Duck! There's an Offering Plate Flying toward Your Head!

Many of you know that I spent 14 years as a pastor. Did you know that I once had to duck as a congregant threw an offering plate in the direction of my head just before worship?

Yep, it was a pretty toxic situation.

The sexist and heterosexist microaggressions piled up and I felt so alone, as though no one else in the world knew what it felt like to be a queer clergywoman in south. In fact, did you know that a recent study has shown that more people have PTSD from church than soldiers have from war?!

Enter spiritual direction, art therapy, and coaching.

They changed everything and helped me discern that it was time for me to leave the toxic church I was serving and step into the fullness of my calling as an artist, author, and activist.

Whether you’re a queer clergywoman who has had an offering plate thrown at your head or not, I imagine you’ve felt like I did. Alone. Invalidated. As though you’ve worked your entire life for something that no longer fit.

On the other side of it, I feel liberated, affirmed, and free.

Because of my experience—and the experiences of so many other women who have felt alone, invalidated, erased—I have combined practices from spiritual direction, coaching, and art therapy so that others don’t have to go through what I went through.

If you feel like your spiritual tradition invalidates or excludes you; if you’re overwhelmed by work and family; if you want to make connections among your spirit, justice, and creativity, stay tuned because I’m sending a few more emails that will introduce you to how you, too, can feel liberated, affirmed, and free.

More tomorrow…