Advocate
What does the Lord require of you —
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?
My ministry is defined by advocating for truth, justice, and peace.
It’s easy to name all the ways that the world is broken.
The question becomes, What are we going to do about it?
With this question, I pray for the courage to change things I can. I focus on my sphere of influence. And then I act in ways that align with my values.
This page features a few areas where I have witnessed a need and then committed myself to addressing it.
Together, we can make a positive difference in the world.
Parental Leave in the united Methodist Church
The minimum parental leave policy for United Methodists has too many loopholes. I’m leading a grassroots effort to close them.
Through stronger and clearer policies adopted by Annual Conferences, we are expanding paid leave to 13 weeks without increasing the burden on local churches. Our legislation includes families in foster/resource care, kinship care, and adoption, as well as part-time clergy, licensed local pastors, and conference-funded extension ministries.
The United Methodist News Service highlighted our work in “Parental Leave Efforts Gaining Momentum.” In this grassroots effort, I’ve drawn on my previous experience in organizing as a board member for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW), and I presented the grassroots movement in this GCSRW Coffee Chat.
You can join this vital work by clicking “Ask to Join Group” here (or just send me a message).
As we prepare for the next General Conference, our goal is comprehensive family and medical leave legislation. When we work together to improve parental leave, the church can model a more equitable and inclusive society!
Young Clergy Women International
When I graduated from seminary, I broke barriers as first female pastor in church and community history. (I was also the youngest pastor they’d ever had and the first unmarried pastor. I have the therapy bills as receipts). I made it through only because I encountered an amazing professional organization designed just for women and nonbinary clergy under age 40.
I now serve as the chairperson of Young Clergy Women International (YCWI), an international organization with over 2,700 members and alumnae. As a board member, I led the revision of our bylaws to improve racial equity and board governance. Prior to becoming chairperson, I served as Board Secretary, International Liaison, Chalice Press Liaison, and Liaison to Fidelia Magazine. Within this ecumenical organization, I am also the administrator of the United Methodist subgroup, an active network connecting and advocating across conference lines.
Ministry With (not Ministry To)
I believe in the gifts that everyone brings — and in communities that celebrate every gift. I love ministering alongside neurodiverse people, low-income people, people with mental illness, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQIA+ people, and anyone who doubts whether their gifts will be welcome in the church.
I practice Asset Based Community Development. At one church, we transformed their food pantry by launching an innovative and deliberately inclusive Open Door Pantry Board. We originated a new model of shared leadership in which volunteers and neighbors (formerly known as “clients”) jointly oversaw finances, governance, and operations. Pantry neighbors who served on the board received a stipend for their time and expertise. Why? Because people in poverty are the experts in their own life — and anyone who wants to “help” needs to value that expertise.
This interview, “Transformational Outreach: Building High Trust Relationships and Shared Leadership,” shows how this worked.
Multicultural ministry
My call to ministry came through encountering Latin American liberation theology in Nicaragua. Graduating from college with International Studies and Spanish double majors, I went to seminary inspired by Revelation 7. When I interned at two amazing bilingual (Spanish/English) congregations, I marveled: Could God’s kin(g)dom come on earth as it is in heaven?
In July 2014, I was appointed to a historically white congregation in Saint Louis with a stated vision of becoming a multicultural church. One month later, the Ferguson Uprising revealed our complicity in white supremacy. The congregation and I were compelled to unlearn our privilege and hopes of white saviorism. Instead, we had to humbly learn anti-racism. We piloted the Faith and Race Curriculum, facilitated community discussions on race, and hosted safe space for protesters.
My preaching changed. Our ministry shifted. We lost church members and persevered through tough moments. Eventually, our commitment to justice led us to leave our building, name, and identity. We had money in the bank, but we chose to merge for missional reasons. We would be part of God’s mission — even if it meant sacrifice.
Today I continue on the journey I started in Nicaragua and leaned into in Saint Louis. From the United Kingdom and back to the United States, I seek to align my life with my values — still in pursuit of that vision of multicultural, anti-racist, beloved community.
Good Friday Collaborative
When I pastored a congregation through concluding ministry, I felt so alone. I personally experienced a need — and I soon learned I wasn’t alone. God called me to address congregations endings on a wider scale.
I co-founded The Good Friday Collaborative to support churches completing their mission. We offer holy closure resources, including the Five Stages of Completing Ministry online course and Good Friday Resource Drive.
We coach leaders of congregations concluding ministry, whether that involves closing, merging, relocating, restarting, right-sizing, or discerning next steps. We also consult and resource denominational and ecumenical leaders.
While we work closely with pastors, congregations, and regional leaders, our broader mission is to change the story about church closure, leaning into the Christian narrative of death and resurrection. We share our insights through essays, webinars, podcasts, trainings, a monthly newsletter, and an in-progress devotional book for churches in transition.
Learn more at www.goodfridaycollaborative.com.