Dear Friends,

Attending Be the Hope is a wonderful opportunity! As a lesbian seminarian, I need the opportunity to connect with other queer religious professionals. Although our faiths are diverse, our goals are the same: equality and anti-oppression. So many LGBT+ folx have been harmed by religion and I hope to join the effort of healing and moving forward so that we all have the opportunity to belong to a supportive and loving spiritual community.

Thank you for supporting my fundraiser for Parity's Be the Hope Conference and Retreat in March, 2018.  Any money raised above my goal of $500 will help other emerging pastors like me to attend Be the Hope, and to be empowered for their ministries.

Name: Megan Mathieson

Location: East Berlin, PA

Seminary: Lancaster Theological Seminary

Affiliated Congregation: Unitarian Universalists of Gettysburg

About Megan:  I am currently halfway through the M-Div program at Lancaster Theological Seminary. I plan to graduate in May 2019 and become ordained in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. I am an out lesbian living with my wife and our children in rural Pennsylvania. I have founded an LGBT support group in Gettysburg and have been very active in social justice issues in the area, especially around anti-racism and LGBTQIA rights. My hopes and dreams are that the UU church can continue to be a place of healing and hope for the oppressed and underprivileged who have been hurt by other denominations.