About Beth...
Beth considers herself to be a heretical crone who swears a lot. She has over 25 years experience in End-of-Life work, has served as CEO for two companies, and thrives as a teacher. She is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, internationally awarded public speaker, and activist.
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She has served in multiple Unitarian Universalist churches as Membership Director, Justice Coordinator, Director of Congregational Life, Intern Minister, Contract Minister, Associate Minister, and Transitions Minister. She prioritized developing strong shared ministry and recognizes mutual aid and vulnerability as profoundly important in all ministry.
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For many years Beth specialized in Peaceful Parenting advocacy, offering communities alternatives to punishments. She has been involved with the Radical Unschooling movement and is passionate about bringing similar principles to the ideas of religion and church. What are the creative, innovative ways we can reimagine our faith that will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable? Beth wants to challenge the arbitrary and explore new ways of being together.
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Beth is the author of All Souls and the Club Q Vigils, an exploration of the Rites of Wounded Communities and how her LGBTQIA+ community came together for lamentation and healing after the devastating mass shooting at Club Q in 2022. Her writing demonstrates that queer spaces provide potent inspiration for navigating loss, grief, and trauma.
Beth is a fierce advocate for a Womanist and Indigenous Matriarchal approach to theology. She is a radically expansive and unapologetic Universalist. Beth's work is based in untangling from late-stage capitalism and extracting the embedded theology that our worth is tied to our productivity. Her approach to ministry is centered in deconstructing the ways religion is a tool of racism, sexism, classism, and ableism, while co-creating more liberative approaches to faith. She believes all faith must be held accountable within the communities it most impacts.
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Drawing from a lifetime in the performing arts, Beth uses creative and joyful approaches to life and death. She believes in playfulness, whimsey, and humor as healing forces. She is a student of Polyvagal Theory and loves exploring somatic healing practices born from decades of understanding that we cannot think our way out of grief.
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Beth is one of the founders of ABQ FaithWorks, a non-profit collaborative of faith communities committed to working in partnership with communities who are systemically marginalized. This pivotal work draws on interfaith collaboration based outside of Euro-centrism.
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Beth is a single parent and is part of a large network of chosen-family consisting of a jumble of extraordinary people who have found ways to provide a sustainable path of inspiration and support, while always holding love at the center of all they do.
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Latest Projects
Ministry and End-of-Life Work
Rituals, Celebrations, and Preaching
Beth has developed, and facilitated a Death Doula Certification Course for the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. This course is available to anyone seeking to work in death care with an emphasis in justice work and somatic healing practices. It is open to the community and will enhance the work of those who serve as ministers, chaplains, and those who work in medical and therapeutic settings. Additionally, the course provides a strong foundation and community for those who are caring for loved ones. It is eligible for CE credits.
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Iliff's Death Care Collective, co-founded by Beth and Dr. Jeni Rinner, is the hub of this and many other community offerings that serve as justice based community care. Learn more about the programs:
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Beth specializes in creative and life-affirming rituals. Need a wedding officiant who will perform the ceremony using only musical theater song lyrics? Want a ceremony to honor the beginning of chemotherapy treatments? Want to celebrate a first menses or beginning perimenopause? Looking for a quinceañera service with a more humanist slant? Using collaboration and imagination, any rite or ritual is crafted with love and attention.
She adores being a guest preacher and is known for her compelling and dynamic sermons.
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You can also find Beth on Stand in Pride, where she will joyfully stand in as chosen parent, grandparent, or officiant for those in the LGBTQIA+ family who want to surround themselves with love when a family-of-origin is unable and/or unwilling.
Innovative Ministry
Beth is exploring new and innovative ways to think about church, religion, and ministry. Stay Tuned for some exciting news!!
bethelliot41@gmail.com | 505-250-6786