ORGANIZING Team
This is our behind-the-scenes crew. We’re the ones sending you emails,
posting on the ‘gram, and dreaming up what’s next.
Rev. Dr. Jay Williams
(he/him)
Jay is a queer cisgender preacher-scholar-activist, who loves pizza, exercise, Spirit-talk, and the Thundercats. He is the lead pastor of Union Church Boston and an adjunct professor at Boston University School of Theology, where he teaches “Black Lives Matter + Theology”, queer theology, and United Methodist polity. Jay and his life partner, Robert, reside in Roxbury with their two crazy yorkie-chihuahuas, Bentley and Hurston.
Kyle Walden
(he/him)
Kyle is the Pastor of Strategic Engagement at Union Church in Boston, innovating how to “be the church” online. He challenges and labors within the Church to bring forth God’s kin-dom vision rooted in liberation, life, and love. Kyle is a nerd who loves talking about theology, history, or the latest interesting thing he read. In his free time, Kyle enjoys playing music, watching “The West Wing,” or having long conversations with friends and family.
Victoria Sun Esparza
(She/her)
Victoria is a queer pastor and designer, passionate about the future of faith and spirituality. Most days you’ll find her juggling her job as the Family Minister at White Rock UMC and running her consulting business, where she teaches pastors and churches about tools for innovation and creativity using Human-Centered Design. Victoria loves jasmine tea over dim sum with friends and family and chatting all things design.
Rev. Tyler Sit
(he/him)
Tyler Sit is the church planter and pastor of New City Church, a community that does intersectional organizing, especially looking at race, queerness, and the earth. He joined the Liberation Project because, ever since he was a kid in a United Methodist Sunday school, he knew that Jesus made a way for people (even queer, Asian people like him) to connect with God, love community, and make a difference in the world.
DERRick Scott III
(HE/Him)
Derrick has been leading ministry to college-aged young adults for 18 years. He is passionate about creating spaces for young adults to thrive in life and ministry. He also works part-time at a local craft brewery, lives with his dog Winston and cat Julian, and loves talking theology, history, politics and accounting.
Rev. Jonah Overton
(They/Them)
As a genderqueer church planter and community organizer, Jonah loves bringing new visions into reality. They love storytelling and reclaiming space that feels off limits (including the church!). You can find them doing ministry, geeking out about the bible, or failing to paddleboard in the city of Milwaukee, WI.
Cameron Overton
(He/him)
Cameron is a social worker and the lay worship pastor of Zao MKE Church. As a young, Black, queer and trans person, Cameron's ministry calling is to build the church into an intersectional and queer liberated space. Cameron is deeply convinced that when words fail, music speaks and can bring people together. When he is not playing an instrument or singing, you can find him cooking dinner with family and friends or on the look out for the next new "must watch" television series.
Rev. Dr
. Sara Garrard
(she/her)
Sara is a southern transplant living in Boston with her wife (also a pastor) and their two dogs. Sara loves Jesus, CrossFit, binging sci/fantasy books and tv shows, and bourbon, not always in that order. You can usually find her working out, talking to every single dog she encounters, or making snarky and justice-centered art installations for her church.
Austin Adkinson
(He/they)
Austin is a queer pastor in Seattle and consent and sexuality educator. They’ve been engaging Methodists across the connection and pushing the denomination to better represent the liberating love of Jesus. As a fourth generation Methodist (at least), Austin believes we can and must be better at reflecting the perfect love of God. When not in front of a screen, they can be found geeking out about texts that didn’t make it into the New Testament or the hop profiles of tasty northwest craft brews.