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On Wednesday, July 20, we welcomed back Kelly Marciales (she/they), the Director of Organizing for Mission Network and Program Coordinator for Community Organizing with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We hosted Kelly nearly two years ago (on July 29, 2020) as part of our Being Church series: Embodying Nehemiah: Organizing for Community Justice. They offered a follow-up to that presentation with a lens of Courageous Leadership.

Kelly lives in Palmer, Alaska, where they began their career as a faith-based community organizer with Anchorage Faith in Action Congregations Together (AFACT) and later founded Valley Interfaith Action (VIA) in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Since joining the ELCA, Kelly and the Organizing for Mission team have reimagined community organizing training through the lens of anti-racism and now work collaboratively with synods, seminaries, churches, mission developers, and faith leaders to design and implement organizing practices that are context-based and values-centered. In their spare time, Kelly helps maintain Koinonia Mutual Aid with some of the most wonderful humans they have ever met, enjoys cooking meals from scratch with their family, and plays Pokémon with mediocre proficiency and maximum intensity.

We are inviting you to bring a spirit of curiosity to these gatherings and to all aspects of your life. What are you noticing? Where is Spirit moving? How are you being invited to participate?