Houston Pastor Shelley Washington Innovates with Faith to Uplift Marginalized Communities

Shelley Washington (she/her/hers), a native of Galveston who now resides in Houston, is the campus pastor for Houston’s third-oldest church, St. Peter United, and bi-vocationally serves as the service director of The Normal Anomaly Initiative. In these roles, she can expand services from a social-justice perspective that addresses the disparities of economic opportunity and healthcare access in marginalized groups. And as a proud lesbian woman, she can also innovate and expand the presence of women in LGBTQ leadership and programming. This includes developing PrEPHer, a prevention program specifically for Black women that educates and equips them on sexual health, pleasure, and wellness. “The work that I do is grounded in passion for community care, justice, and holistic well-being,” she says. “Faith can inspire lasting change.”

For Washington, becoming an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ was no small feat. Licensed as a minister in the Baptist church in 2013, she faced a backlash from the church she attended that had decided women could not be ordained. In 2021, she left the Baptist church and became a United Church of Christ member. There, she felt a great deal of misogynoir, but was nonetheless ordained to ministry in July 2024.

Although challenging at times, she continues to show up to provide representation and support for a community riddled with injustice and oppression. “I have known that I was queer since I was 16,” says Washington, “but there was no representation or resources in my community that could offer me the assistance I needed. There are not enough of us who are out, proud, and loud. That keeps me going for our community.”

She is held up by her family members, both chosen and biological. They give her unwavering support, a sense of belonging, and accountability. Her family provides a space where she can be her most authentic self as they love and uplift her in both difficult and joyous moments. This especially includes her wife of six years, Latreva Herndon-Washington, who is her hero. “I have never said this out loud to anyone, but Latreva and I met at a time in my life when I did not believe that I could be free from others’ judgment and opinions, traditional ideologies, and spiritual ideologies. She was the one who helped get me to liberation.”

With such a strong support system and such expansive work to do, self-care is vital. Washington practices shutting out everything that requires decision-making as often as possible, and delves deep into simple joy practices like building Lego cars, spending a day at the spa, or just going off the grid. With all that is going on in the world, she says she lives by an Audre Lorde quote: “Self-care is ‘self-preservation, and an act of political warfare.’”

Keep up with Shelley Washington on Instagram @Shellez827.