Christian Bentley is a resident of the City of Alexandria in the Southside Historic District, a descendant of John Parker and member of the Historic Parker, Dogan and Bentley Families – a mixture of enslaved and freedman devout Catholics. Christian is a parishioner at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia, a member of the Gospel Choir, the Knights of Peter Claver Council #398 and Director of Evangelization and Discipleship for the parish.

Bentley has been a noteworthy advocate for mental health and social justice within Virginia and the National Catholic Church using his own experiences with managing a Bipolar 1 diagnosis and how faith, community and proper care can lead to a fulfilling life.  Bentley currently serves as the Regional Mental Health Representative for VOICE, an interfaith social justice community advocacy group. He is Chair of the Bishop’s Advisory Council on Racism, The Diocesan Pastoral Council for Arlington, a member of the Josephite Vocations Core Team and an active participant with the USCCB in Young Adult and Multicultural projects to name a few. A connector of people and a passionate person of faith, his life motto is based on the old gospel song, “If I can help somebody”.