Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

How a transgender woman found acceptance in a church shunned by the SBC

NewsMaina Mwaura  |  July 19, 2022

When Kim Cornwall moved from Minnesota to Georgia, she reached out to a number of churches to see if they would welcome her. Only one responded.

That congregation, Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga., is now her church home. And it’s a place where she feels fully welcome as a transgender Christian.

Relocating to Georgia has not been easy for her in any respect, from finding work in the tech field to finding a church. But Towne View, which was booted from the Southern Baptist Convention in 2021 because of its inclusive stance, was ready to welcome her.

Cornwall knew her life would be one of complexities and hardships as she transitioned from male to female. But like nearly all transgender persons, she believed she had no choice but to transition if she wanted to remain alive.

Kim Cornwall

“I definitely felt like something was seriously wrong with me, even though, you know, I knew my relationship with (God) was a good relationship. I couldn’t understand why I had these feelings. I would say I was just angry in general, and I didn’t know why,” she explained.

“I didn’t start to lose the anger until I started transitioning. There were a lot of nights praying, ‘Father, take this away from me. I don’t want this, you know, I don’t want to be like this.’ I did a lot of work to suppress it.

“The problem with suppressing gender dysphoria is that it tends to come back on you, and it comes back stronger, you know. You can’t willpower it out of existence.”

Yet when she finally accepted who she now believes God intended her to be, she found new resolve and stopped damaging her soul, she said.

Before, she spent a lot of time “trying to be hyper-masculine, thinking that if I could be, you know, manly enough, it’d just go away. There was a lot of self-chastisement. There was a lot of wrestling with guilty feelings because, you know, the whole world told me something was wrong with me.”

Like many working through gender dysphoria, she saw herself as a hopeless sinner. “A lot of older transitioners will go through periods where they will suppress it for a time, and then they’ll privately try on clothes and things like that. And then they’ll get upset with themselves,” she explained.

Deep down, though, she knew her current life wasn’t what she wanted. That led her to research what life would be like if she transitioned. She spent six months in this phase and ultimately felt God leading her to transition.

As her search for a church illustrates, she realizes not all Christians understand or accept her story. To them, she offers this counsel: “To those folks who just absolutely refuse to accept it, Jesus said love your neighbors as you love yourself. And if you’re not doing that, you’re in sin. And we know from the story of the Good Samaritan that your neighbors are people you come in direct contact with. So, no matter what you think of us, you’re obligated to love us, and I’m obligated to love you. Love is love, and I’m not going to let these people live in delusion and attack transgender folks under the guise and the label of tough love.

“No matter what you think of us, you’re obligated to love us, and I’m obligated to love you.”

“Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not count wrongs. We know the passage, you know. If those things are not there in any form, that’s not tough love. That’s an excuse not to love people like me. I don’t mean to be hard on people, but you need to consider that the LGBTQ community of people also need Jesus, but a lot of churches won’t even let them darken their doorstep.”

She became a Christian at age 13 while attending a small church in rural Utah. Born and raised mainly in California, she spent almost 20 years in Minnesota before moving to Georgia.

“Our air conditioning was broken at the church, and it was a hot, hot summer day.  I don’t even know what the sermon was about that day, but the pastor invited us to stand up, bend down in our seats, and pray. And for some reason, I finally understood the gospel that day, you know, just come to Jesus as I was, and I didn’t have to be good enough. And that forgiveness was available to me.”

In her salvation and now in her welcome at Towne View, Cornwall believes she was given a second chance to live and be the person God called her to be.

Now, she’s passionate about her community of people being accepted the way she has been accepted at Towne View. She wants everyone to have such an experience, to find forgiveness and freedom and lift the burden of condemnation.

Despite her transition, Cornwall still considers herself “kind of old-fashioned” and she finds it off-putting for people to make assumptions about her or to ask her inappropriate questions.

“Everybody in the trans community has their own experience, and everybody’s different,” she said. “I think politics and ideology play a role to some extent. I’m older, so I grew up in a different time and looked at things differently. And so it is usually better to ask discreetly than just to make assumptions.”

