About
Candace Woods (she/her)
Community and equity are the core values I try to bring to all aspects of my work in the world. I'm an experienced facilitator and leader in a variety of contexts - from leading a meaningful worship service or wedding to facilitating conversations around sexuality and gender to guiding young people through a comprehensive sexuality education program - I thrive in the wildness of community. I work to build trust and partnership amongst those with whom I'm working, no matter their age or position.
After growing up and spending years in Evangelical ministry settings, I spent a lot of time questioning my faith and how it had me showing up in the world. I went back to college, got a BA in History/Political Science focused on the Middle East, and then I obtained a Master’s in Divinity focused on Social Justice and Ethics. I have worked at a local LGBTQ+ youth community center and I co-founded the Colorado Springs Sanctuary Coalition (image below) and have an eye for the ways in which policy and language (good and not so good) impact human lives. I'm ordained as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, while my faith values are rooted in celebrating the wildness of the Divine and its aversion to being put in any particular box. These values have led me to reacquaint myself with the natural world and the ways I want to create kin-ship with the plants and trees and waters. As a part of this, I've begun formal and informal training in foraging, wildcrafting, and herbalism.
This picture shows an incredible group of humans who organized the Colorado Springs Sanctuary Coalition together. To read more about that work, click on the image above.