ABOUT Sarah

MDIV. ENNEAGRAM 2. ESFJ. LGBTQIA+ AFFIRMING. CO-PASTOR @ CASCADE CHURCH.

I have always been passionate about kids and learning. Since kindergarten, I dreamed of being an elementary teacher. The day I let my family know I was going to be a youth pastor after college, it was a sharp turn from the background in elementary education and Spanish I had been passionate about for years. I received my Master of Divinity from Portland Seminary in 2019 with an emphasis in eco-environmentalism. Studying environmentalism helped me rethink the significance of Genesis 1 and pushed me to find earth-keeping an essential part of my role as a pastor.

I’m passionate about how kids and students learn and how we translate conversations around faith into effective teaching. I love studying issues around grief, the Enneagram, ableism, race, sexuality and sexism and how they impact how someone views God. I’m passionate about writing kids curriculum that allows kiddos to ask questions while empowering them to be who they are. I co-pastor a church called Cascade in Portland, Oregon and love being able to journey alongside others as they discover a more expansive and mysterious God.

I have two daughters, Kinsley and Zoey, who are two of my inspirations for Reimagine, to help foster theology that I believe keeps them thinking and interested in faith conversations. I’m an includer and people person by nature, which is what got me into pastoring. I love my Australian labradoodle Briggs, playing games with friends, trying to figure out life with a baby, and my daily Stumptown coffee. I don’t have parenting figured out, but these are reflections from being a curious pastor over a decade and the lessons I’ve learned from being around kids, who teach me more about God than any sermon I’ve ever listened to.

Some things that excite me as a pastor are:

  • Writing kids curriculum and designing/thinking through 0-18 intergenerational spaces.

  • Conversations around the Enneagram and how to interact with who we are in order to grow in our awareness to be the best version of ourselves as God created us to be. I'm an Enneagram 2—but for real.

  • Liberation and queer theology: learning from those that have been marginalized and identifying where my own blind spots are on these topics. I think this is the future of Christianity. 

  • Being an advocate for how the Bible interacts with ableism, environmentalism, racism (specifically my own white fragility), and sexism

  • Collaboration, flat leadership styles, and reduced hierarchy while leading with others

  • Facilitating spaces that allow others to grow and experience Jesus

  • Pastoral care, in which I have an opportunity to get to know someone and help them grow and evolve in the process

  • Church planting progressive spaces

  • Preaching/Teaching

QUESTIONS? LET’S CHAT.

HAVE QUESTIONS, AN IDEA FOR HOW WE COULD WORK TOGETHER, OR JUST WANT TO CHAT? I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!