In the beginning was one word: queerituality.
Queerness. Spirituality. I’d been trying to live out both of those things, and I’d been told it was impossible. Then I invented a word that showed me just how seamlessly queerness & spirituality could fit together.
Trained as a journalist, it seemed natural for me to interview other people about this topic I once found perplexing. And so I traveled to 17 cities listening to as many people as I could: How do you live in this ‘impossible’ intersection?
Those interviews left me with more questions than answers, because they covered the range and depth of spiritual experience: from transformative moments of prayer and presence, to psychological devastation. My training in journalism never taught me to carry stories like that.
My questions led me to Harvard Divinity School and into chaplaincy, the role of being present to humans and their stories — the stories of the past, and the stories that are unfolding now. I am now a board certified chaplain, and I have worked with cancer patients, in palliative care, and with LGBTQ older adults and teens. As far as I know, I am the first person in the U.S. to complete a chaplaincy residency focused on LGBTQ spiritual care.
I work now in a range of roles where I combine curiosity, spiritual care, and attention to marginalization and suffering:
I provide spiritual care as a chaplain.
I facilitate group conversations and discernment.
I teach and present.
I research spiritual care.
I write about the intersections of queerness, spirituality, trauma, and survival.
I also preach regularly at own Episcopal church and elsewhere, and am preparing to be ordained as an Episcopal priest.
I envision a world nourished by the spiritual genius of LGBTQ+ people: Our wisdom is transformative.
Does this work resonate with you, too? I look to support and partner around:
spiritual support of LGBTQ+ people
scholarship on queer and trans religious lives
true repentance by religious communities
and stories that accurately portray the depth of queer religious experience.
Queer spiritual genius happens in community
I haven’t walked this path alone, and I hope you won’t either. We learn so much from each other’s faithfulness and resourcefulness.
Here are a few of the folks who have helped me along the way…
Gretchen
The Rev’d. Dr. Gretchen S. Grimshaw led a ministry of 300+ volunteers offering sanctuary, modeled using non-binary language for God, and led the first church I could call home.
Rod
I spent many hours interviewing Lama Rod Owens. Rod grew up United Methodist, like me. His continuing ties to family and religious community reworked my idea of what’s possible.
Rayna
In a Queerituality interview, Rabbi Rayna Grossman told me about a powerful prayer service, grounded in communal song, that changed their sense of what religion could do.
Terna
A Sufi leader and bodyworker, Terna welcomed me into her home during The Queerituality Project, fed me dates and oranges, and asked me a pivotal question: “What are your spiritual practices?”
Peter
Peter Crowley, MSW, was my yoga teacher during divinity school. His trauma-informed Slow Flow classes helped me stay connected to my body, my breath, and my courage.
Mark
Dr. Mark D. Jordan advised me through Harvard Divinity School, including these words I repeat to myself almost daily: “You do not have to abuse yourself to do the work.”
