Welcome Rev. Julie Davis!!!

Julie Davis is joining the Future of Faith team as our newest Ministry Practitioner. Julie is a friend of ours and champion of Future of Faith, but more importantly, she has been doing real-world, relational ministry in numerous roles for a long time.

Julie is an actual pastor who knows real things about theology and stuff (a HUGE asset for us sociologists). She's going to help with some curriculum and event design for our upcoming family retreat at Zephyr Point as well as be a presence here on the blog adding a critical dimension to our work on listening and faith formation.

We are stoked to add such a rad member to the Future of Faith team (she's from California, so we can use language like this to talk about her).

By way of introduction we asked Julie to answer the same Listen...to Each Other questions that we cover in our newsletter.

1.        Can you give us an overview of your professional work in ministry settings?

Before I had graduated seminary or been ordained, I was asked to take over a congregation whose pastor had suddenly died during the pandemic. That was a challenge. But my training as a chaplain helped me meet them in their grief, and my commitment to inclusive ministry led me to work out the technical logistics of a fully participatory hybrid (Zoom and in-person) worship. While other churches were using livestream technology that allowed only for one-way or asynchronous communication, our church embraced a model where everyone could speak and be heard, whether they were in the sanctuary or homebound. I left that church in 2023 to work for a multifaith nonprofit, where I wrote and created spiritual curriculum that helped people of all faiths see the sacred everywhere. At the same time, I founded a community called The Table, designed to “catch” people who fall between the cracks of institutionalized religion. I am currently sensing my next “call” as chaplain/pastor/spiritual counselor, and would love to work with adolescents again (I was an English teacher for 17 years).

2.        What advice would you give to others who want to build stronger connections within their faith communities?

I know this sounds like an answer written by Josh and Megan, but the advice I would give is to listen. Not to hear, which is just a biological function, but to commit to listening. There’s a counter-cultural humility involved in this commitment to listen, but on the other side, there is the working of the Spirit as people tell their stories in the context of feeling truly listened to. Wonder abounds. 

3.        What is one book that shaped your approach to ministry?

Barbara Brown Taylor’s An Altar in the World unleashed God from church for me. The sacred is everywhere, and it’s a matter of training ourselves to pay attention and honor what moves within us wherever we are.

4.        What is one podcast you’d recommend?

On Being with Krista Tippett and any true crime podcast.

5.         Where can people find you on the web?

You can find The Table on Instagram @thetableinla. The best way to reach me is JuliaDavisLA@gmail.com or Julie@futureoffaith.org. You can find my series on democracy and spirituality here.