Rev. Kaeley McEvoy is the the fellowship program director and staff chaplain at Sojourners. Formerly she served as associate pastor at Westmoreland Congregational UCC in Bethesda, Md.
A former Sojourners fellow herself, McEvoy is ordained in the United Church of Christ and received her master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with a focus in interreligious engagement and eco-feminist theology. Her thesis project focused on uplifting the legacy of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion and the legacy of protecting reproductive rights in religious spaces. During her time in New York City, she also served at Judson Memorial Church, the Riverside Church, and worked in the New York City Mayor’s office as a community affairs liaison. Her areas of specialty include reproductive justice and eco-spirituality. She received her undergraduate degree at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa., where she majored in religious studies, writing, and peace and justice studies.
In her spare time, Kaeley enjoys writing poetry, gardening, and playing pick-up soccer. Her personal work and writing has appeared in Sojourners, Red Letter Christians, andThe Washington Post.Kaeley is also committed to the lifelong struggle of anti-racism and serves as a leader in the D.C. chapter of S.U.R.J (Standing Up for Racial Justice) as well as the national SURJ-Faith organizing team.
Raised in Connecticut, Kaeley calls the Mt. Pleasant community of Washington, D.C., home and usually remembers to flip her backyard compost bin. You can find her on Twitter (X) at: @KaeleyMcEvoy
Speaking Topics
- Mutual Aid and Community Creation
- Eco-Theology and Environmental Justice
- Reproductive Health and Justice
- The White Work of Anti-Racism
- Abolition as a Faith-Based Practice
- Joy as a Method of Resistance
Speaking Format
- Workshops
- Keynotes
- Sermons
- Co-create Personalized Rituals
Languages
- English
Past Notable Events
- “Miriam and the Easter Vigil,” Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington, D.C., Spring 2025
- “Yes, We Really Do Mean Abolition,” Cleveland Park United Church of Christ, Washington, D.C., Fall of 2024
- “Let the Tambourines Sing,” Riverside Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., Summer of 2024
- “Disaster Politics,” First Congregational Church, Washington, D.C., Summer of 2024
Posts By This Author
Spiritual But Still a Bit Religious: The U2 Church
"It is rock 'n roll, but it is also deeply and overtly spiritual." Photo via Steve Mann/shutterstock.
If you’ve been reading our blog or have checked your iTunes last week you’ve noticed the power couple of Steve Jobs’ ghost and Bono working together again. (Anyone rememberthe U2 iPod?) I’ll leave it up to music critics to debate the musical quality of the album and the potential violation of the now infamous iCloud downloading music for each Apple user. But there is one other issue to discuss regarding the U2’s recent release: God.
In a recent article published by The New Yorker, author Joshua Rothman takes an in-depth look into the spirituality of what some would call the world’s most popular rock band. Throughout the years, Bono’s religious roots have not been a secret. Books such as Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog and We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel according to U2 have been published within the last decade. The Archbishop of Canterbury has addressed Bono in lectures and Bono has preached at the National Prayer Breakfast.
One of the most interesting aspects of Rothman’s article was the citing of “churches around the world celebrating U2charists.” Churches as far as the Netherlands, Austria, Mexico, and as close as Iowa, Baltimore, and Maine have celebrated U2charists, a communion service accompanied by U2 songs in lieu of traditional hymns. Rev. Paige Blair, of St. George’s Episcopal Church of Maine, was one of the first religious leaders to host such a service. According to Rev. Blair:
“the liturgy itself is pretty traditional — it has all the usual required elements: a Gospel reading, prayers, and communion from an authorized prayer book. The music is really what is different. And yet, not so different. It is rock 'n roll, but it is also deeply and overtly spiritual.”
Miss America, the NFL, and Domestic Violence
Miss America 2015 Kira Kazantsev and Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, via Disney, ABC Television Group.
Sunday night, 23-year old Kira Kazantsev proved two things when she was crowned Miss America for 2015. First, she can make a nationally television audience “happy” by using only a red plastic cup. Second, domestic violence knows no bounds.
That’s right. This year’s Miss America is one of the every four women who has experienced domestic abuse in her lifetime. During college, Kazanstev was in an abusive relationship that left her “isolated” and “hopeless,” she recently told NPR. In the same interview, Kazanstev says she wasn’t aware of the resources available for victims of domestic violence: "I very well may have Googled it," she says. "But that's not the mindset that you're in when you're in that situation. You just feel alone. You feel helpless. You don't feel like anyone could possibly understand."