Michael D. Schuenemeyer (Mike) was born and raised in Missouri, first in the Kansas City area where his mother was from and then in Union, about one hour from St. Louis. Union was where his father’s family lived and where Mike’s family moved when he was seven.
Mike grew up in church. He was baptized in a Methodist congregation as an infant and attended Sunday School and sang in the Children’s Choir when he was old enough. From grade school on, Mike was involved in Zion United Church of Christ in Union. He was confirmed there and became involved in the Missouri Conference Youth Council in high school.
During this time, Mike would also participate in the American Legion’s Boys State program and became interested in law and politics. Despite a youth leader planting a seed in Mike’s mind to pursue ministry, Mike initially planned to attend college with the ultimate goal of going to law school. He began his undergraduate studies by majoring in politics. But, in the end, his daily trips down the music hall convinced him that he would prefer studying music and theater. He switched directions quickly and graduated with a B.A. in Music from the University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory of Music in 1980.
Throughout high school and college, Mike heard from the Spirit and experienced times of affirmation and renewal. He clearly remembers walking in the hallway in high school as a young man and hearing God tell him that God loved him no matter what. Mike had begun coming out to himself and a few close friends, but thankfully never doubted he was a beloved child of God. In the middle of his college career, Mike experienced another time of intimacy with the Spirit which resulted in his choosing to become more ministry-focused in his vocation.
After a conversation with his pastor back at Zion UCC, Mike decided to visit Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis and ultimately enroll. His time there was very fruitful, allowing him to experience field placements throughout. These included opportunities in several local churches where he was able to connect his love of the arts with the work he was doing.
Though Mike completed his Masters of Divinity degree from Eden in 1984, his time there was briefly put on hold when he was contacted by a company with which he had worked as an undergraduate. They had a job for Mike in Los Angeles and then in Texas performing various shows at Six Flags and other theme parks. Mike took them up on their offer, keeping seminary in the back of his mind. However, after being outed to the CEO by a fellow employee, he was contacted directly about his sexual identity and asked to change or leave. This resulted in a deep time of discernment and was an important part of Mike’s personal journey. He remained with the company briefly and then returned to Eden.
Mike’s first call was to First Congregational Church in San Bernardino, California where he worked as an Associate Pastor for five years. He then began work as a Youth Minister for Oneonta Congregational Church in Pasadena. After beginning work for the Southern California/Nevada Conference also in Youth Ministry, Mike held a variety of positions in music and ministry including as a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 1998, Mike returned to pastoral work at Diamond Bar Congregational Church. During this time, Mike was out personally, but not always professionally.
In 2002, Mike began a vibrant 20 year career as the Minister and Team Leader for the Office of Health and Wholeness Advocacy at the National Office of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in Cleveland, Ohio. His predecessor was Bill Johnson, the first openly gay minister ordained in the UCC or any other mainline Christian denomination. In this role, Mike made many meaningful contributions to the LGBTQ religious community. These contributions included work in LGBTQ Ministries, Marriage Equality, Trans/Nonbinary Inclusion and Justice, and work as the Executive Director of the UCC HIV & AIDS Network.
Mike initiated the Open & Affirming (ONA) Consultant Training program in collaboration with the Open and Affirming Coalition (formerly, UCC LGBT Coalition) to assist and encourage UCC congregations to receive an ONA designation. He also initiated the UCC’s Encuentros Latinx program advancing LGBTQ+ welcome, inclusion, and justice leadership with Latinx pastors and lay leaders, and congregations serving Latinx members and communities.
Looking to the wider community, Mike organized UCC efforts, in collaboration with other groups, supporting the successful policy change for the inclusion of gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and adults in the Boy Scouts of America and launched and served on the UCC Scouting Working Group 2013-2022, focused on inclusive scouting.
