Reverend Denise M. Cawley
Unitarian Universalist Minister, Artist, Chaplain
I Am
- A MINISTER putting religion in action.
- A CHAPLAIN with 4 CPE units, training in trauma to companion people as they journey through life’s painful passages.
- A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST who believes in the life-saving power of our theology.
- A BUILDER of relationships, empowering people to find their voice and gifts in the community.
- A CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER, managing people and systems to align with mission, building and developing teams.
- FISCAL STEWARD, translating ends statements and mission to align ethics and values.
- A JUSTICE ACTIVIST dedicated to anti-racism, anti-oppression, reproductive health and LGBTQ equality.
- A RELIGIOUS NATURALIST queering our faith & honoring our transcendentalist, humanist, Christian, pagan, theist and atheist roots.
- A SKILLED FUNDRAISER who builds giving exercises into spiritual practices stewarding our communities.
- A MEDIA EXPERT experienced in all aspects of media, public relations, promotion and marketing.
- A NON-PROFIT LEADER with proven 20+ year management record.
- AN AWARD-WINNING VISUAL ARTIST with a 25+ year career spanning fiber arts, drawing and painting.
- A MOTHER, mentor and an advocate for families.
- A COMMUNICATOR who names the here and now with loving truth-telling.
- AN EMPATHIC LISTENER who accompanies people on their journeys.
- A CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVER who is open-minded and collaborative.
- A HISTORICAL RESEARCHER of yet to be known heroes.
- A CURIOUS INQUIRER who brings questions to systems for growth.
Spiritual Midwifery
Whether I am preparing leading an organization, developing sermons, accompanying the bereaved, developing small group ministry or bolstering a stewardship team to prepare a new campaign, I offer inspiration, resources and rituals to put faith in action. Offering a blend of pastoral presence and spiritual midwifery I help birth people to their next stage of personal development and spiritual healing. I feel honored to accompany people through their healing journeys. Are you exhausted, stuck, or needing to move through something challenging? Healing can be inspiring, joyful and heartfelt. I can show you how to look at painful events with new perspective.
As a ritual artist, I understand the ancestral human need for creating rituals and services from pageants, to parades, fire ceremonies, gratitude practices and releasing acts that both follow the seasons and reinforce deeper healing as I accompany you on your journey. Are you ready to work with me?
Emergent Leadership
I describe how I do ministry and my theology by talking about queering my faith. To queer something – as a verb means to not accept yes or no, either or, but to look at things from many angles, to examine path’s that are not typical or expected, but instead ones that offer new perspectives. I think of it as turning everything I was taught over and over in my mind, questioning it and examining new ways to see spiritual seeking. Are you seeking this kind of transformation? If you feel ready for transformation, let’s chat.
Spiritual Transformation
I started my journey into Unitarian Universalism long before I knew what it was called. I was raised in a Catholic family. I loved looking at glossy picture book stories of the saint’s prayer books before I could read. I loved angels and stories of the Divine Feminine. I would flip through those books sitting in the pews of Detroit churches. I was sent to Catholic elementary schools and while the stories of the women saints intrigued me, I immediately began questioning where God came from and where that originated and how or who made God. That was first grade. This hunger for spiritual connection has been with me from a young age. Have you too been starving for a way to connect your spiritual longing and your emotional stories?
Sitting with many as they navigate huge decisions or say goodbye to a loved one has given me a unique perspective to help people along their path. I offer tools to clients, helping them find what their soul needs to name, honor, and release.
Repair with Fierce Love
From Catholic school girl to feminist advocate, from LGBT rights crusader to someone who has taught diversity, inclusion and equity issues to evangelical Christian leaders, ministers, business owners, government officials and non-profit teams, I have positioned myself at the intersection of social justice and religion most of my life. As much as people claim they don’t want to mix politics and religion, our lives are enmeshed in them. I can help you or your group grapple with topics often shamed. Let’s lift up repair and fierce love. If you want to talk about a retreat, conference, or transformative event to help you and your group nourish the seeds you want to grow, contact me.
