Amanda Gerken-Nelson

"It was easier for me to come out as queer than come out as a pastor." - Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson

This episode of Queer Spirit interviewed Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The conversation included Amanda's rooting in the stories of church and family, the difficulty of holding spirituality and sexuality together in certain places, and the centrality of embodiement to spirituality.

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About

Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a non-profit that believes the public witness of LGBTQIA+ ministers transforms the church and enriches the world. In this work Amanda has the unique privilege of traveling around the country to encourage and support the 400+ LGBTQIA+ pastors who are transforming the face of the church.

Prior to her work with Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries Amanda pastored a Lutheran congregation East Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, Amanda grew up on the East Coast and considers herself a true New Englander at heart. On a more personal note, Tamara Torres-McGovern, the co-host of Queer Spirit, happily adds: “I’m lucky that she not only came back to the North East, but that she moved to Maine and, on top of that, she and her wife Tasha became my neighbors!”