilla Hrytzak.