Our Team
The people behind Common Sanctuary
Meet Our Team
Common Sanctuary is guided by a small, committed team rooted in lived experience, spiritual depth, and a shared belief that no part of a person needs to be left behind in order to belong. Together, we bring a range of backgrounds in ministry, nonprofit leadership, education, and community care. Our board brings wisdom, experience, and a shared commitment to creating spaces of belonging, healing, and spiritual honesty.
Matt Nightingale
Founder & Executive Director
Matt Nightingale is the founder and executive director of Common Sanctuary, a nonprofit creating space for people navigating the intersection of faith, sexuality, and identity.
Matt is a spiritual director, pastor, speaker, writer, and nonprofit leader whose work is shaped by his own journey through evangelical Christianity, a long mixed-orientation marriage, and coming out later in life. After 16 years in full-time pastoral ministry in a non-affirming denomination, he stepped away from that context in order to live more honestly and authentically.
Today, Matt works primarily with LGBTQ+ individuals, offering a contemplative and spacious approach to faith that makes room for both belief and doubt. Through spiritual direction, group work, and teaching, he helps people reconnect with their inner life and experience God, or the sacred, as a source of life and love, rather than a source of shame.
His work is grounded in the belief that no part of a person needs to be left behind in order to belong.
In addition to his work with Common Sanctuary, Matt co-pastors The Quest, a progressive American Baptist church, with his longtime friend Tony Gapastione, where they continue to explore what faithful, inclusive, and evolving Christian community looks like.
Matt lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his husband, Alejandro. He is the father of four adult children, and he and Alejandro are looking forward to becoming Grandpa and Abuelo for the first time this summer.
Our Board of Directors
Our board brings wisdom, experience, and a shared commitment to creating spaces of belonging, healing, and spiritual honesty.
Lynn Fitzpatrick
Board Member
Lynn Fitzpatrick is a retired educator who served as a teacher, principal, and district administrator, and as an Educator in Residence in the Sonoma State University teacher credential program. A trusted friend for over a decade, she is a committed advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion and brings a deep sense of care and community to her work with Common Sanctuary. She lives in Santa Rosa and is a proud parent of three and a new grandmother.
Sarah Camper
Board Member
Sarah Camper is a nonprofit leader and community builder dedicated to addressing food insecurity and environmental sustainability. Alongside her professional work, she is a lifelong spiritual seeker whose journey has taken her through faith, doubt, and into a posture of curiosity.
Coming out as queer later in life has been a profound part of her story, deepening her commitment to authenticity, inclusion, and belonging. She brings this lived experience to Common Sanctuary, where she is passionate about creating spaces that honor the fullness of each person’s identity and spiritual journey.
Jaime Zavala
Board Member
Jaime Zavala is the Executive Director of Venice Arts, where he leads efforts to empower young people through storytelling and media arts. With more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience, he brings expertise in fundraising, strategy, and community engagement.
Inspired by his family’s immigrant journey and shaped by values-driven leadership, Jaime has dedicated his career to serving vulnerable communities. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community with deep roots in the faith world, he is passionate about creating spaces where queer people can safely explore and unpack their faith.