Hi friends! I’m glad you’re here. What I would really love, though, is to be in the same space as you with a cup of coffee around a table or a trail walk through the woods. Creating spaces for connection and community, spaces for people to belong, calms me. I wonder if it’s because I’ve searched for belonging myself. We all tend to do for others as we would want them to do for us—pretty sure that’s from the Bible.

At times I struggle with my belovedness and wonder if my belovedness is contingent on my positivity, amicable nature, or nice smile. Will I become less loved by God or others when and if those traits fade? Breath prayer grounds me in those moments—breathing in love::breathing out gratitude. Also warm and chewy chocolate chip cookies help. 

I’m married to my partner, Jason. Of course I love him, but I’ve still really, really liked him since 1999. We have three kids from three different sets of birth-families. I’m in seminary for a Masters of Divinity and I co-pastor a non-denominational church in Humboldt County, CA, that my husband and I helped plant in 2006. I also co-pastor a local United Methodist Church. 

I live in an old farm house in a town of 1200 people in Northern California right near a river. We have housemates and other friends who live on our property including two goats, nine hens, two cats, two bunnies, one snake, and one dog. 

I feel most alive, most fully myself, most grounded and rooted in the realness of life when I get to talk about or talk to Jesus. I’ve never known a greater friend. 

Contact Bethany for more info.