Rituals
I am unutterably pleased and impressed with the custom healing ceremony Alison designed and performed for me. My hopes and expectations, both high, were both exceeded. I was given an unforgettable, emotional, profoundly healing experience I will always treasure the memory of. As a trans atheist working with trauma, I felt heard and trusted with joy and fearless honesty throughout the process.
Alison worked with me at every step of the process. Attentive interviews informed by both kindness and years of experience, imaginative and thoughtful proposals for the ceremony, a proactive protectiveness of my vision and vulnerability, and an enthusiasm in both grounding and surprising me; all of these appeared in abundance during the ritual design.
The ceremony itself, a secluded outdoor ritual around a firepit with my four most trusted in attendance, was rich with resonance and intention. I was given the space, protection, respect, and ultimately the safety to focus entirely on revealing and releasing old and private pain. I am still feeling the changes and consequences from this sacred experience; I may never stop, and likewise my gratitude for both the quality and impact of this experience. – Jessica, IL
My wife and I loved planning our wedding with Alison. She was always creative and collaborative and fun to talk to. She listened to us, then took our best ideas and made them better. On our wedding day itself, she managed to set just the right tone. She was serious when we needed serious, and silly when we needed silly. And she delivered one of the best wedding sermons I've ever heard, including some one-liners that still get quoted around our house. Alison is one of the main reasons we had such a great wedding! – Jacob, PA
Before my fiancé had major surgery, Alison brought together a small group of friends to pray for me. She listened carefully to what I needed and then designed a very simple ritual action with prayer and singing. These simple actions profoundly helped me to experience God’s love in one of the scariest times of my life. – Michelle, PA
[Being a participant at a shadow wedding] impacted my life; my life was different before the shadow wedding and after the shadow wedding. – Devon, CA
Alison worked with me at every step of the process. Attentive interviews informed by both kindness and years of experience, imaginative and thoughtful proposals for the ceremony, a proactive protectiveness of my vision and vulnerability, and an enthusiasm in both grounding and surprising me; all of these appeared in abundance during the ritual design.
The ceremony itself, a secluded outdoor ritual around a firepit with my four most trusted in attendance, was rich with resonance and intention. I was given the space, protection, respect, and ultimately the safety to focus entirely on revealing and releasing old and private pain. I am still feeling the changes and consequences from this sacred experience; I may never stop, and likewise my gratitude for both the quality and impact of this experience. – Jessica, IL
My wife and I loved planning our wedding with Alison. She was always creative and collaborative and fun to talk to. She listened to us, then took our best ideas and made them better. On our wedding day itself, she managed to set just the right tone. She was serious when we needed serious, and silly when we needed silly. And she delivered one of the best wedding sermons I've ever heard, including some one-liners that still get quoted around our house. Alison is one of the main reasons we had such a great wedding! – Jacob, PA
Before my fiancé had major surgery, Alison brought together a small group of friends to pray for me. She listened carefully to what I needed and then designed a very simple ritual action with prayer and singing. These simple actions profoundly helped me to experience God’s love in one of the scariest times of my life. – Michelle, PA
[Being a participant at a shadow wedding] impacted my life; my life was different before the shadow wedding and after the shadow wedding. – Devon, CA
Preaching and Teaching
Alison is a good listener and agile theologian. – Helen, MN
Alison gave one of the best sermons on power I have ever heard. – Norm, IN
Alison has a real passion for storytelling and excels as a writer, preacher and teacher. [Her teaching provided] a lovely way for young children and grown-ups alike to connect with the richness of scripture and God's presence in our lives. – Brian, SD
Alison gave one of the best sermons on power I have ever heard. – Norm, IN
Alison has a real passion for storytelling and excels as a writer, preacher and teacher. [Her teaching provided] a lovely way for young children and grown-ups alike to connect with the richness of scripture and God's presence in our lives. – Brian, SD
Worship and Event Leading
Alison not only helped fill the pulpit, lead worship, and craft a powerful Easter series, but her pastoral presence also brought a sense of stability and purpose at a critical time in the life of our church family. I’m so thankful for her work, and for the many opportunities and gifts that Alison’s contributions brought both to our worship experience and to the life of our congregation. – Peter, WI
Alison was exactly the breath of fresh air that our small, tired church needed! Her collaborative style in worship planning helped to re-energize our congregation, and every aspect of her worship services invited the congregation to be active participants. She encouraged us to acknowledge the goodness in whatever happened during the service and whatever number of people attended. Alison was definitely a blessing to our church! – Lori, WI
Alison was our resource person for our annual congregational planning virtual retreat in September of 2020. Based on planning communications with her ahead of time and from what Alison sensed from seeing and hearing us, she did a masterful job of crafting messages that helped sustain and renew us over our time together. It was a much needed time of healing for our struggling community. – Frank, MN
Alison was an amazing help in planning tech for our COVID Zoom wedding. She worked with us and the other participants who were on Zoom to ensure everyone could be heard and seen at the right times. Honestly, I’m not sure how we would have pulled it off without Alison. Thanks to her we could trust the technical aspects were taken care of and just focus on the fact that we were getting married! - Ky and Allison, IL
Alison was exactly the breath of fresh air that our small, tired church needed! Her collaborative style in worship planning helped to re-energize our congregation, and every aspect of her worship services invited the congregation to be active participants. She encouraged us to acknowledge the goodness in whatever happened during the service and whatever number of people attended. Alison was definitely a blessing to our church! – Lori, WI
Alison was our resource person for our annual congregational planning virtual retreat in September of 2020. Based on planning communications with her ahead of time and from what Alison sensed from seeing and hearing us, she did a masterful job of crafting messages that helped sustain and renew us over our time together. It was a much needed time of healing for our struggling community. – Frank, MN
Alison was an amazing help in planning tech for our COVID Zoom wedding. She worked with us and the other participants who were on Zoom to ensure everyone could be heard and seen at the right times. Honestly, I’m not sure how we would have pulled it off without Alison. Thanks to her we could trust the technical aspects were taken care of and just focus on the fact that we were getting married! - Ky and Allison, IL
