References & Affirmations
My presence in ministry is possible because of my ancestors before me; because of the many who have held me in my discernment of call; because of the fruitful relationships with colleagues and peers; and to our loving expansive God, whose mystery is far wider than we will ever know and relentlessly loves us just as we are.
Below are references from wider, local, and National Church leaders. I am grateful for their voice and for the voices I have yet to meet.
Rev. Kim Woods serves as the Conference Minister for the Southeast Conference
Rachael is a dynamic leader, an innovative thinker, and a multi-faceted pastor with a heart for justice and building community. As a UCC National Setting Minister and Team Lead, Rachael has supervised staff and has designed and implemented programs and events in congregations and the wider church. Rachael’s ability to consider the big picture while tending to detail lends to ministry engagement that is both inclusive and vibrant, always empowering others to use their gifts and skills in collaborative efforts to share the Good News of God’s love through justice, advocacy, and compassion.
Rachael is an impactful preacher and writer and a creative worship leader who listens deeply and communicates clearly. They are a pastor whose care for others is born of a deep and abundant faith and an unwavering steadfastness to meeting people where they are and loving them as they are.
I have had many opportunities to see Rachael in action in several contexts of the church. One that stands out is during the 2023 General Synod. A resolution, Actively Affirming the Human Dignity of Transgender and Nonbinary Persons, passed overwhelmingly. Rachael helped facilitate an Implementation Conversation to explore ways to move this resolution from words to action.
Rachael’s leadership focused on starting with the local church by utilizing opportunities that were already in place, such as the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program. Rachael shared about tool kits they had developed which could support and equip the local church as a starting point to give life to the resolution. Their leadership exhibited their understanding that the local church as a leader in the community and as a collaborator for change is imperative to living out Jesus’ ministry in faithful and tangible ways.
Rachael is an intuitive and creative pastor and leader who has earned the deep respect of peers, colleagues, and the communities with whom they have worked. They understand the importance of engaging and developing the faithful community to live out Christ's ministry and the often chaotic logistics of being church in the world today. They are bold yet gentle, a leader by example and instinctively collaborative, a student of the multitudes who always remains curious to the still-speaking voice of the Divine.
Rachael engages ministry passionately, willingly sharing their many gifts and welcoming the gifts of others. I am certain that any congregation or ministry setting that calls Rachael Ward to serve as pastor, leader, teacher, and co-conspirator in living out Jesus' love will be richly blessed and powerfully and delightfully transformed into the fullness of God's call.
Rev. Amy Johnson serves as the Minister for Sexuality Education Justice, National Setting
Rachael (R) has a rare combination of strategic thinking and the ability to lead with humanity and care in organizational leadership. R sees the big picture of moving parts of organizational structure, and deftly navigate diverse and divided thinking within systems and among strong personalities, creating common ground while holding leadership accountable to stated goals.
They use an intergenerational approach to ministry, valuing the wisdom and gifts brought by each generation. They are skilled at creating deep and authentic relationship with those with whom they work, which is evidenced by the deep respect they have gained in a short time in the national setting.
They truly believe in and cultivate community care in the workplace, and are able to navigate that well, putting the needs of people first in systems that prioritize productivity and compliance over humanity and relationship.
While they are able to check their own marginalization as a queer, trans, nonbinary human (how they often introduce themselves) in service of creating inclusiveness for others--as well as successfully navigate often-toxic systems--this takes a toll, as it does in many ways for many who say yes to ministry. My hope for R is that they are able to continue to strengthen their own systems of care in order to be able to survive and thrive as the incredible human and leader they are.
I can't say enough about how R showed up as a Team Lead for me from the outset, and how they helped me strategize and work through significant challenges. This type of leadership takes an enormous amount of emotional labor, which often isn't accounted for in how organizations are structured. I struggle to put the entire onus for improvement on an individual, when it is our systems that are broken.
R has a breadth and depth of experience they have brought to their ministry, from working in journalism to youth ministry to managing communications for a large faith organization.
Since I have been working with them, they have created the Love is Louder campaign in the United Church of Christ. The framing of loving our neighbors out loud with a rainbow heart in the logo has resonated with UCC folks and beyond, all across the country. They have also grown the work of the NMUCC's presence in the national Trans Visibility March and accompanying faith work.
Their ability to theologically ground the work of LGBTQ+ inclusion in a way that is so accessible to people in local churches is a gift. They have been able to leverage this into donations that have created a fund that supports local churches and other faith organizations that are doing the work of supporting LGBTQ+ people. What a gift.
I cannot recommend R highly enough. Their commitment to showing up authentically as who they are and working within systems that are not set up for that is inspiring.