Working for the UCC National Office, Mike founded and became a member of many organizations related to the health and wellness of the LGBTQ community. He was the cofounder of the Global Interfaith Network for People of All Sexes, Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Expressions and the co-founder of Rainbow Pilgrims of Faith, where he remains as the co-coordinator. In addition, he was a member of the LGBTI Stakeholder Group for the UN High-Level Political Forum on the SDGs, the Religion and Public Policy Task Force, U.S. State Department, the National Religious Leadership Roundtable, the Human Rights Campaign Religion Council and the World Council of Churches Reference Group on Human Sexuality. Very notably, Mike was a founding Board member of Equality Ohio Education Fund, the 501c3 statewide LGBTQ justice and equality organization.
In the area of interfaith worship, Mike coordinated the National Trans Visibility March Interfaith Services in October 2020 (virtual) and 2022, organized the interfaith worship service for the Gay Games 9 (2014, Cleveland, Ohio) and co-organized interfaith services for the oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court marriage equality cases in 2013 and 2015. He also serves on the planning Team for AIDS 2012 (National Cathedral, Washington DC) and 2020 (virtual) Interfaith Services.
Mike served as the public face of many of these endeavors as well. He was the media spokesperson for the UCC National Ministries on LGBTQ+ concerns, with appearances on MSNBC and PBS News Hour, produced and authored study guides for the films, Bi-sex’-u-al (2003) and A Position of Faith (2005) and published several articles on inclusion of the LGBTQ community in theology and religious practice.
Marriage equality work also was important to Mike in his role with the UCC. He resourced the resolution, Equal Marriage Rights for All adopted by the UCC’s 25 th General Synod (2005) and produced and hosted the DVD, Sacred Covenants, Faithful Conversations on Marriage Equality (2006). Mike also co-authored “Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Marriage Equality” published by Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Health. He produced and edited the God Is Still Speaking about Marriage study resource published by the UCC. He acted as the faith representative on the “Unite for Marriage” coalition coordinating advocacy efforts at the US Supreme Court oral arguments in the marriage cases.
Mike worked deeply in the area of trans/nonbinary inclusion and justice. His work was rewarded when he received a National Trans Visibility March Torch Award in 2022. He was notably the executive producer of the critically acclaimed film Call Me Malcolm (2005) for which he also coauthored study guides. This film was featured in numerous film festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Mike was the co-author of the “Open Letter of Religious Leaders on Sexual and Gender Diversity” published by Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Health and he staffed the Transgender Resolution adopted by General Synod 24 (2003).
And last, but hardly least, Mike served as the Executive Director of UCAN, Inc. (UCC HIV & AIDS Network). He is the co-founder, member, and past chair of the U.S. HIV & AIDS Faith Coalition, launched the U.S. Framework for Dialogue project in November 2014 which addressed HIV-related stigma and discrimination. He is or has been a member of the UNAIDSPEPFAR Faith Initiative Core Group, May 2020 – Present, the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance HIV Strategy Group (2009-2022), planning teams for faith preconferences and networking zones at the International AIDS Conference: 2010-2022., and the planning Team for AIDS 2012 and 2020 Interfaith Services. Mike moderated the Session Panel on HIV, Faith and Human Rights at the International AIDS Conference, (July 2014, Melbourne, Australia).
He was also the Executive Producer or Producer of several productions in the area of HIV & AIDS. These included: the study DVD for AFRUS AIDS, Coming to Say Goodbye, Stories of AIDS in Africa (2004), Courage to Hope, responding to HIV in rural China (2004), Why Worry About AIDS? (UCC News Oct. 2004) and Why Give Out Condoms? educational HIV prevention resources. Mike was also the Civil Society Delegate to the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS (June 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014).
Today, Mike is the founder and CEO of Expansive Dignity, LLC a consulting company that works to coach and guide people into a greater understanding of their God given dignity. Mike lives in Henderson, Nevada with his husband.
(This biographical statement written by Kristen LeFeber for a Fall 2024 Queer & Trans Theologies class at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities from an interview with Scheunemeyer.)
Biography Date: May, 2025
“Michael D. Scheunemeyer | Profile”, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed May 19, 2025, https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/michael-d-scheunemeyer.