Good Trouble

Let me tell you a story about a group of people who have a history of getting into  good trouble, to borrow the words of John Lewis. Now some might think these individuals are united as a group by their ethnic or linguistic heritage, the hymns they like the most, or their affinity for casseroles […]

Encountering Truth, Encountering Liberation: A Review of This Here Flesh and Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley

While I was drowning in grief, I wondered aloud to a friend what kind of pastor and activist I could have been if I weren’t in so much pain. She wondered what the Church would be like if more leaders were vulnerable and told the truth about their struggles. Theologian and liturgist Cole Arthur Riley […]

Here I Sit

My entire life in ministry has always been at a crossroads. I began as a pastor’s assistant while earning my undergraduate degree in Iowa. My pastor was frequently at odds with our ELCA synod because she openly supported LGBTQ+ initiatives. We were straddling the world of ‘job description’ ministry while also attending to the spiritual […]

Book Review: For the Love of Triumph

In Jullia’s current call, she has a cohort of five women in her Presbytery all serving in different ministry contexts. They are her people- people who call each other when they need advice, who sit with a cup of tea and joyfully chat about the funny and unexpected stories of church life that only other […]

Mercy Trumps Vengeance

On January 21, 2025 at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, the newly elected president and vice president attended an interfaith prayer service to begin their first full day in office. It isn’t a new tradition for the newly elected president and vice president to attend an interfaith prayer service the morning after inauguration nor […]

Book Review: God is a Black Woman

When I was a child, growing up in a conservative, predominately white church, I was taught that God was beyond gender or somehow included both male and female within Him. (Yes, the masculine pronoun was still used.) And I don’t recall anyone ever telling me God was white, but somehow I came away with the […]

Letter in Support of Bishop Mariann Budde

The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde Episcopal Church House – Diocese of Washington 3101 Washington Ave NW Washington, DC 20016 January 25, 2025 Dear Bishop Budde,  As the Board and undersigned members of Young Clergy Women International – a professional organization of ecumenical clergy women under 40 across the world – we write to thank you […]

Chronic Illness in the Body of Christ

As a chronically ill clergywoman, sometimes I’m afraid the Great Physician is just another dismissive doctor waiving off my debilitating symptoms as normal and it’s up to me to manage on my own time. A bit more communion and intentional daily prayer so easily becomes the sacred equivalent to diet, exercise, and better stress management, […]

Walking with Grief

In January 2021, I lost one of my champions and people who loved me the most in this world, my Pap, to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a pastor, it was one of the most difficult deaths I have witnessed, not just because it was someone I loved dearly, but because watching someone fighting for breath, […]

Ten Books to Read about Preaching

For the next installment in my Ten Books series, I’ve compiled a list of books to check out on preaching. Again, I have not read all of the books recommended, because I don’t think this list should be limited to just my perspective. I sought the input of dozens of clergy women across denominational and […]