Rev. Deborah Bell is the founding member and Senior Pastor of Deo Gloria Family Church, Durban, South Africa. Pastor Deborah, as she is known by her congregation, has 18 years experience in ministry and pastoral counseling, and has been the senior pastor of DGFC since starting the church in1997. She has a Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh), from the University of South Africa (UNISA), with an emphasis on congregational ministry and psychology.

In 1990, with the calling of God on her life, Rev. Deborah pioneered the first inclusive and affirming Christian group in the City of Durban. The group continued meeting for 7 years. Pastor Deborah now refers to this time as her “training ground” for ministry! The focus of the group was to reach out to people who had been rejected by the Church, because of their sexual orientation. The group quickly turned into a fellowship bible study group, as people desired more of God and felt this group to be a safe place where they could grow in Christ, as gay and lesbian people.

Realising there was a great need, God showed the way at the right time, for Pastor Deborah to start a church so that there would be more visibility and infrastructure, to offer our greater community and to reach more people, with a particular focus on the gay and lesbian communities, who have been rejected by many churches.

In October 1997, Rev. Deborah Bell started Deo Gloria Family Church. In hindsight, this was a fulfilment of a prophetic word spoken over Deborah’s life at 12 years old, by her father, an evangelist, concerning her calling into the ministry. (Perhaps not quite the way he anticipated!) Sad to say, that the exclusion of the gay and lesbian community is a great loss to the global church.  

In 1998 Pastor Deborah met her life partner Marietjie Geldenhuys. Pastor Deborah and Marietjie knew through the Holy Spirit that God had brought them together.  They have been a powerful team in the church ever since.  They shared their vows of commitment to one another (as they could not legally marry then). In 2009, they were able to legalise their marriage in a public ceremony.  Marietjie is the co-pastor of Deo Gloria Family Church. They have a family of three boxer dogs and one cat, and live in Durban North.

Pastor Deborah's heart, and her passion, is to see gay and lesbian people set free from the misguided ignorance that it is impossible to serve God without changing one's sexual orientation (Isaiah 61 is her personal favourite passage, as is Psalm 139, which is her testimony passage about this).  All people are created in God's image, including gay and lesbian people. The good news is that gay and lesbian people can reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation.

It is her vision to see the global Church united as One, without the exclusion of anyone, so that the Body of Christ is truly showing Christ's unconditional love to all people. It is her desire to be a part of the process, of breaking the divide of the distorted view that heterosexist churches have, in their misunderstanding of the scriptures regarding gay and lesbian people. By building relationships, starting with the leaders, Pastor Deborah believes that  we can make the difference now and for the next generation. It is her heart to see gay and lesbian people finding  wholeness and purpose in life, through Christ.

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