Pronouns – She/Her/Hers

I was raised in Kentucky by my parents, an Episcopal Priest and a Special Education Teacher. Theology and teaching was discussed often in my home, as were the issues of Social Justice. I was a sophomore in High School when I saw the Twin Towers fall on 9/11. At the time my closest friends were of various faith backgrounds including Judaism, Islam, LDS Church, and Catholic. Together we watched as fear erupted around us and grew into anger. Many of my Muslim friends could not attend school for several days due to the bullying and hate that was being directed at them at that time. In the wake of this horrible moment in our nation’s history, we decided to create the student club “Diverse Religions United”. This was the beginning of the interfaith work I would embark on throughout my life and career.

At Hanover College I was an active leader in the student group People for Peace, a group that put on educational opportunities and festivals for the student community that centered on interfaith dialogue and social justice work. After living in Istanbul Turkey and then in Yanai-Shi Japan, I returned to school at Earlham School of Religion to earn my Master of Divinity degree. I completed my MDiv in 2014, with a focus on writing, interfaith dialogue and social justice. This learning environment was full of different perspectives, religious backgrounds and beliefs and I learned much about the work of mediation and conversation across difference during this time.

I am an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church and have worked exclusively in the nonprofit sector of Indianapolis since 2008. Being the Executive Director of CIC is a dream come true. I find it is a culmination of my life’s passion and experience, and I am honored and grateful to be serving in this role.

Ultimately, I believe that every faith tradition is a telescope pointing at the vast universe in an attempt to glean understanding of all that we are and all that we come from. I can look through this telescope at this one section of the sky for the rest of my life and learn much. But if my neighbor invites me to look through their telescope at a different location within the vast cosmos, what new stars might I see? What new beauty will I witness? What more will I learn about what it means to be here, living on this gorgeous planet? And when they look through my telescope, what will they see? What will they learn? Or even more exciting, what will they notice that I may have missed?

This is the work of interfaith cooperation- to look through every telescope, to try to see the world from every vantage point because in this context more is more- more telescopes begets more learning which begets more understanding, and more understanding fosters compassion. And the world needs more compassion.