Joelle Henneman, D.Min.

Joelle Henneman, D.Min. (she/her) serves as the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church for All People in Columbus, Ohio and is the Director of the United Methodist Alliance for Transgender Inclusion, an extension ministry of Reconciling Ministries Network. Her passion for ministry comes in widening the circle of God’s love to include all people. Here is Joelle's first-person account of her life journey.

On August 13, 1967, I was born in Toledo, Ohio to a woman forced to give me up for adoption. Not only me, I was the fourth child that she had to let go of in four years. Although we did not meet until I was 50 years old, I carry much of my mother in me. Ten weeks later, I was adopted by a couple who dreamed of having a large family but found themselves unable to have children. From them I received a great love of music and care for other people. The family that raised me are people of deep faith. When I was a child my prophetic grandmother would tell her friends that when I grew up I would become a pastor.

The faith of my family gave me a strong foundation, but wasn’t large enough to include me. I was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) that continues to condemn LGBTQIA+ people. As my body began to change in puberty, I both became uncomfortable with emerging masculine characteristics and confused by attraction I felt to both genders. I would vehemently pray and ask God, why would you create me like this if who I am is sinful.

At 18 years old, in 1986, I joined the Air Force to escape the conservative culture of northeastern Wisconsin where I was raised. I intended to serve four years in the military, get the GI Bill, and go to college. Those four years turned in to 20 years. Half of that time was spent in countries outside the United States. The military was not a safe place to live into the fullness of my queerness. Policies like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” were supposed to be a means of inclusion but became a tool of injustice. I was able to more fully be myself while visiting places like Amsterdam, but never felt safe to be all of who I am.

After retiring from the Air Force in 2006, I entered ministry and in my first semester of seminary at Brite Divinity School I heard Dr. Steven Sprinkle preach a sermon called “Shadrach, Meshach, Abendigo, and us Queer Ass Folk.” This was the first time I ever heard an out gay pastor preach and the first time I ever heard from the pulpit that who I am is good.

Although I was no longer in the military, the United Methodist Church also was not a safe place that could receive all of who I am. In 2008, I worked at the General Conference in Fort Worth and got caught up in the procession of a same-sex union that took place outside the conference center. This was my first encounter with the Reconciling Ministries Network and building connections to work for a more inclusive church. After the 2012 General Conference, a national group of us coalesced on Twitter using the hashtag, #dreamUMC to work for a church that would welcome us.

Like for many others, the isolation of COVID gave me the space to explore the disconnect I long felt between my feminine spirit and masculine body. I began to come out to family and friends as a transgender woman in May 2021, started hormones on January 4, 2022, and fully came out to the church on January 1, 2023. The dream of a church that could include me was realized in 2024, as I worked at the General Conference that removed harmful restrictions on LGBTQIA+ clergy and marriages. In 2025, I graduated from Pacific School of Religion with my Doctor in Ministry and as a result of this work published the book, TRANSitions: Queering Faith Leadership. Also that year I joined the board of Reconciling Ministries Network and became the Director of the United Methodist Alliance for Transgender Inclusion. Today I am a justice leader and daily social media content creator @TransPreacher and have written the book, imagoThey: A Liberative Transgender Theology that will be published by Abingdon Press.

(This biographical statement written by Joelle Henneman.)

Biography Date: July 2026

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