RCWMS is thrilled to announce Rev. Katie Ricks as the Facilitator and Tsharre Sanders as the Program Manager for the 2022 cohort of Queer Clergywomen Thriving in the South, a virtual, peer-supported cohort for queer clergywomen who have been religious leaders for ten years or fewer. The cohort will run from February–August 2022.
Rev. Katie Ricks
Facilitator
Katie is the daughter of an Army officer and a Presbyterian minister. During their frequent moves, her parents’ priorities were to find good schools and a church community. As a child, the Presbyterian Church became her home. She could worship anywhere and know the hymns, the creeds, the commitment to education, and the presence of a nurturing and loving community. While working in higher education in Georgia, she felt a strong call to journey with young people as they wrestle and grow in their faith. She graduated from Columbia Seminary in 2002 and joined the staff of the Church of Reconciliation (The Rec) in Chapel Hill, NC, as an associate in ministry. When ordination was opened to LGBTQ folks, Katie was finally ordained in 2012 and called to serve as the Associate Pastor at The Rec. God called her away from the church and into a period of discernment in 2014. She worked at Apple—selling computers and teaching people how to use them, while also serving as a preceptor for an Introduction to Preaching Class at Duke Divinity. In 2016, she returned to work at Columbia, where she currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Student Life and Formation. Katie is also a spiritual director and is still in a period of discernment about what the church is and can be. She is a single mom who lives with her teenage daughter, her mother, and two rambunctious dogs.
Tsharre Sanders
Program Manager
Tsharre (sharre/she) is a child, sibling, friend, and an imaginative co-conspirator with the Divine, dedicated to and working toward the spiritual liberation of all beings. sharre is a 27-year old Black queer femme from Selma, North Carolina (JoCo). Currently, sharre is a student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA and looks forward to being a part of the work of RCWMS even across state lines. She loves karaoke, line dancing, cultivating relationships, and fostering community.
We are deeply grateful for the creativity and experience that both Rev. Katie Ricks and Tsharre Sanders bring to RCWMS and the 2022 cohort of Queer Clergywomen Thriving in the South!
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