Birthing Your Stories to Nurture Growth
I nurtured my skills and my own seeds of service volunteering on justice campaigns, founding the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, and later returning to the Board of Directors to fund and friend raise them out of almost a million dollars in debt. In the tenuous time that followed I worked for them to help get them stable and serving at risk youth and elders -often abandoned by their families due to faiths that oppressed and rejected them. Accompanying people through those stories of rejection and watching them bloom when loved into their best selves, fueled my call to ministry.
Since then, I have come to concentrate on reproductive justice. Gender and sexuality are complex topics weaving together ethics, love, health and politics. Often the providers of these services are left to the whims of politicians with little regard for the caregivers or the patients well being. I spent several years chaplaining patients addressing issues from abortion to miscarriage, fertility to menopause, often it is the caregivers who are having even more acute needs and there is no structure to address their grief. Folks working in these communities are often left with no one to listen to their stories. Reproductive caregivers can hear their own voices and share wisdom in small groups and 1:1 pastoral sessions. Do you long for that kind of home to lay down your grief? Let’s talk about bringing this to your community.
Covenanted Groups & Pastoral Care
Rev. Denise offers healing circles for small groups to meet in covenanted community, finding seeds of resonance and soul nourishment. She also meets with people one on one for pastoral care and spiritual direction. Book a virtual chat to see if you are a match to work together.
Spiritual Practice to Transcend
I’ve been deepening my spiritual practice, developing ministry for all ages, including children in all aspects of worship, adults in all aspects of religious education and faith formation, forming a ministry welcoming transgender/gender non-binary people and their loved ones deeper into our faith, all while building my theology of beauty and helping others access their greatest potential. Ritual transforms the spirit and fuels an ancient need to make meaning in order to transcend pain into resilience.
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Honoring Rhythm & Ritual
The spirit responds to the rhythms of the year. Honoring our need to mark seasons of our lives as well as turns of the earth, expands our resilience.
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Blessings, rituals and seasonal celebrations ready us for transformation and growth. Are you ready for that spark? What do you want to heal in yourself?
Creating Space for Resilience
I create rituals, worship and workshops for large and small communities. Engaging in processes to become more resilient strengthens bonds and forges teamwork.
I have gone through my share of tragedies. Everyone has pain to learn from. I also have ministered in public tragedies. This led me to studying trauma as well as ways to heal. I teach trauma resilience using arts, words, and rituals.
Everyone needs spiritual practice. I teach what I term: Pathetic Spiritual Practice. Ask me about it.
I lean into my spiritual practices more when health or life calamities arise. My walking, photography, drawing #PrayingTheLake, reading, and my art all nurture me. I also care for myself by forming deep bonds with my family, friends and colleagues. I also nurture myself with art making, nature, health and wellness professionals, mentors, systems coaches, and professional development courses. Everyone needs a team – I can be part of your resillence team too.
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About me
I identify as queer, Romani, and someone who sits on the margins of many worlds. My great grandmother escaped slavery. I am a teacher, healer and protector. My ancestors were resilient survivors of many traumatic histories. I learned their hardiness, frugality and loyalty. They were also a people of creative solutions, which I aim to embody.
I was married and partnered with my wife for over 23 years, and we created a lot of good in the world. We divorced. I now live with my spouse Rev. Matt Aspin, who is also a Unitarian Universalist. We love ministering together. We currently live in Milwaukee, WI where we enjoy raising our kids, laughing at our dogs, gardening, cooking, writing, being in nature, and scheming for good together every chance we get. I am famous for foraging in my kitchen to make amazing meals. You can find us swimming, canoeing, fishing (I mostly swim, paint and draw. They mostly fish), playing fierce games of Uno and making puzzles. We all love nature, and we like naps too.
