Update from August 2022:

Since this post went up in November, I’ve decided to only go by the name Audrey! Good pronouns for me include she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, and zie/hir/hirs. That last set is a bonus for if you’re down to play with new words. It’s pronounced zee/heer/heers, and I learned it while reading interviews with transcestor Leslie Feinberg, who is now resting in power.

Despite this original blog’s sudden inaccuracy, I am leaving it up as a testament to the ongoing transformation of my identity and actually all our identities. For example, I am no longer in college like I was when Ale wrote this intro nine months ago, and currently identifying not with Christian mysticism per se, but as an ex-Christian who happens to be infatuated with Yeshua bat Miriam, who is known in some circles as Jesus Christ. I may be back in school next year, and may return to organized Christianity in my own time, and will certainly fluctuate in all sorts of additional ways. How are you transforming?

Original post from November 2021:

Our new membership coordinator goes by two names: Austin Kelly Mitchell and Audrey Gale Hall. You can use “Austin” and “Audrey” interchangeably, or use the pronouns “they/them/theirs” or “she/her/hers.” They are also very open to nicknames.

Audrey is a senior at the University of Houston, studying the Hebrew Bible and queer theology, and graduating with honors in May 2022. She hopes to spend her life ministering in the LGBTQ+ community as an ordained Unitarian Universalist. Currently, though, they are content with being a cat mom.

Audrey comes from Southern evangelicals and country folks, and is descended from early English colonists. Her faith practice is informed by Celtic paganism, Christian mysticism, and the spiritual practices of transgender communities.

Above all else, Austin wants you to know how excited they are to get to know our congregation! Look out for more from them soon.