Sunday, April 24, 2022, 10:10 AM - 11:30 AM
Challenges, Joys, and Blessings of Living Authentically
with Jenny Mason and Javen Swanson
Join both of our speakers in the Social Hall at 10:10 am as they share their stories and lives as LGBTQ people.
Jenny Mason currently serves as a Policy Analyst for housing and homelessness for Washington County and is guiding the effort to create their first single adult shelter. She is an ELCA pastor by training and vocation, removed from the roster in 2001 and returned to the roster in 2011. She lived and served in Chile and Argentina from 1987 to 2003 and has always been guided by that passion for justice. She is currently on leave from call through the St. Paul Area Synod, but truly feels called to her work in housing and homelessness, so that feels just right. She and her wife Jodi attend Grace University Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.
Javen Swanson is a native of Pine River, Minnesota, in the Brainerd Lakes Area. After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2006, he received a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School in 2009. He worked as a community organizer with OutFront Minnesota and the Minnesotans United campaign, before serving as the Interim Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force. He was ordained and installed at Gloria Dei Lutheran in August 2014. He lives in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood with his husband Oby Ballinger, who is also a pastor, their dog Ruthie, and two cats, Amos and Hosea.
Learn more
Additional resources may be found on the RLC Inclusion blog.