Hi, UUMFE friends!

My name is Chelsea McCoy and I am serving as UUMFE’s movement chaplain intern for the next few months! Movement chaplaincy is an opportunity for me to provide spiritual support, presence, and guidance pertaining to anything social justice oriented. Experiencing climate anxiety? I can support with that. Worrying about the state of the world adding weight to your shoulders? I can support with that. Want to increase your understanding and awareness of different social justice issues? I can support with that too! I am excited to be offering this type of support, and more, through the form of vigils, 1-on-1 and group sessions, newsletter contributions, and more. Find links to connect with me through email, Zoom, Google Meet, or Signal below.

Until we have the pleasure of meeting, I wanted to share more about myself and experiences with social justice so that you know who you are working with. I am currently 31 years old and started studying Sociology when I was just 17 years old, before declaring it as my undergraduate minor along with a World Literature major. During my time in undergrad, I was the leader of my campus’s Students for Social Change organization for 2.5 years where I helped to organize and lead the campus’ first ever Black Lives Matter vigil, protest, and die-in in 2014. I later went on to also organize and lead the SLUTWALK in 2015. During this time, I also helped to coordinate and implement annual Social Justice Weeks with focuses on water privatization, global warming, race/racism, and more; these weeks were composed of tabling, fundraising, documentary screenings, panel discussions, protesting, etc. 

In 2014, I attended a Weekend of Resistance in St. Louis, MO (my hometown) in response to the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson. During this weekend, I attended a large protest downtown with my grandmother, attended open-discussions including one on the intersectionalities of police brutality on Black transgender women, was a part of a smaller protest outside of BallPark Village during a Cardinals game, and eventually ended up being illegally and brutally arrested by SWAT as Obama decided to declare Martial Law in the city in response to the protests. I was dragged through the full legal system for this and was eventually granted amnesty. After this, I started experiencing debilitating depression to the point of having to medically withdraw from my classes for the rest of the semester. Because of this, I personally understand the absolute need for self-awareness, self-care, and spiritual hygiene when being active within social justice movements. 

Since graduating with my B.A. from Truman State University in 2017, I participated in more mass protests in St. Louis in 2020. These included countering the KKK the day after the mayor doxed several of my friends on live TV., occupying City Hall for 2+ weeks in an attempt to get the then-mayor removed from office, and educating people online and in-person on the BLM movement and the fluidity and wide scope of roles to be played within activism. I supported several people who felt bad about themselves or ashamed for a variety of reasons, from not being able to protest in the street to not knowing what to do or say in response to the terror because they were ill-informed about their own political opinions and stances. I am passionate about helping folks build and bridge their knowledge on their social values and where, when, and how to effectively execute those beliefs.

This year, I will be graduating with my Masters in Divinity from Naropa University with an emphasis in mindfulness coaching and sacred activism. I believe that the deeper descent into individualism and subsequent polarization of our country is not by accident and will not cease to exist without direct intervention. I hope to be a part of this direct intervention by helping people to more deeply understand social issues and the role(s) they can play to support them, build their own and community’s spiritual morale, and to establish the necessary tools and mindset to resist colonialism and imperialism to work towards long-term collective liberation. I hope to be able to connect with you along this journey, too, by scheduling a session with me using the links below! If you don’t see any availability that works with your schedule, please email me so we can set-up an alternative time.

With Love & Liberation,

Chelsea McCoy
B.A. World Literature (2017), M. Div. (2026)
Climate and Social Justice Chaplain Intern, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth