BIO
Descended from pastors and wanderers, in her twenties, Jennifer Ruth Lynn Garrison worked in a theater
scene shop, at a folk record label, in a train museum, at a school library, as part of a cooperative grocery store and was (along with one other person), the Old Turtle Peace
Tour, which traveled in a VW bug painted like a turtle to 48
states and talked with children about peace.In her thirties, she received an MDiv at Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry, and has served as pastor at churches in Seattle and the Portland Oregon metro area. In 2021, she received a grant from the Louisville Institute to research her work in progress, a book of letters to Katherina Schutz Zell, a sixteenth century church reformer, writer, immigrant rights activist, marriage pioneer, health care advocate and all around badass.
Jennifer is a proud graduate of Still Harbors 2021-2022 Spiritual Direction Practicum. She plans to have a spiritual direction practice up and running sometime in 2022. In the meantime, you can find out more and locate a spiritual director at Spiritual Directors International.
The author of a memoir about running a triathlon as a non-athlete, most recently, Jennifer was published in the collection of prayers and poems The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle. You can also find her writing in the book of essays There's a Woman in the Pulpit, and in several of the Still Speaking Writers Group devotionals available through the United Church of Christ (UCC). You can find her writing online at the ordained women's collective Revgalblogpals and the UCC's Daily Devotionals and Mission Moments (which she has been authoring since 2019).
Jennifer says she prays "every day, but hardly ever the same way or at the same time." She SUPS, practices yoga and gardens with clumsy exuberance. She and her partner, Rev. Tara Wilkins, share a home with a herd of ridiculous animals and dote on their grown kids and their growing grandkids.
Jennifer is an engaging preacher, speaker, wedding/celebration-of-life officiant, and retreat leader. You can reach her at 4PinesJen at gmail.com.
