Friends,
I am overjoyed to be joining Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and I am so looking forward to moving the Faithful Voices program forward. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you.
I grew up just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota in a little town called Excelsior. My mother is a UCC minister and my father is a retired actor. If I wasn’t in school I was always in a theatre or a church! After high school I attended Cottey College, a small liberal arts college for women in Southern Missouri. After my mother accepted a call to a church in Kansas City, I decided to remain in the Show-Me State and transferred to Mizzou (Go Tigers!). After my graduation I stayed in Columbia, where I have worked on a U.S. Congressional race, a gubernatorial campaign, a Union election and a Climate Change initiative. My faith has always been my core motivation for being involved in politics and the labor movement. I was raised in a denomination that puts an enormous emphasis on Peace and Justice, and that background has led me to dedicate my life to public service.
I believe strongly in the transformative power of community and in the importance of created family. Through the church, the Minneapolis theatre community, and other groups, my parents formed an extended family for my sister and I that made us the women we are today. That family has always included LGBT people, people who are like aunts and uncles to me, people who I never saw as “other.” As an adult, I feel that it is my moral responsibility to help ensure that more children in this world are raised in an atmosphere of love and acceptance, as I was. Being an ally is a role that I cherish, and it is an important part of who I am.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I value the freedom of religion that we enjoy in this country. I am grateful that I live in a place where I can worship and serve God in a way of my own choosing. Protecting this right is of the utmost importance, and the way to do it is to separate our civil and our religious lives.
My fiancé and I are delighted to be joining the Des Moines community and I hope we get to know many of you as we settle in.
Blessings,
Melisabeth Wright
Faithful Voices
Project Coordinator
“Acting on the faith that we are born with a meaning and purpose; a vocation and ministry that serves to strengthen and extend God’s realm of love.” – The Phoenix Affirmations
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