She does want people to know that there’s one aspect of her life of which she is incredibly proud: “I am a Full-time Nana right now to two toddlers and grandchildren ages 2 and 3. My daughter is building a business, so I am a primary caregiver.”

Watch a video of the entire conversation between Maina Mwaura and Kim Cornwall here.

 

Related articles:

What if more churches were like Waffle House? | Opinion by Maina Mwaura

LGBTQ inclusion and clergy sexual abuse treated equally in SBC expulsions

Why being transgender is not a sin | Opinion by Mark Wingfield

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
Tags:transgenderSBCInclusionExclusionLGBTQTowne View Baptist Church Kennesaw GAMaina MwauraKim Cornwall
More by
Maina Mwaura
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds

      Opinion

    • This is why people are leaving the church

      Opinion

    • Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses

      Opinion

    • Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious

      Opinion


    Curated

    • ‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food

      ‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food

    • Connecting With the Good News Generation

      Connecting With the Good News Generation

    • What’s the news impact of the intense racism investigation at Wheaton College?

      What’s the news impact of the intense racism investigation at Wheaton College?

    • Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

      Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

    Read Next:

    SBC Executive Committee won’t explain McLaurin’s resume lies, and new interim president backs out one day after being announced

    NewsMaina Mwaura and Mark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • ‘Nobody wants to be an addict’

      OpinionTambi Brown Swiney

    • Men and congregational singing: The rest of the story

      OpinionCharlie Fuller

    • Finding a pastor today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, consultants caution

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement

      OpinionKen Sehested

    • SBC expels Oklahoma church over pastor’s racial impersonations

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • The real religious crisis in America

      OpinionMartin Thielen

    • U.S. urged to provide more support for persecuted faith groups in Myanmar

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • North Carolina children’s home trustees release scathing report on longtime president’s misuse of funds

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious

      OpinionGreg Jarrell

    • Jen Hatmaker and Tyler Merrit find love and are taking their show on the road next week

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • This is why people are leaving the church

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • What do we mean by ‘affirming’?

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • How long before a revolution?

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • Baylor settles sexual assault lawsuit

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC Executive Committee won’t explain McLaurin’s resume lies, and new interim president backs out one day after being announced

      NewsMaina Mwaura and Mark Wingfield

    • It’s ‘Boycotts R Us’ for American Family Association

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • On death

      OpinionGlen Schmucker

    • Al Mohler vs. Andy Stanley: What’s really going on?

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • More religion in public schools raises concerns about religious liberty

      OpinionBryan Kelley

    • Must we change our language to reach climate change deniers?

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • A surprising window into Black Jesus

      AnalysisKristen Thomason

    • In biblical truth-telling, we need to mind the gap between clergy and laity

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Finding a pastor today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, consultants caution

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC expels Oklahoma church over pastor’s racial impersonations

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • U.S. urged to provide more support for persecuted faith groups in Myanmar

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • North Carolina children’s home trustees release scathing report on longtime president’s misuse of funds

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Jen Hatmaker and Tyler Merrit find love and are taking their show on the road next week

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Baylor settles sexual assault lawsuit

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC Executive Committee won’t explain McLaurin’s resume lies, and new interim president backs out one day after being announced

      NewsMaina Mwaura and Mark Wingfield

    • It’s ‘Boycotts R Us’ for American Family Association

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Prior explores the origin of evangelicalism’s ‘empire mentality’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Upcoming BNG webinar guests: Matt Cook and Bill Wilson, Emily Smith, Amy Butler

      NewsBNG staff

    • Number of countries with blasphemy laws grows by 13%

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The SBC’s far-far right believes all members of a Cooperation Group should agree with their views

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Judge again rules DACA illegal; humanitarian advocates call for congressional response

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Kansas is latest state to fund anti-abortion groups that encourage women to give birth

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Growth of Christianity in China may have stalled but no one knows for sure

