Q Christian Fellowship Team
Bukola Landis-Aina
She/Her
Executive Director
Bukola (she/her/hers) is a first generation Nigerian-American who was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She grew up attending youth group and Pioneer girls in Baptist and nondenominational churches. As a young adult, she was also a member at Pentecostal and Presbyterian churches. Denomination was never a focus for her. Just Jesus. Bukola is a patent attorney, having studied Chemical Engineering at MIT and law at NYU. She was very active in Intervarsity at both schools. She is ordained as a deacon in her church, Riverside Baptist, where she leads the fellowship and social events team.
Joining the organization in 2012, she found a rainbow-hued oasis that reflected the fullness and diversity of the Gospel. Bukola can often be found playing tackle football, skiing, mentoring high-school students, bringing people together, eating skittles, hosting weary travelers and planning her next getaway. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her wife, Tonetta, and their son, Temitayo.
Carter Kelly
he/they/she
Operations Director
Carter (he/him/his, they/them/theirs, or she/her/hers) grew up in the Roman Catholic Church of suburban New York before leaving Christianity entirely as a teenager. A few mystical experiences in old Russian churches, the lakes of northern Wisconsin, and the persistent tugging of Holy Spirit, called them back to the faith through a Jesus-loving, inclusive United Methodist congregation in Chicago. Yet God was not done with her yet - Carter began to lead small groups where he deepened in faith through transformative relationships. After a few years, they felt Holy Spirit calling again, this time into ministry and a few gentle nudges from friends and family convinced him to go to seminary.
Carter lives in Chicago, Illinois and enjoys taking people to her favorite restaurants, getting in over their head in DIY-ing, watching horror movies, and reading Afrofuturist speculative fiction.
Aiden Nathaniel Diaz
He/Him/él
Communications Director
Aiden Nathaniel Diaz (he/him/él) is a bi-racial (Hispanic & African American) man born and raised in Central Texas. Growing up, Aiden went to a small Black United Methodist Church before going to college and getting involved with the Wesley Foundation at Texas State University. Since then, he has served in various churches and ministries.
Aiden is a graduate of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and holds his Masters of Divinity. While there, he was elected as the first Hispanic and first transgender Student Body President. Additionally, he found many opportunities to integrate technology and art into his course work — challenging the ways that we talk about and experience God. Aiden finds great love in researching community and digital theology while serving in a ministry context.
He can often be found working on a new creative project, visiting local swimming holes and parks, learning jiu-jitsu or playing the bass or violin. He now lives in the Midwest with his partner Kimberlee and their four pets, Willie, Dudley, Tobias, and Gilbert.
Mick Atencio
they/them
Program & Development Director
Mick Atencio (they/them) is a queer, neurodivergent, and trans nonbinary artist and theologian. They are passionate about queer liberation, care for neighbor, and honoring the creative spirit in every person they meet. Mick graduated with their Masters of Divinity degree at Virginia Theological Seminary in 2024, with their thesis and cumulative capstone focusing on the elemental forces in biblical creation narratives and poems. They love worship music, visual art, and poetry, have been published by Wipf & Stock, enfleshed and Sojourners, and currently reside in Chicago, Illinois with their husband Mitchell. In their free time, Mick enjoys baking, thrift shopping, learning how to play tennis, and creating art in various mediums
Samantha Hasty
she/her
Program Manager
Pastor Samantha Hasty (she/her) grew up in Southern Baptist fundamentalism as a queer, neuro-spicy, outspoken woman and found her people along the way as she healed from spiritual traumas and reclaimed a faith that is all her own. She graduated from Earlham School of Religion in 2018 with a Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry and is currently working on her Doctor of Ministry degree. Samantha is the very proud mama to Micaiah and wife of Kellie. She is the founding and current pastor at Pitch in Theology. Samantha is excited to journey with the QCF community as the Program Coordinator.
Volunteer Writers
Rev. Laura Bethany Buchleiter
she/her
Pastor, Speaker, Writer, Advocate, and Consultant.
Rev. Laura Bethany Buchleiter is a pastor, speaker, writer, advocate, and consultant. She has over 30 years of experience in various Christian ministry settings. She speaks on topics ranging from gender identity and sexual orientation to self-care and wellness. In all her work Laura Beth draws heavily on her own experiences with PTSD, gender dysphoria, suicidal ideation, and the challenges that come with those when working in faith communities.
Laura Beth currently makes her home base in Indianapolis, Indiana, working as a Spiritual Director, church consultant, and social entrepreneur. She has lived all over the USA, including Puerto Rico. In addition to writing, speaking, and working with local faith communities, she keeps herself busy as an artist, musician, parent, and grandparent.
