About
Welcome! I identify as a white, cisgender, straight, fully-abled, upper-middle class woman. I use the pronouns she and her.
Spiritually, I identify as a mystic with a deep connection to the natural world. Many teachers inspire me and influence my work. Find them under the Inspiration tab.
I'm a Board Certified Coach (BCC) and ordained Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister. Unitarian Universalism allows me to be spiritually fluid which means I honor all spiritual orienting systems and meet people where they are.
I received a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and am an adjunct instructor there.
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Minister Association and Spiritual Directors International, I am bound and committed by the codes of conduct each provides. Monthly, I receive supervision and spiritual direction to keep my skills sharp and intuition open! I'm also on the Board of Directors and contribute to the curriculum of UU Wellspring, a program for spiritual deepening.
For 25 years, I've been exploring my ancestors and especially their spiritualities. Christianity and pre-Christian Celtic religion are part of my own spiritual life and a way I honor my lineage (with all of its warts and wonders). I've done ancestral research, healing rituals, somatic practices, and meditations in Ireland and Germany where many of my ancestors resided before immigrating to the United States. Core shamanic journeying is one of my spiritual practices, although not the only one.
I've worked with a variety of Celtic teachers including Harvard-trained Celticist, Sharon MacLeod. Somewhere along the way, I began to sense the significance of energy and its power, so I completed the Master Teacher Usui Reiki Practitioner Certification and incorporate that into my work. My Reiki teachers and I honor the Japanese lineage of Usui, Hayashi and Takata. (The term "master" means teacher, not one who has authority over another.) And I also incorporate Celtic symbolism and ritual into energy work. Body-based (somatic) practices are also important for wholeness and are part of my life and work.
I've been around awhile (I'm 57 years old), so a mix of experience in business, ministry, chaplaincy and justice advocacy influence and enrich my work. Before attending seminary, I had a twenty-two-year career in business which included working for Procter and Gamble, Computer Associates and General Electric. Then for twelve years, a business partner and I led a woman-owned organization to offer consulting and leadership training to small and large organizations. (We had onsite daycare for our babies and offered it to employees, too.) I was an executive coach when the idea of seminary wouldn't leave my heart and soul.
Since my call to ministry and ordination, I've served as pastor of three congregations. I'm also a certified Justice Movement Chaplain and am involved as an accomplice and ally in a variety of social and environmental justice movements. Immigration justice has been at the center of that work for over a decade. As lead minister at the UU Church of Boulder, I supported the congregation as they discerned to become a Sanctuary Congregation and in the work involved after that decision. With a Latina partner, I teach a course for Casa de Paz volunteers on anti-racism and being an ally and accomplice in the work.
Spiritually, I identify as a mystic with a deep connection to the natural world. Many teachers inspire me and influence my work. Find them under the Inspiration tab.
I'm a Board Certified Coach (BCC) and ordained Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister. Unitarian Universalism allows me to be spiritually fluid which means I honor all spiritual orienting systems and meet people where they are.
I received a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and am an adjunct instructor there.
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Minister Association and Spiritual Directors International, I am bound and committed by the codes of conduct each provides. Monthly, I receive supervision and spiritual direction to keep my skills sharp and intuition open! I'm also on the Board of Directors and contribute to the curriculum of UU Wellspring, a program for spiritual deepening.
For 25 years, I've been exploring my ancestors and especially their spiritualities. Christianity and pre-Christian Celtic religion are part of my own spiritual life and a way I honor my lineage (with all of its warts and wonders). I've done ancestral research, healing rituals, somatic practices, and meditations in Ireland and Germany where many of my ancestors resided before immigrating to the United States. Core shamanic journeying is one of my spiritual practices, although not the only one.