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 9-15-23

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • SBC Executive Committee eliminates 20% of staff due to budget crisis

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At AWAB lecture, Susan Shaw lays out 10 lies Christians tell about queer people

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Evangelical leaders condemn DeSantis for politicizing state executions

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Fellowship Southwest’s first conference calls for advocacy and action

      NewsJeff Hampton

    • Two other venues also have declined to host Promise Keepers events

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • McRaney to file appeal and keep his case against NAMB alive

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Retired pastor’s book finds Methodist history ‘strangely lukewarm’ on confronting racism

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • ‘Nobody wants to be an addict’

      OpinionTambi Brown Swiney

    • Men and congregational singing: The rest of the story

      OpinionCharlie Fuller

    • Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement

      OpinionKen Sehested

    • The real religious crisis in America

      OpinionMartin Thielen

    • Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious

      OpinionGreg Jarrell

    • Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • This is why people are leaving the church

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • What do we mean by ‘affirming’?

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • How long before a revolution?

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • On death

      OpinionGlen Schmucker

    • Al Mohler vs. Andy Stanley: What’s really going on?

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • More religion in public schools raises concerns about religious liberty

      OpinionBryan Kelley

    • In biblical truth-telling, we need to mind the gap between clergy and laity

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • A ‘sad day’ for America?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • In the midst of history-engendered pessimism, don’t forget the hope

      OpinionRuss Dean

    • Sometimes, ‘resignation’ isn’t the reason clergy walk away from their ministry callings

      OpinionMary Kate Deal

    • Life lessons learned while pondering ‘that little man!’

      OpinionBob Newell

    • Reflecting upon a new opportunity to minister to senior adults

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • Confronting our violent culture with an engaged spirituality

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • The Jesus Room

      OpinionErich Bridges

    • Post-evangelical snapshots

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Do complementarian men do better? A response to Nancy Pearcey

      OpinionSheila Wray Gregoire and Joanna Sawatsky

    • An out-of-the-box lesson from Barbie

      OpinionJeremiah Bullock

    • Anthony, Aldean, Dylan and Guthrie

      OpinionRichard Conville

    • ‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Connecting With the Good News Generation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What’s the news impact of the intense racism investigation at Wheaton College?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Riding a wave of converts, one group aims to fuse Orthodoxy with Southern values

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Mormons (And People Of Faith In General) More Likely To Be Fraud Victims

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Senator Demands to Know if World Vision Is Funding Terrorism

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Texas teacher reportedly fired after reading from Anne Frank’s diary to students

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Trump Says On Rosh Hashanah That ‘Liberal Jews’ Voted To ‘Destroy America’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • African churches urge US Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Lawsuit by Islamic rights group says US terror watchlist woes continue even after names are removed

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Bible debates, ancient and modern: Why did early church choose only four Gospels?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • March for Our Lives, faith leaders call on Florida lawmakers to ‘cease and desist’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Survivors Of The Birmingham Church Bombing Say GOP Culture War Bills Are Trying To Erase Their History

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Let’s Have A Look At Education And Religious Attendance

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Her plans to play the piano and sing with the choir were interrupted by the news that the nearby 16th Street Baptist Church had been bombed.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are times for soul-searching, but not on your own – community has always been at the heart of the Jewish High Holidays

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Wheaton College Releases Report on Its History of Racism

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Catholics in Ukraine struggle as Pope Francis’ approval rating is at an all-time low

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope’s visit to France stirs debate over immigration, secularism

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • As Soccer Moses, Jars of Clay guitarist Stephen Mason finds unexpected joy

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Saudi Reforms Soften Islam’s Role, But Kingdom Takes Hard Line Against Dissent

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Security experts urge Jewish communities to prepare for possible High Holidays bomb threats

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope Francis and Bill Clinton set discussion on climate change at Clinton Global Initiative

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • At Rosh Hashanah reception, Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris talk about putting antisemitism plan ‘into action’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2023 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS