The CLGS Trans Seminarian Leadership Cohort, now entering its seventh year, is a year-long educational opportunity for transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary seminary students. A shared project of CLGS, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and the Freedom Center for Social Justice, our new Cohort includes the following people for the 2019- 2020 academic year:

Top row (L to R) Abbey Labrecque, Catherine Moore, Emmett Altsman. Bottom row (L to R): Lucia Kalinosky, Nick Schoob, Rene Slataper.

Abbey Labrecque (she/they) attends Vanderbilt Divinity School, where they are a third year Master of Divinity student pursuing the Spirituality and Social Activism concentration. In academia and ministry, Abbey feels called to explore and nurture the ways in which they can embody their faith, whiteness, sexuality, and gender identities in integrating and justice seeking ways.

Catherine Moore (she/her) is a graduate student in the Religious Studies Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently in discernment for ordination in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Her academic research focuses on transgender and queer experience in religious communities, gender and human rights, trans liberation, and the role of sexuality and sex in religious identity and experience.

Emmett Altsman (he/him) is a second-year MDiv student at Iliff School of Theology. He loves stories in all their forms and believes in their power to transform, connect, and inspire people. Emmett wants to help people examine the powerful narratives in their own lives and begin to imagine new stories that can bring healing, change, and freedom.

Lucia Kalinosky (they/them) is an MDiv student in Interreligious Chaplaincy at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and hopes to become a healthcare chaplain. Lucia’s academic interests include trans competent spiritual care, Quaker pastoral care practices, and space theology. Their professional experience is in food justice and public health.

Nick Schoob (they/them) is a third-year MDiv student at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. One of Nick’s great joys is being able to learn from the sacred stories of other people. They are a certified traditional Usui Reiki master. Nick deeply believes that God is a God whose nature and character is love, whose passion is justice, and who works in hope.

Rene Slataper (he/him) is an MDiv student at Lexington Theological Seminary. He is a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC). Rene has been a volunteer mentor for transgender youth for over 2 years and has done extensive work with LGBTQ youth in Central Texas. He facilitates a weekly transgender and non-binary meditation group at his church, The Congregational Church of Austin.

Please join us in welcoming the new Trans Seminarian Leadership Cohort and wishing them a fruitful year of growth, education, and discernment! If you are interested in applying to be a member of the next Cohort, applications will be available here, on the CLGS website, in April 2020.