Biography
I was born the only child of Sandra and Floyd in Indianapolis, IN on November 1975. We lived on a small chicken farm in Rush County until I was 10 years old. My mother’s family is large and very close. My cousins and I were raised together. As the oldest of eleven grandkids, I helped raise them and internalized the importance of working together to achieve our goals. I left home when I was eighteen and have lived in Muncie, IN, Appleton, WI, Tucson, AZ, Berkeley and Oakland, CA, Rocky River, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Montgomery, AL, Florissant, MO, and Syracuse, NY. I visit Indianapolis where I stay with two of my dearest family members, Tom and Donna.
My cat, Gizelle, and I have been companions for almost a decade.
My mother and I were very close until her death in March 2015. I became estranged from most of my family when I came out as transgender. I have a chosen family who live all over the country. You can read more information about my family history, spiritual journey, and coming out in the published chapter, “Everything Broken and Whole” under the Social Justice and Community Ministry Tab.
In October 2012, I was ordained at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River, OH, where I completed my Ministerial Internship. I graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, CA in 2010. Before seminary, I served as the Spiritual Development Director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson from 2002-2004 where I provided religious education programming for Coming of Age, Young Religious Unitarian Universalists, and adults.
It was in the role of Spiritual Development Director where I discovered my call to ministry. I had worked in numerous jobs and gained a wide array of skills, but never felt like the work I was doing was the right fit. As a religious leader, I found that I could live ethically and in integrity and encourage others to do so, as well. I fell in love with congregational life. It was clear that this was the path I was meant to be on. It has been fifteen years since I realized the call and I love ministry even more today than when I started.
At Starr King School and the First Unitarian Church of Oakland (member 2006-2010), I was able to explore my spiritual life in great detail. Spiritually, I was raised with the indigenous traditions of my mother’s family, the atheist ideas of my father, and occasional attendance at my grandparent’s conservative Catholic Church. In many ways, I have integrated all of these traditions in to my own personal belief and path. As a non-theistic earth-based humanist universalist, I tend to believe that there are many things beyond my knowing and that each view creates a more whole vision of all that exists, but it is limited by the understandings of people as finite beings. I tend to think of myself as a rather insignificant cell of a larger universe and all things, within and beyond that, are sacred and worth my care and respect.
From 2011 to 2012, I served as a Resident Chaplain at Indiana University Health serving in three of their hospitals- Methodist Hospital, University Hospital, and Riley Hospital for Children. In that program I became skilled at trauma and grief support to staff, families, and patients. I learned to create interfaith rituals for healing for the staff and to pastor to a wide diversity of religious, spiritual, and philosophical people. This has been deeply important to supporting Interim Ministry where change can easily bring up feelings of grief.
It was in the role of Spiritual Development Director where I discovered my call to ministry. I had worked in numerous jobs and gained a wide array of skills, but never felt like the work I was doing was the right fit. As a religious leader, I found that I could live ethically and in integrity and encourage others to do so, as well. I fell in love with congregational life. It was clear that this was the path I was meant to be on. It has been fifteen years since I realized the call and I love ministry even more today than when I started.
At Starr King School and the First Unitarian Church of Oakland (member 2006-2010), I was able to explore my spiritual life in great detail. Spiritually, I was raised with the indigenous traditions of my mother’s family, the atheist ideas of my father, and occasional attendance at my grandparent’s conservative Catholic Church. In many ways, I have integrated all of these traditions in to my own personal belief and path. As a non-theistic earth-based humanist universalist, I tend to believe that there are many things beyond my knowing and that each view creates a more whole vision of all that exists, but it is limited by the understandings of people as finite beings. I tend to think of myself as a rather insignificant cell of a larger universe and all things, within and beyond that, are sacred and worth my care and respect.
From 2011 to 2012, I served as a Resident Chaplain at Indiana University Health serving in three of their hospitals- Methodist Hospital, University Hospital, and Riley Hospital for Children. In that program I became skilled at trauma and grief support to staff, families, and patients. I learned to create interfaith rituals for healing for the staff and to pastor to a wide diversity of religious, spiritual, and philosophical people. This has been deeply important to supporting Interim Ministry where change can easily bring up feelings of grief.
From 2012 to 2014, I served the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Montgomery. I learned so much about the Civil Rights struggle, the unique cultures of the Southern Region, and the, at times, strained history that Unitarian Universalism has had with our Southern congregations. In addition, I learned to apply skills necessary for interim times as well as the unique needs of a congregation wanting to transition from a “family” to “pastoral” size church and the unique dilemmas that occur for Fellowship Movement congregations. Those years were characterized by learning and applying knowledge in collaboration with the congregation.
What was in the Mystery Box?
A bunny rabbit!!!
From 2014 to 2016, I served the First Unitarian Church of Alton. This loving congregation on the edge of the Mississippi River was a great place to deepen my understanding of the overlapping history of Unitarian Universalism and the United States. The congregation needed support in managing human resources in order to accomplish all they wanted to do within the pastoral sized commuter church that they share. I learned skills and practices to support the leadership in organizing itself in way that would work for all involved. The congregation enjoyed and appreciated creative worship and those years were spent deepening skills for creative worship with technology, movement, and various liturgical forms. That time was characterized by deepening skills for interim and noticing patterns that exist across congregations during the interim.
Additionally, nine days after I moved to Florissant, MO to begin work at the First Unitarian Church of Alton, Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson just three miles from my new home. Those two years were a time to help a congregation discern its role in a community in crisis, how to lead toward justice work while ensuring that the congregation be the ones to discern their stance, and what personal justice efforts look like as separate from the work of the congregation. It was a meaningful two years with the congregation and the larger St. Louis community as we strive for racial justice and an end to systemic police violence.
Additionally, nine days after I moved to Florissant, MO to begin work at the First Unitarian Church of Alton, Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson just three miles from my new home. Those two years were a time to help a congregation discern its role in a community in crisis, how to lead toward justice work while ensuring that the congregation be the ones to discern their stance, and what personal justice efforts look like as separate from the work of the congregation. It was a meaningful two years with the congregation and the larger St. Louis community as we strive for racial justice and an end to systemic police violence.
I like to work hard and play hard. One important part of spiritual health is humor and silliness/playfulness. I enjoy board games and dinner parties. Hiking and camping are an important spiritual practice. I find myself most at peace when I sing and I love to dance. For fun, I do contra and square dancing. I have a green thumb and love to help things grow even when others have given up on the plant. Life is meant to be engaged with and opportunities to connect to beauty never go amiss, if I can help it.