I've worked with a variety of Celtic teachers including Harvard-trained Celticist, Sharon MacLeod. Somewhere along the way, I began to sense the significance of energy and its power, so I completed the Master Teacher Usui Reiki Practitioner Certification and incorporate that into my work. My Reiki teachers and I honor the Japanese lineage of Usui, Hayashi and Takata. (The term "master" means teacher, not one who has authority over another.) And I also incorporate Celtic symbolism and ritual into energy work. Body-based (somatic) practices are also important for wholeness and are part of my life and work.
I've been around awhile (I'm 57 years old), so a mix of experience in business, ministry, chaplaincy and justice advocacy influence and enrich my work. Before attending seminary, I had a twenty-two-year career in business which included working for Procter and Gamble, Computer Associates and General Electric. Then for twelve years, a business partner and I led a woman-owned organization to offer consulting and leadership training to small and large organizations. (We had onsite daycare for our babies and offered it to employees, too.) I was an executive coach when the idea of seminary wouldn't leave my heart and soul.
Since my call to ministry and ordination, I've served as pastor of three congregations. I'm also a certified Justice Movement Chaplain and am involved as an accomplice and ally in a variety of social and environmental justice movements. Immigration justice has been at the center of that work for over a decade. As lead minister at the UU Church of Boulder, I supported the congregation as they discerned to become a Sanctuary Congregation and in the work involved after that decision. With a Latina partner, I teach a course for Casa de Paz volunteers on anti-racism and being an ally and accomplice in the work.
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Some more examples of how I use my privilege to advocate for change include:
Toolkit for Solidarity - developed in 2020-21 Opinion Piece about Immigration Faith-based Call for Action Blessing of the Ballots video Blessing of the Ballots article |
I'm working to dismantle characteristics of white supremacy culture that live in me - in my personality and day-to-day life. Right now, I'm working the characteristic called "qualified" - the assumption that I'm qualified and even duty bound to fix, save, and set straight the world. White middle and owning class educated people can internalize and assume their own inherent qualifications to "improve" whatever is in front of them that is "broken" without acknowledging or seeing their role in breaking it. This internalized assumption becomes an unnamed way of being, a conditioned impulse to "help" others out of a what feels like a benign sense that they know the right way, the best way with little or no understanding of how limited they really are. That is all alive in me.
I'll be learning and growing always, and I'm committed to keep at it. I believe our spiritual growth needs to take us into the world to create more justice, goodness and love. And as we enact justice, we rely on our spiritual lives to keep us grounded, centered and connected so we don't bring ego and dominance into the justice work.
Denver, Colorado is my home, occupied land of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) people whose governments and cultures are still alive. You can learn about the land where you live at Native Land and begin to honor those people and histories. It's a first step in disrupting the pattern of "dominant and other".
I'm married to Pete Dignan who supports me in all aspects of life and loves me. I love him back.
I have precious descendants whom I adore - two grown children, two grown step children and one step grandson. Both of my brothers live within 15 minutes of me; they have known me the longest, and we continue the shared journey. My kids, nieces and nephews are my teachers and bring me great joy as we explore becoming good ancestors ourselves.
Contact me directly at kgdignan@gmail.com. Visit my blog which is the place I tell stories and reflect on topics that might interest you.
I'll be learning and growing always, and I'm committed to keep at it. I believe our spiritual growth needs to take us into the world to create more justice, goodness and love. And as we enact justice, we rely on our spiritual lives to keep us grounded, centered and connected so we don't bring ego and dominance into the justice work.
Denver, Colorado is my home, occupied land of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) people whose governments and cultures are still alive. You can learn about the land where you live at Native Land and begin to honor those people and histories. It's a first step in disrupting the pattern of "dominant and other".
I'm married to Pete Dignan who supports me in all aspects of life and loves me. I love him back.
I have precious descendants whom I adore - two grown children, two grown step children and one step grandson. Both of my brothers live within 15 minutes of me; they have known me the longest, and we continue the shared journey. My kids, nieces and nephews are my teachers and bring me great joy as we explore becoming good ancestors ourselves.
Contact me directly at kgdignan@gmail.com. Visit my blog which is the place I tell stories and reflect on topics that might interest you.