I grew up in a small town in Central Illinois, part of a large Catholic family on my mother’s side, and a loving Methodist family on my Dad’s side. Encouraged by my childhood priest, I became one of the first female altar servers in our diocese in the mid 1980’s. It was something I was proud of, but I didn’t fully understand its significance. I accepted gender equality at face value because I was raised by my parents and affirmed by my parish priest to unquestionably know myself and other females as gender equal. In fact, I was raised to challenge any contrary notion. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I earned a BA in Spanish from Butler University and completed my MA in Religion with an emphasis in Biblical Studies at Earlham School of Religion. I am also a CMBM certified Mind-Body Medicine Practitioner.

Passionate about scripture work, I am keen to the ways biblical interpretation impacts all facets of public and private life. I chose Earlham, a Quaker seminary, because of their theological open-mindedness and commitment to inclusivity. I chose biblical studies because what we believe about the bible impacts all facets of public and private life. My thesis is available electronically via Earlham Library, entitled: Encountering Eve, The Mother of All that Lives: A feminist liberation theology informed exegesis of Gen 1-3 in contestation of “The Fall” in Catholicism.

Bilingual in Spanish, I am a full-time family support coordinator in an urban Newborn ICU. My work since 2014 has focused on family-centered care and public health initiatives, with special interests in trauma informed care, mind-body medicine, parent-to-parent support, maternal and infant mental health, racial justice, reproductive justice, and immigration issues affecting family life. My career since 2000 has followed a long winding path leading to this work, and it is a true passion.

I trace my call to priesthood back to my childhood and the Vatican II spirited environment our priest clearly aimed to promote. I fell in love with Mass, especially liturgy of the Word, during those formative years. I felt a strong desire to always be a part of and in service to the “Church-is-the-people-of-God” Catholicism I knew and loved. As I entered adolescence and became more aware of the very real issues of gender inequality in the hierarchical institution, I felt anger, betrayal, and was struck by a sense of resoluteness that I would remain committed to my faith, using whatever means available to me to stand up for gender justice and equality in the Church.

My call to ordained ministry became clear and exciting to me when I discovered RCWP in my 30s. As it happened, I was already in connection with two RCWP – one who I knew well and learned was in catacomb, and another who I discovered through my work at a retreat center who was publicly ordained! The simple awareness of their ordinations was more than sufficient to inspire me in my own process of discernment.

I was ordained a deacon at Holy Wisdom Monastery (Madison, WI) in 2019, and to the priesthood at Faith United Church of Christ in 2021. As a priest, I primarily serve Brownsburg Inclusive Catholic Community, where we rotate weekly Masses with our sister community, St Mary of Magdala Catholic Community of Indianapolis. I love preaching and supporting our communities as a music minister as piano accompanist and cantor. I also enjoy opportunities to preach at Unitarian Universalist congregations and am open to collaborating with others!

Immediately following ordination, I began serving on the RCWP Midwest Leadership circle as our regional program coordinator for ordination inquirers and applicants. In June 2023, I transitioned to an administrator position, representing our region on the RCWP National Leadership Circle and Board of Directors.

I believe we are called by the Gospel to be a prophetic people connected to the divine and socially engaged in our world, following Jesus’ example. For me specifically, that means participating in the necessary work of anti-racism and dismantling ideologies that prop up classism, Christian nationalism, gender inequality, transphobia and homophobia, antisemitism, and insularity – especially where these social ills derive from biblical interpretations and ideologies. It also means engaging in the work of individual, family, and community healing which flows over into all areas of my life.

Most importantly, I am adventuring through life with my husband, Jarrett, my nearly adult son, my school-aged stepdaughter, and my border collie, Annie. Together, we love to hike, camp, climb, kayak, roast marshmallows, cook, bake, watch baking shows, binge Marvel movies, and play board games!

You can find Angela’s writings and homilies here: https://amnevitt.medium.com