Hello and thank you for checking out this fundraising campaign!
WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE......OOOPS, JUST KIDDING
My name is Rowan. Since I was a child I secretly thought I would be a pastor when I grew up (or an actress). Those were the only two things I could imagine. Unfortunately, the experience of religious trauma seemed to eliminate that possibility. But VERY fortunately, my departure from Christianity when I was 20 years old led me down a beautiful spiritual journey where I had profound spiritual experiences within Indigenous teachings and ceremonies thanks to my Native friends and mentors. I also, experienced teachings and ritual that connected me deeply to what many call the "Sacred Feminine". The idea of one true religion was forever erased from the realm of possibility for me.
THE STILL SMALL VOICE
For several years now I have yearned to dive into interfaith studies and spiritual practice. I'm so in love with all the ways in which we as humans are able to connect with the Divine and the cultures from which those paths have emerged. Due to a stubborn and loud "egoic" mind, I have been avoiding this calling with it's "still, small voice" (painfully easy to ignore) which has really always been with me. But in a year I will be 50 years old and I can no longer deny what is true for me. It's been a life-time of fighting with myself and it's exhausting. I'm not giving up my Business/Accounting work all together though. I'm also still a business nerd. It's just going to be offered in new and unique ways- it will be brought in under the umbrella of my "ministry" as my grandparents would have called it.
THE CHALLENGE
Some of you may know that I have experienced health challenges these last few years. These challenges greatly affected my ability to work and therefore my financial life. I am back working again but am not yet making enough to pay for the full tuition of my Seminary program.
THE PROGRAM
I have intentionally chosen an amazing Interfaith Seminary program that is not accredited. Therefore, school loans are not an option. The organization is called One Spirit Learning Alliance (1spirit.org) and they purposefully chose the non-accredited path in order to focus on a more professional and experiential program rather than an academic one. Through this program I will "live the spirituality" that I am being taught - which is what I was looking for. Thankfully, the program is structured so that I will be able to continue working and hopefully, I'll get to a point where I can pay for the second year on my own.
One Spirit was generous enough to provide me with a scholarship so that I am at the lowest possible tier for tuition. But I do need to find a way to raise the rest for the first year (hence this campaign). Contributions will go towards first year tuition and books/supplies.
WHY? THE CALLING
The calling to support those who have felt displaced and rejected by their inherited faith traditions has only grown stronger. The feelings of being an "outsider" and "not good enough" are ones that go deep down to my bones due to my own life experiences. As I go through Seminary and once I graduate, I hope to provide a safe space for those who have felt the pain of that kind of isolating experience to embrace the full expressions of who they are and what they are here to do in the world. I want all people, no matter their race, ethnicity, citizenship, gender, sexuality, profession, criminal background, financial status, religious and/or spiritual background, political beliefs, and any other way we as a society "group and define" each other to know that they are unique and beautiful expressions of the Divine and that their existence and their voices matter. Their pain matters, their healing matters, their expressions of life matter, THEY matter. That is my personal mission.
THE ASK
SO, if this is a mission that you can get behind; that you'd like to see more of in the world, please consider helping me to get through this first year of Interfaith Seminary. I will pay your generosity forward by dedicating my life to being of service to those with injured spirits, the "outsiders" that don't fit within the suffocating confines that we as a society create for each other, for those who want to break free and liberate themselves and claim their spiritual authority over their own lives. So, once again, I'll just ask, if that is a mission you believe in, please consider contributing to it though this individual but mighty soul going to Seminary and gaining the skills and knowledge to do this work in the world.
THANK YOU AND MANY BLESSINGS!
~ROWAN
