Vocation

I have felt pulled to serve a higher calling for as long as I can remember. The first time I articulated a sense of vocation, in college, it involved facilitating changes from hierarchical societal forms to holistic, partnership ones. When I studied principled nonviolence later in my 20s, what Gandhi called Constructive Programme spoke to me:  being the change you wish to see in the world – I was (and am) less drawn to protest and deconstruction of what doesn’t work, than to creating the social institutions and lifeways that might enable the full flourishing of people and planet. My most recent moment of clarity about my ministerial vocation was this:  I am an integrator, creator, and healer.

At the Loving Day event I initiated and co-organized while serving as an interim church Connections Coordinator in 2015-2016. (Loving Day marks the court decision that made interracial marriage legal throughout the U.S.)

Each of these ways of describing my calling continues to resonate and to find expression for me in parish ministry. I have been serving in congregational roles for over a decade, including solo settled ministries in two mid-size churches, where my proclivity for organizational development merges nicely with my ​spiritual calling.

​My preparation for ministry included completing the Master of Divinity degree, service learning in a community agency serving homeless people, an intensive chaplaincy stint at a regional hospital, and an internship in a Unitarian Universalist congregation. I also served in campus ministry and as a church membership coordinator before settling into parish ministry in 2016.

I answered the calling to ministry after a career in the non-profit sector spanning over a decade. In addition to serving as executive director or CEO of two community foundations in Indiana, I led fund development for a meditation center in California and for a Midwestern land trust. Earlier, I was a consultant in the field of community and economic development, facilitating collaborative projects in communities and helping organizations build strong leadership teams. My first graduate degree was in sociology.

A staff photo, when I served as President & CEO of a community foundation (ca. 2007).

My personal passions have included racial justice, passage meditation, singing in an innovative community choir, and the study and practice of principled nonviolence (a la Gandhi and King). It has been my delight to share these interests with others through groups and classes. As a volunteer, I have also served on several boards of directors that reflect my passions:   supporting the missions of a community choral group, my home congregation, and a food co-op.

​You can find me on LinkedIn for details about my education, job history, and community service.  ​

A picture I once snapped of my name tag collection, which offers a glimpse of the many roles in my life leading into ministry.