It's pretty incredible to be doing this event for a fourth time! Centering Queer and Trans people in Sunday worship, in full celebratory drag, has certainly offended a few people, but the benefits of getting to see ourselves and our community in sacred spaces have been incalculable.
Join us for our third Ecumenical Panel on 2S and LGBTQIA+ advocacy, with Rev. Bailey Eastwood, Ben Dobyns, and Jess Dell Andrews.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Cf7xIEgPSHmX3xuPiQ8FKw
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Bailey Eastwood is the national coordinator of the student Christian movement of Canada, a grassroots network of groups of students and young adults exploring faith and social Justice. Their background is in youth, young adult, and camping ministries, and they are passionate about nurturing supportive faith communities for young people. As a minister who is also Genderqueer, Bailey feels a call to be a strong voice for Affirming Christianity. Their faith and their work is also influenced by a background studying visual arts and biochemistry, a love of stories, and a deep curiosity about the natural world. Bailey lives in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal with their spouse, Finn.
Ben Dobyns (they/them) is a musician and media producer based in Burnaby, BC. They have been involved with Queer activism since the 1990s, first as an ally, then gradually discovering and celebrating their own trans/non-binary identity. They currently serve as the Minister of Instrumental Music at Shaughnessy Heights United Church, the Pianist-in-Residence at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver, and as the creator of the Sanctuary initiative (Drag Communion, Sanctuary D&D, and SQUID).
Jess Andrews (she/her) is a Canadian Certified Counsellor and UCC Campus Minister at the U of C in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, AB. Influential life experiences include being a mom to three teens, working as a nurse in Ghana and with a Little Red River Cree community in northern Alberta, 11 years in Christ-centered outdoor education, and journeying with folks in faith shifts, especially those moving from non-affirming to affirming theological worldviews. She’s been formed by engagement across diverse Christian spaces (Roman Catholic, evangelical, Reformed, progressive, interfaith) and cares deeply about honoring the sacred stories that we each carry.
Come join us for the Affirming Leaders Day this November 15! This online professional-development and connection day is for any and all who are interested in supporting the inclusion of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, especially within faith communities. Also, the first 10 registrants receive a copy of SHAME-SEX ATTRACTION: SURVIVORS’ STORIES OF CONVERSION THERAPY! The Eventbrite link is in my bio, and if you use the promo code “LUCAS” you will get 30% off all tickets! See you there!
Walk to Mordor - Frodo and Sam slip off to continue their journey to Mordor alone. After SO MANY freaking miles on the Anduin River. 1314 miles walked so far, with only 466 to go. I’ll be in Mordor by the end of May!
Walk to Mordor: Today I completed 465 miles and Book One of Lord of the Rings, with Frodo
and company's arrival in Rivendell! The journey took a lot longer than anticipated--getting
covid-19 shortly after Weathertop took me out of commission for about a month. Unlike Frodo,
I couldn't rely on a hot elf (Glorfindel or Arwen, you choose) to put me on a horse and carry the
rest of the way there. So I suppose I took my Rivendell recovery time before actually arriving.
In any case, despite entirely losing track of individual walking days, the miles are in, the maps
are updated, and I'm starting to think about how to traverse the Mines of Moria. It's a journey
of another 340 miles to reach the mines, through much more challenging terrain, so I'll be
looking at transitioning from city walking to mountain hiking when possible
A few people have been asking about apps and maps. I've been using the iOS app "Fantasy
Hike" as a backup to my manual walk tracking methods. While not officially licensed, it's
superior in every way to the "The Challenge" app…… and about $245 cheaper.
The maps that I share are from Karen Fonstad's "The Atlas of Middle Earth." but with some
Photoshop and overlays to explore my own path. Karen provided additional research in the
early 2000's to people working on designing Mordor walks, including a very helpful set of daily
milestones that I've turned into a master spreadsheet for tracking my progress. I use Adobe
Express to build the daily walk graphics.
