My name is Dr. Sheryl Metzgner, and I was pleased to become the Religious Education Association’s second JEDI Officer in October 2024.
I am a Canadian who was raised in Toronto, Ontario, and whose love of the French language led me to study in Montreal, Quebec, where I attained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology from McGill University. I completed a Graduate Certificate in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Guelph, Ontario during my subsequent 20-year career as a Canadian Certified Psychotherapist. After I acquired a Master of Divinity from Carey Theological College, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, my lifelong penchants for England, theology, and justice, led to my doctoral study in theology at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. I was gifted to began my work as an early career researcher by designing a novel qualitative theopoetic research method to construct a theory of human spirituality based on LGBTQ lives. This led to my PhD thesis on: “Queer Spirituality: A Grounded Theopoiesis on Human “Becoming” as a Journey of “Freedom-for-Love”.
These lived experiences have led to my approach of my role as REA JEDI Officer in a personal, and distinct way. I am a Constructive Queer Theologian who identifies as straight, and I write theology for different contemporary publics. I appreciate “justice” as the Divine’s movement which is the essence of wholeness, integrity, and righteousness; “diversity”, is a quality expressed in Creator’s multiplicity, one I recognize in Christian trinitarianism and religious ecumenism; also, as a signifier of fairness and balance, “equity” is something I see as reflective of Godself; finally, by embracing “inclusion”, I see persons reflecting Divinity’s spirit of embrace, welcome, and openness, creating possibility for growth and regeneration.
As we listen, learn, and challenge one another in the work of our guild, my aim is to support our living into our REA JEDI values in research, teaching, publication, and advocacy. I look forward to getting to know you, and to join you in shaping our JEDI goals for the future.