they/them
rev. sean mcroberts
Sean grew up in the Iowa City area. They studied religion and philosophy at Simpson College and went to seminary at Iliff School of Theology. Sean was ordained in The United Methodist Church. They served as Pastor with congregations in Ames, Mason City, and Iowa City before withdrawing from The UMC. Sean has been on staff at sacred collective since 2019.
Learn more about Sean
In a sentence, what’s your spiritual biography?
I am growing by grace beyond the binaries.
What’s one of your favorite things about working with college students?
I love the way their passion and creativity open up possibilities that I didn’t know were there. I get to witness, and sometimes be part of, all kinds of new groups and projects. I learn so much when they share what they are discovering.
When you think about god, what are a few things that come to mind?
I believe that the spirit moves in our lives and the world toward love and justice. I experience god’s presence in gathered community, especially when we connect around values and work toward a shared purpose.
What is one thing you’ve had to unlearn about god or spirituality?
I didn’t realize before that I had conflated god and the church, but I did and that confusion hurt. I’ve learned that “being with the church” is not the same as “being with god” and that “serving the church” is not the same as “serving god.” Sometimes the two coincide, and sometimes they do not. Making that distinction is really important to my current spiritual growth.
What are a few things that matter to you in other parts of your life?
Family – I am grateful for close relationships with my spouse, parents, and sister.
State and local politics – I am working toward equitable government and access to healthcare and against anti-trans legislation in our state.
Music – I sing with the Quire, our local LGBTQ+ community chorus.
How do other people describe you?
Peaceful, patient, whimsical, diplomatic, a good friend
What is one thing you want people to know about sacred collective?
We are creating this together – it doesn’t belong to any one person, and what it is and is becoming is only because of many folks asking for what we need and sharing what we have. You can be a part of that (and if you’ve read this far you already are)!
they/them
rev. anna blaedel
Anna is a chaplain, public theologian, and writer who tends to the theopoetic intersections of spiritual, academic, and activist engagement. They studied Religious Studies at the University of Iowa, did an MDiv at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, and are preparing to defend their dissertation for a PhD in Theological and Philosophical Studies at Drew University’s Graduate Division on Religion. Anna survived a series of complaints and charges for being queer clergy; after years under complaint, they lost/left their place of religious belonging and believe more than ever that healing from religious trauma and spiritual violence is sacred work, best done in community. Anna has been chaplaining at sacred collective since 2014. They are also a co-founder and co-director at enfleshed.
Learn more about Anna
In a sentence, what’s your spiritual biography?
Grew up in the church, communes with trees; growing wilder, and getting free; mystical, radical, earthy; allergic to binaries and orthodoxy.
What’s one of your favorite things about working with college students?
So often, students ask the best questions, and remain unsatisfied with superficial answers; I’m happy to skip the small talk, and hear about what makes you come alive, what sparks joy, what makes you weep, what you long for. I love lingering together in stuff that matters: getting in right relationship with each other, the earth, and the Divine; imagining and building a more just and loving world; decolonizing spirituality; gathering sacred wisdom from elders and ancestors; learning from those whose sacred wisdom is often overlooked, erased, or ignored.
When you think about god, what are a few things that come to mind?
Deep calls to deep. God is spirit, breath, lifeforce, possibility, creativity, more verb than noun. I encounter divinity in soil, and silence, and birdsong, and sharing bowls of soup. Holiness is the practice of deepening into solidarity, loving fiercely and tenderly, crafting belonging, and practicing abolition.
What is one thing you’ve had to unlearned about god or spirituality?
That God is a being separate from us, and that the goal of spirituality is to get it right, be “good,” or follow the rules.
What are a few things that matter to you in other parts of your life?
Deep friendships, chosen kinships, and my niblings mean the world to me. I’ve loved making home, as an adult, in Calidornia’s Bay Area, and Brooklyn, NY. I returned to Iowa, drawn by being closer to family, a slower pace of life, and building radical community in a Red state. Hiking, camping, gardening, playing with wood in my workshop, and being in live music restore and revive me. I love a good road trip.
How do other people describe you?
Listens deeply, laughs and cries easily, gives good hugs, usually has a poem in their back pocket, and will cook you delicious food.
What is one thing you want people to know about sacred collective?
We believe in doing and being together what none of us can do, or be, alone. We welcome your weirdness, your queerness, your strangeness, your transness, your divergence, your misfit-ness. We want all of you, and all of us, to belong. We believe solidarity and collective liberation are spiritual practices. Black liberation, Indigenous sovereignty, queer&trans liberation, intersectional feminism, decolonization, disability justice, reproductive justice, economic justice, and eco-justice are inseparable.