Clik here to view.
Love in the Face of Fear
I have spent a significant portion of my short life living in fear, terrified of the people around me. The fear is not unreasonable; I face daily stigma from being openly transgender, I spent my school...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Maundy Thursday Protest
Today, on Maundy Thursday, I am attending a vigil for a trans woman of color, Sage Smith, who has been missing from my community since 2012. There have been several young women who have gone missing in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Isolation of Pain
I recall sitting in my office late one afternoon in February. No one was around, and I was focusing the best I could on finishing what I needed to complete by the end of the day. I paused. As I sat...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hold the Sign Up High and the Door Wide Open
A picture of the marquee at Wantagh Memorial Community Church (Long Island, New York) reached the top of a social media website called Reddit. For context: Reddit’s user base is big. Really big. In the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Searching for the Fountain of Youth Group
My senior high youth group was bright, engaged, eager to share opinions, and compassionate. I still carry those days with me as my entrance into Christian discipleship: the informal yet passionate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why I Can’t Be Cautious with My Love
Late last year my spouse and I got the call we’d been waiting for. We had been chosen! After a long process to become licensed pre-adoptive foster parents, we had been matched with a sweet little baby...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Your Silence is Shouting Your Values
White men, including white pastors, are failing women’s health. I’m not saying every white man in the Trump Administration, or every white male pastor in the country is intentionally working against...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Racial Identity: Human?
How do you identify racially/ethnically? White/Euro-American Black/African American/Afro-Caribbean Latin@/Hispanic Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander Native American/Alaskan Native Arab/Middle...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why People Think the Church Hates Science
I put on my clerical collar and drove the rainy streets to Lancaster, PA, suddenly regretting ever signing up to speak. I was sure that these people didn’t want to hear from a pastor, and with good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Did Rex Tillerson and I become Such Good Friends?
When he was chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson agreed that climate change was real. He is not a climate denier. Exxon endorsed the Paris agreement. He does work for a President who thinks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What White Christians can Learn from Get Out
This essay contains spoilers for the movie “Get Out.” I’ve watched white churches attempt to confront racism in ways their members can digest, whether it be with campaigns or curriculums. So I’d like...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Won’t Worship Being Busy
For a few (too many) tortured months in seminary, I was working multiple jobs, taking a full course load, and doing my internship as a chaplain in a hospital. It was a season where the math just did...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dismantling From Within
Words matter; but without action, they lose their dignity and meaning. If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a servant of the church, it’s this: We love talking about race, racism, and white privilege,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WWJD? Put His Body on the Line for Racial Justice
Here in Charlottesville we have issued a call to clergy and faith leaders to join us in the struggle to dismantle white supremacy. On August 12th, white nationalists will descend upon our town in an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why We Can’t Be Complacent after Charlottesville
I am afraid. I walk in the world as a woman of color. I walk in the world as the wife of a woman of color. I walk as the mother of beautiful baby of color. And I have to confess that I am afraid....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Funeral Drama and a New Take on Eulogies
Until I found myself sweating in my seat, I never gave much thought to funeral drama—at least, not beyond the storylines of a few guilty pleasure soap operas. I had my own moment of turmoil though when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seeing God Where You Least Expect It
Unlike my husband, I had no special interest in seeing the eclipse. But he really wanted to make the short drive from our place in Beaverton to a spot where he could see the totality, and he hardly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Lie of White Supremacy
Several months back I was at the monthly meeting of the local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJCVille). We were given the prompt to reflect on how white supremacy has hurt us as white...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ready, Willing and Able for Peace
We were told that there would be booms. It was one of the first things that we were told about our new home. We’ll hear the booms, they said. Booms that shouldn’t frighten us or cause alarm, but are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You Too
You nodded as a friend said a woman’s dress was too short and she was asking for trouble. You rolled your eyes when a sex positive woman said she was raped because you believed a frequent yes didn’t...
View Article