Our guests this month, Simone Monique Barnes and Dana N. Moore, join QuianaDenae Perkins in a dialogue at the intersection of pastoral care, radical welcome, hospitality, and small group ministry. The questions on their hearts: What does it mean to host and be held by a sacred community within the larger congregation? What emerges when congregations hold space for identity-based small groups and gatherings?

Simone Monique Barnes (she/her) most recently served as the Director of Membership and Spiritual Life of Wildflower Church, Austin, TX. She also serves on the national leadership team ofBlack Women of the Chalice, and is a member ofLREDA,UUAMP,DRUUMM, andBLUU. Simone loves joy practices like laughter yoga, Afro Flow Yoga, meditation, and the arts, which help provide the fuel she needs to stay in “good trouble” doing the work to build and nurture the beloved community.

Dana N. Moore (she/her) is a lifelong practitioner of “Love at the Center,” an MDiv graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry, and serves as Congregational Coordinator at Beacon UU Congregation in Summit NJ. When not nurturing her two beautiful children, Dana can be found preaching and singing about love, nibbling cheese, and hugging trees.