“When I show up into a room, I bring the wisdom, the challenges, the failures, the victories of all of my family: Those that I know intimately and those who I only know stories of that I've never met, as well as the members of my community and family who are coming, who have not yet been manifested in the physical realm but who are in process.” — The Rev. Dr. Jerry Maynard
This month’s Soulful Revolutionary is the Rev. Dr. Jerry Maynard (he/they), aka the People's Priest. A spiritual renegade, social revolutionary, and Two-Spirit Indigenous Person (Xochihua), Father Jerry strives to offer healing medicine at the intersections of church & society through pastoral care & public witness in Houston, TX.
“My activism began in my hospital bed,” Fr. Jerry says. The child who advocated for their well-being grew into a youth who participated in antiwar demonstrations in the early 2000s, and then an adult whose activism has included serving as a water protector at Standing Rock, protesting the NRA’s annual convention, and robust advocacy for the trans community in Texas.
Fr. Jerry crucially reminds us that we are Creation, not simply part of it; that we cannot afford to divorce spirit and strategy; and that rest is resistance: “When in doubt, take a nap.”
Fr. Jerry is a prolific writer and a skilled nonviolence facilitator and teacher. Follow them @thepplspriest. Learn more about them and the many incredible resources they create and curate here and at their website.
Weaving change with Two-Spirit Indigenous wisdom