Meet Pastor Paris
My name is Paris and I started this blog as an independent study for a J-Term semester in Seminary on the Black Lives Matter movement.
I continued this blog mainly as a format to share my sermons. I also use this platform as a form of advocacy to continue to address issues facing society and humanity.
​
I am a 33 year old ordained pastor in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) now serving a congregation of the United Church of Christ. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wartburg College with a major in Religion and minor in Psychology. In 2019 I graduated from Wartburg Seminary with my Master's in Divinity and served a parish in small town Iowa for three years. I then went on to get my Master's of Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville studying Economic and Ecological Justice, while serving as a fellow in the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice (religionandjustice.org). I continue to work with the Wendland-Cook Program as a Solidarity Circle leader.
​
In college I founded a student organization dealing with Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention called S.A.F.E. (Suicide Awareness for Everyone). This organization was created in the name of Adrian Gene Keller whom the world lost to suicide in 2007 (when we were freshman in high school). The world, nor I, have ever been the same. I have lost many more to suicide (which is the 2nd leading cause of death for teens and in the top ten for all other ages) and deal with mental illness myself. I continue to advocate for Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention in any way I can - one way being this blog and believing in the power of story. Throughout my posts I vow to be open and honest about the struggles of depression and anxiety.
[Also in remembrance of: Mark Cooney - Josh Blaser - Giles Joslyn - Allyssa Larson]
​
Because of my life experiences and faith, I have a deep love and passion for advocacy and fighting for the innate rights of all humanity, animals, and the Earth. In a world that emphasizes independence, I hope to emphasize our deep and innate need for one another. In a world that emphasizes confidence and answers, I hope to show vulnerability and express the questions natural to humanity. In a world that emphasizes power and control, I hope to emphasize love and openness. I believe that a better world is possible and I'm dedicated to imagining and building new ways of being in community that go beyond the exploitation of our current capitalist system so that all may have a chance to have a life of abundance and generations to come can enjoy this Earth we share.
​
​
​