Rev. Shari Prestemon serves as the Associate General Minister & Co-Executive of Global Ministries, National Setting
Rachael has an enormous number of strengths and gifts. They bring a deeply pastoral and theological approach to their work, which weaves naturally through everything they do. They are skilled at bringing people together in a spirit of collaboration.They are able to craft a vision and see it through to successful implementation. They bring great sensitivity and care to professional relationships and easily earn the respect and admiration of others.
They are not afraid to wade into profound, serious conversations , and also bring a spirit of joy to daily interactions. They communicate powerfully and clearly. They engage in ongoing spiritual discernment and possess a vibrant faith. They come to ministry with a deep sense of call and unquestionable dedication.
For Cleveland PRIDE in 2024, Rachael took real initiative and reached out to the Heartland Conference and Living Water Association UCC leadership to broach the possibility of a collaborative effort that would engage more UCC members throughout the Cleveland area than had been true in years past. Over months of relationship-building and planning, Rachael worked methodically with other local and regional leaders to organize and promote wide participation in the parade and to also plan a worship service at a local congregation in partnership with that church’s pastor and staff. The result was stunning. The number of UCC churches and individuals who marched in the parade far exceeded previous years (including National Ministries staff) and the worship service was beautiful. Rachael’s leadership and ability to bring people together in common cause was easily apparent.
Rachael has already been engaged in beautiful and impactful ministry in the wider life of the United Church of Christ. I have no doubt they will continue to be a blessing in our life together and that they will serve faithfully in whatever ways they are called.
Letter of Observed Call from Rev. Elizabeth Dilley, Minister and Team Leader, Ministerial Excellence, Support and Authorization
Dear friends,
I am honored to write this letter of recommendation for my colleague and friend Rachael Ward. Rachael joined the staff of the national setting of the United Church of Christ in 2023. Immediately, their vision for what gender and sexuality justice could look like in the broadest expression of the UCC was infectious, and they have consistently demonstrated a deep willingness to do the deep work necessary to achieve their ambitious goals. Rachael consistently demonstrates the key gifts of building relationships, dreaming possibilities, and remaining faithful to the core vision.
More than that, however, Rachael is a grounded theologian who articulates their vocation from a place of deep reverence for our sacred stories and traditions, a rich understanding of our histories, and a faithful hope for our future. Recently, we were talking about some of the justice work of the national setting, and Rachael cogently and comprehensively laid out a theologically rich and appropriate “biblical case” for a particular issue that had been plaguing one of their team members. It just flowed out of
Rachael, like a stream of living water from which they have obviously been drinking for years.
All of this is to say that Rachael is a wise and deep person of faith whose work and calling meets the Church’s (and the world’s) need for healing, restoration, and justice. I am profoundly grateful that I get to work alongside them, to learn from them, and to grow in my ministry with them.
Rachael has consistently shared how the Member in Discernment process has been one of empowerment and joy, and I credit this Committee on Ministry for recognizing Rachael’s faithful leadership and finding ways to nurture that leadership in powerful ways. I am so grateful for the mutual care, support, and stretching I see happening as Rachael prepares for a lifetime of ordained ministry in and on behalf of the United Church of Christ. We as a Church are blessed by Rachael’s leadership and your faithful discernment.
With every blessing,
Rev. Elizabeth Dilley
Public Letter of Gratitude from Rev. Chad Abbott, Indiana-Kentucky Conference Minister
Rachael, my dear friend, what a tender and kind human you are and I am so grateful we know one another. The first time we spoke was just after you came on staff of the National setting of the UCC and you were in your first week. After a rather tough legislative session here in Indiana, you called me on the phone to offer comfort, sit in solidarity, and talk through how to struggle through the pain of legislation that harms God's beloved children.
My soul was gifted with such love from that conversation and I will not soon forget it. You are someone who is made for connection and you live in such a way that seeks to build the kind of connection that gives life. I also love the way you organize, pulling together people in a movement built upon justice and love and compassion is inspiring. You are kind, compassionate, discerning, tender, inclusive, and hopeful. You know that there are scary and hard things in the world, but you do not let those things deter the hope you have for love and justice to prevail.
You also give really good hugs and while I was trying to run around everywhere for 5 straight days at General Synod last summer, your stopping to take time and talk with me and give me a hug truly was a needed balm in a hectic time. Each time we talk I do feel drawn into all that you are exploring, wondering, and questioning in the world and because you include the person in front of you in your journey, it means you lead and listen with humility and curiosity and this has always struck me as all kinds of wonderful.
Rachael, I do know that this world is filled with too much hubris, too much harmful rhetoric and policy, too much arrogance.....and you are truly one who leads with integrity, grace, and strength. Don't lose sight of your voice in this world, for we need you now more than ever and we certainly continue to need you in the church.
Thank you for being a friend and colleague and I treasure being on the journey of life together. Rachael, I see the image of God within you and in all that you, so may today be a day in which you claim your own blessedness and use it to bless others.
Rev. Chad Abbott, Indiana-Kentucky Conference Minister