To handle yourself, use your head;
to handle others, use your heart.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Our Board of Directors
Zacchaeus Murphy, President (he/his)
|
Zacchaeus, serving from the far southwest corner of Virginia in the traditional territory of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee) and Yuchi people, is a professional actor, vocal coach, dialect coach, and has performed in over 70 productions at his home theatre over the past decade. He also serves as Adjunct Instructor of Theatre at a nearby college, maintaining a private vocal studio as well as other duties within the department. Consciously and actively practicing Paganism since 2013, Zacchaeus found ADF in 2020. He currently serves the folk of ADF as our grove's president, Southeast Regional Druid, Vice-Chief of the Healers SIG, and as a Dedicant Path mentor. Zacchaeus is also working through the Clergy Training Program, fulfilling a lifelong vocation.
Working in theatre and education helps to fulfill his deep-seated passions for service, community, and connection, and he is thankful that he continues to find ways to serve the folk of ADF, and in particular, the MAGpies, in these ways as well. In his spare time, you will find Zacchaeus going for walks and hikes with his beloved mini goldendoodle, Dobby, working on his Irish (Gaeilge), or in his garden of flowers and veggies. E-mail our President |
Rachel Stevenson, MA, Secretary (they/theirs)
|
Rachel Stevenson, Originally from New Jersey, thinks of their self as a tried and true NJian, They moved to Colorado in 2014, where they met The Rev William Ashton, and became involved with the Mountain Ancestors Grove. Rachel was born and raised Pagan and Unitarian Universalist. Participating in both religions actively. Rachel is currently the Director of Ops for the Dragonfest religious retreat that occurs in August in Bailey CO. When Rachel is not volunteering for the community, they are working for the State of Colorado as a geospatial scientist, creating maps to provide situational awareness during natural disasters. Rachel enjoys reading and listening to podcasts.
E-mail our Secretary |
Dr. Amy Gorniak, Psy.D, Treasurer (she/her)
|
Dr. Amy Gorniak is a poet, fiber artist, and clinical psychologist. She comes to the MAGpies from the heart of Texas, right at the confluence of the many ecosystems and waterways that give this region its rich and storied life. Deeply rooted here, she can feel the limestone in her bones, the flint in her spine, and the deep waters of this region flowing through her.
Dr. Amy completed her doctorate of psychology in 2021 at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Her lived experience as a former foster youth and queer, disabled person informs her passion for trauma-responsive, systemically aware, social justice oriented service in all aspects of her life. Dr. Amy returned to pagan practice in 2017, after several years of exploring other ways of being in the world. Her paganism is rooted in relationships; she engages with the work (and play) of her head, heart, and hands as living devotion. Dr. Amy found ADF in 2018, becoming a member of Nine Waves Grove of Houston, TX, where she later served as Grove Secretary from 2018 to 2020. She completed her Dedicant Path in 2019, and is currently working through the Initiates Path of ADF as part of her deepening vocation. Dr. Amy is excited to continue her service to the folk of ADF as treasurer of the Mountain Ancestors Grove. E-mail our Treasurer |
Our Clergy
Rev. Melissa "Bee" Ashton, ADF-MB, MNM (she/hers)
|
An Ohio native, Rev. Missy came to Colorado to share her remarkable talents with our Grove. A former editor-in-chief of ADF's international publication, Oak Leaves, a professional medical laboratory scientist, and mother of three, Rev. Missy became the first of ADF's Master Bards, founded the Order of Bardic Alchemy, and served as the national Member's Advocate for three consecutive terms. Her music is the spirit of our Grove. She is the keeper of our tales, the singer of our songs, our Bard… in the most sacred sense of the word.
She was ordained in August of 2014, and consecrated in June of 2018. In December of 2017, Rev. Missy graduated with honors with her Masters of Non-Profit Management from Regis University, Denver. In August of 2018, she passed all trials and was welcomed into ADF's Initiate current. Rev. Missy's commitment to polytheist modernity inspires us whenever we're blessed to hear her. An accomplished cook and epicurean, you can find her sharing meals around her table with the folk on a daily basis. Rev. Missy is proficient in Elder Futhark runes if you are interested in divination from her. E-mail Rev. Ashton |
Rev. Lauren Mart, ADF (Rev. Toad - she/hers)
|
Rev. Lauren Mart (she/her) joined ADF – A Druid Fellowship in 2012, after a rather eclectic, ten-year romp through the ranks of modern paganism. Ordained in April 2018, she is the Senior Druid Emeritus of Nine Waves Grove, ADF in Houston and is currently starting anew in North Texas as the first fully virtual Grove Priest of Mountain Ancestors Grove, in the front range of Colorado. With the MAGpies she is exploring what place-based paganism looks like from the Blackland Prairie and other biomes in Texas. She is exploring the Prairie Ancestors – and her Prairie Godmothers as well (which are like Fairy Godmothers, only they have wooden spoons).
Her personal religion is, at its core, about hospitality and reciprocity, and has elements that are ancestral, devotional, ecstatic, magical, animist, pagan, and polytheist. As well, her druidry is very landbase oriented, as she has always tried very hard to be The Druid Of This Place, wherever she happens to be living. She has a weakness for bread and for fountain pens, and in a previous life was almost definitely a hobbit. Rev. Lauren is proficient in the Anglo-Saxon Futhork and in Tarot reading (RWS and other decks, but not Thoth) if you are interested in divination from her. E-mail Rev. Mart |
Rev. William E. Ashton, ADF (Rev. Badger - he/his)
|
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove. First joining ADF in 1997, Rev. William shortly thereafter went on religious walkabout for nearly a decade, taking time away from his polytheist practice. After much soul searching, he returned to ADF in 2009 with renewed perspective and awakened passion. On February 8th, 2014 he was ordained as a priest in ADF. He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace.
Rev. William is proficient in Elder Futhark runes if you are interested in divination from him. E-mail Rev. Ashton |
