Sue was ordained to ministry in 2023, which might sound surprising, considering:

She once believed she’d never leave the Roman Catholic Church.

Then she left the Catholic Church and thought she’d never leave the Episcopal Church.

Then she realized she was gay, circled back to Catholicism (briefly), then left again—deciding that maybe institutional Christianity wasn’t built for people like her.

Also, she cusses sometimes. (Lovingly. Sparingly. With purpose.)

Still, ministry isn’t really a surprise. It’s what she’s been leaning toward her whole life.

Sue spent her twenties in Southern Pines, NC, serving as a youth and pastoral care minister, discerning the Episcopal priesthood, and serving on the vestry. When the timing didn’t feel right for ordination, she shifted focus—raising two incredible sons and building an eclectic career that included stints as a teacher, principal, writer, artistic director, business consultant, and CEO of multiple startups (including one in the end-of-life space, where her calling to walk with people through grief deepened profoundly).

Through it all, her spiritual life never stopped unfolding. Sue has spent decades studying scripture (canonical and not), reading the mystics, practicing contemplation, and enduring more than one dark night of the soul. Her journey has moved through devotion, deconstruction, and back again—always searching for something wider, truer, and more whole. And the journey continues.

Sue and her wife Maria arrived at Common Thread in 2018 and found, for the first time, a spiritual home where they could fully belong. In 2022, she entered an intense season of discernment and study through the lens of Wisdom Christianity – one that led to her ordination in 2023 and her call to succeed Doug as Common Thread’s second-ever leader in 2024.

Sue would love to meet you, hear your story, and maybe laugh with you along the way. (Bonus points if you’re into mysticism, football, or long walks with no clear destination.)

Doug’s been in ministry a long time. Which is kind of surprising, considering:

He’s been excommunicated once

Got fired from his first minister gig

Is deeply disillusioned with organized religion

And occasionally drops a well-placed cuss word

Doug moved to Raleigh in 1995 from a megachurch in L.A., gathered a bunch of also-disillusioned folks, and started what would eventually become Common Thread. In the early years, it wasn’t exactly a church—it was more like a lab. They experimented. Rebuilt. Took things apart. Put them back together. Tried again.

Eventually, Doug wrote a book about what they were learning. That got him excommunicated, and cost the community their building. But it also marked a turning point—toward something deeper, freer, more grounded. Something like spiritual community that still had a soul.

It’s not perfect. But it’s beautiful.
And Doug’s proud of it.

In 2024, Doug passed the baton to Sue. These days, he serves as an elder-in-residence of sorts – holding space for those new to the deconstruction journey, supporting the community, cheering on what’s next, and helping give away what’s been learned here in his new venture.

He is also working out how this experiment—the theology, the practices, the path—might be useful to folks beyond Common Thread.

Because when something good gets planted, you don’t just sit under the tree. You scatter seeds.