About Wild Grace Studio
God moves in and through the landscapes of our lives — the seasons and the thresholds we cross as we age and grow, the highs and lows we navigate as we journey through life, as well as in the bioregions in which we live out our lives. It is possible for us to catch glimpses of this wild grace that seeks to meet us in each moment. As we deepen our awareness and presence in these moments, we can discover God’s invitations to wholeness and more fully offer ourselves in partnership with God, allowing our gifts to be shared with our communities to transform the world. With so much goodness and grace naturally arising in the world around us, we are asked not to force these threads together, but to create sacred spaces where we can tend and nurture what emerges with curiosity and care.
This studio space is my commitment and discipline to practice and cultivate that awareness and slow rhythm, to encourage myself to name and share my experiences in the hopes that you, too, might be inspired to explore rhythms that nurture your attentiveness and presence to the sacred growing more aware of the grace and goodness that move in the landscapes of your life. Wild Grace Studio is presently a space for experimentation and discovery, if only because I am still figuring out and exploring what helps me to cultivate a more spacious, curious, and attentive way of living. In my own growth as an artist, I find I grow not just from practicing and making my own sketches, but also from looking at the sketches and experiments of others. Thank goodness we’re all works in progress!
About Christina
I’m a photographer, writer, mother, budding naturalist, and ordained elder in the Greater New Jersey annual conference of The United Methodist Church. I'm currently taking leave from active ministry for a season of discernment as I explore the connections between nature, spirituality, and formation, all while delighting in the natural wonders of New Jersey.
In this season of my life, I feel a longing to create, offer, and hold space for people so they can find themselves and God, come more fully alive in renewed wholeness, and find new ways of living spiritually and rhythmically that support their being and work in the world. It's a deep joy for me to walk with and bear witness to individuals and small groups as they learn more about themselves, how they are interconnected with the living world (both human and more-than-human), and how God meets them in their daily lives. Some of the most sacred and holy moments for me as a pastor are witnessing the ways in which people (re)encountered the sacred flowing through their lived experiences, and how that inspired them to live a little differently. As I notice, ponder, write, and photograph, I hope to continue to hold that space for you to know yourself and know God, to become more aware of the grace that meets you each day, and to help you bring that experience into your communities and work for mutual flourishing.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Theology from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Master of Divinity with a specialization in Interreligious Contexts from Methodist Theological School in Ohio. I’m currently enrolled in the Center for Wild Spirituality’s EcoSpirituality/EcoMinistry Certificate, which I will complete October 2023, and am training as an Interpretive Naturalist with Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope, PA. I also have over 11 years of congregational leadership.
When I’m not writing or photographing, I’m often reading, painting with watercolors, going on adventures with my daughter and husband, continuing my quest to be a Pokemon master, wandering in nature and watching wildlife, and helping to restore my yard into a native wildlife habitat.