Cali Je
she/her
Spiritual Drag Artist
Cali Je (she/her) is a drag performer located in Pocatello, ID. Je grew up in a Southern Baptist church. After having a born-again experience at a young age, getting baptized, realizing she was queer, wandering through the wilderness, coming out, and starring in a production of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, Je finally found her home in the choir of an Episcopal Church. She is currently a licensed Worship Leader and Eucharistic Minister in the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho. A life-long Idahoan and Christian, Je's work is focused on creating spaces that she needed when she was younger. She is a co-founder of Reading Time with the Queens, Southeast Idaho's own drag story time. You can follow her work for free on Patreon.
King Julez (Julian Munro)
it/they
Ministry Candidate, Advocate, and Drag Clown
King Julez is a drag clown who uses its platform for storytelling, resistance, and connection. Carrying with them the history of clowns and jesters who challenge systems of power and build communities with humour, trust, and joy.
They are a candidate for ministry within the United Church of Canada, of which they've been a lifelong member. Faith and spiritual community allow for exploration and transformation: community building and advocacy are integral parts of King Julez's ministry.
King Julez currently calls Toronto, Ontario (Canada) home and works as a Program Coordinator for Affirm United/S'affirmer Ensemble's "Re-Affirm Project". It is studying at Emmanuel College, pursuing both their Masters of Divinity, and Masters of Psychospiritual Care.
Mitch Leet
he/him
Program Manager for Room for All
Mitchel Leet is a proud champion for people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) both personally and professionally. With his 2016 B.A. in Art & Design from Keuka College, he has taken a nontraditional path that brought him to Albuquerque, Orlando, Seneca Falls and back home to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. He now resides close to Rochester, NY with his wife, Cameron and their rescue dog, Bruno.
Mitch most recently served as LGBTQ Program Coordinator with Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes, Inc., where he excelled in creating gender inclusive supports and spaces for all ages, as well as educating a wide variety of people through interactive programming. As a pastor’s kid rooted in his trust in God’s unconditional love, Mitch seeks to draw the circle wide and strengthen connections through compassion.
Rev. Kipp Nelson
he/him
Pastor at St. John’s on the Lake United Methodist Church
Rev. Kipp Nelson currently serves as the Pastor of St. John’s on the Lake United Methodist Church in Miami Beach, Florida. He is a Miami transplant originally from Birmingham, AL. Kipp has earned a Bachelor’s of Accounting degree from Auburn University in Auburn, AL and a Master’s of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Kipp became the first openly gay man to be appointed and commissioned as an elder, and was just recently approved to become fully ordained this summer. Kipp has been steadily devoted to the revitalization of the church through focused ministry and outreach within the LGBTQ+ community and continues to be driven by a deep passion for healing and reconciling the harm Christianity (and religion) has widely caused to LGBTQ+ people.
Rev. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez Schlorff
he/him
Pastor, Musician, Scholar, and Coach
I first started my coming out process in 2002 while a Nazarene minister, created and taught the LGBT Studies curriculum at the University of Wisconsin, and now I serve the queer-affirming Third Congregational Church in Middletown, CT, as Senior Minister. I graduated with the MAR in Theology from Meadville/Lombard when it was still a part of the University of Chicago, did the MDiv completion program and the MA in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary (HIU), and continued to complete the Doctor of Ministry and Certificate of Sexuality and Religion at Pacific School of Religion. I'm now pursuing a PhD back at HIU in Interreligious Studies with a focus on New Testament.
Shae Washington
she/her
Social Justice Facilitator, Consultant, and Artist
Shae Washington is a lover of coffee, musicals, the ocean, road trips (especially to see the ocean) and is committed to the liberation of all beings. Shae believes that authentic love challenges us to recognize and call out the image of God in every being, and work to break down systemic and individual barriers to liberation. Professionally Shae creates and holds space for healing, dreaming, truth-telling, learning, unlearning and overcoming together as an independent facilitator, trainer and consultant. She specializes in anti-racism, LGBTQ+ justice, equity, leadership development, and team building for a wide variety of groups and organizations nationally. Ringing deeply in her soul are always the words of Fannie Lou Hamer - “Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free,” as well as her grandmother Lucinda Outler’s mantra - “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In addition to her professional experience, her personal experience living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities as a Black, queer, woman, sharpens her analysis of injustice and focuses her intersectional lens.
Shae studied theater at Clark Atlanta University and George Mason University. She holds almost twenty years of experience within the nonprofit sector in the areas of youth development, conflict resolution, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights and dignity, environmental justice, and the performing arts. Shae writes words and says things publicly sometimes. She is an Elder at her church in Washington, DC and part of the preaching team.
Follow her shenanigans as auntie, partner, theater lover, plant mom, wannabe outdoorist (but let’s face it, she’s really an indoorsist) and sometimes vegan on IG @shae_yesthatsmyfullname.