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Floral House Members 2013-2014
Why hello there! An archaeologist by trade, I’ve spent the last eight years traveling around America and Europe, earning two MA degrees in the process and still not really knowing where God is calling me to be. I love old bookstores, laughing until my sides hurt, and visiting structures that are older than my country. I thrive most when I connect with others and when I can get my hands dirty (metaphorically and literally). This year, I hope to explore the city where my parents met, grow as a member of an intentional community, as well as emotionally and spiritually, and to figure out to how best serve God’s people. If I can learn Japanese in the process, all the better!
Having been born and raised in the Midwest, I am excited to return to the region after attending Divinity School on the East Coast. In returning I am continuing to discern a call to Holy Orders while serving as a lay minister. I love the Church! I love its traditions, the coffee hours, youth
group events, cleaning the sacristy, criticizing contemporary style vestments, and (poorly) singing along with the liturgy. I am thoroughly a ‘Church Nerd’. When I’m not obsessing over the esoteric, scandalous, or beautiful elements of wider church life, I enjoy watching movies, taking walks, and eating too much.
Hi there! My name is Brianna. This is my second year as a Floral House residential member and I’m so excited to share the year with Church of the Redeemer and MEAC. I collect stones from various places, write songs on a little guitar for my music and art project called Poor Marigold, and ride a bicycle named Old Girl ‘round the town. I enjoy climbing trees, smelling soaps, and reading about the saints. Meet me for coffee sometime! Let’s be friends.
I have spent most of my life in Cincinnati, including the past seven years, and all of my life in the Episcopal Church. Both are places I very much consider to be home. I have spent much of my professional career working as an engineer, but I am currently exploring my vocation within the church, as that is where my passions lie. My understanding of my call as a Christian is to make known the presence of the Kingdom of God here on earth, and I hope to realize that by creating community, engaging with those on the margins, and celebrating creation.
I was born on December 31st 1984 at 11:59:59 in Jacksonville, NC to Carl John “CJ” Fosnaugh, III (Marine pilot) and Karen Marie Fosnaugh (Radiological Technologist). I was baptized during the Easter service on April 7th 1985 at Messiah Lutheran Church in Reynoldsburg, OH. According to the old liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, April 7th is also the Annunciation. I find this duel-feast day thing spiritually significant and own both a Resurrection and an Annunciation icon in honor of this. I also own an icon of St. Tikhon of Moscow, who died on April 7th, 1925. My parents raised me in the Lutheran tradition and I grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I have lived in North Carolina, Northern Virginia, Rhode Island, and Hawaii during my father’s military career. I have since lived in Woodbridge, Quantico, and Fredericksburg, VA, Columbus and now Cincinnati, OH during my educational and vocational journey. I recently earned a degree from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, a Masters of Theological Studies. I have recently been received into both the Episcopal Church and the Order of the Holy Cross (as an associate) this past Eastertide. I am a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Granville, OH and will be attending services at St. Timothy’s Anderson Township. Aside from the icons (of which I have several), the Daily Office and high church worship are each strong parts of my spirituality. I am also a huge nerd with loves of history, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, film, and Biblical languages. I am also developing skills in the Korean sword-based martial art known as Moojung Gumdo.
Greetings! My name is Devin. I am 26 years old and am very excited to be a member of the Floral House Community. I was raised in Northeast Ohio in a small town called Lisbon. From a young age, I learned the importance of being in various types of communities and discovered the need for Christians to be in community with one another and God. I am an eclectic person and enjoy music, reading about spirituality, spending time outdoors, and being in conversation with others. Recently, I have started to study French and with the help of my partner and hours of practice, I will one day be fluent. In general I am a very joyous and excited person. I feel life itself reflects God’s grace. Therefore, I care a great deal about preserving creation, I love animals, and enjoy being around others. Currently, I work as a band director at North College Hill Middle/High School. I have a great group of students and am very proud of our Mighty Trojan Marching Band as well as our concert bands. Along with band, I enjoy singing in the choir at Calvary Episcopal Church where I am currently a member. In the upcoming year, I hope to better understand my calling and how I can best minister and share God’s divine light with others.
I am from California. After graduating from college, I toured the United States visiting extended family and friends, meeting lotsa people and exploring new places. I like riding bikes, writing letters, reading books, practicing my homesteading skills, and working on d.i.y. projects. I have the best dog in the world. I am interested in practices of prayer and enjoy learning about Christian mystics.
For the first 18 years, I lived in the same house, went to the same school for 16 years, and worshipped at the Methodist church where my grandparents were married. So it’s not surprising that I moved every year of my twenties. College in a small North Carolina town, Latin teacher at an Episcopal girls boarding school, divinity school for a year, then to New Orleans for a year of medical school before Katrina sent me back to divinity school to finish up. Soon, I headed back to New Orleans until 4 years ago when a computer algorithm said I was going to beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve just finished a dermatology residency and am ready to figure out where my path with God is going next.
2012-2013 House Members
I am currently a barrista by trade, an artist by sheer poetic happenstance, and have greatly enjoyed a series of other seemingly unrelated occupations lacking succinct titles. I live in a first-year community house in Norwood and regularly find myself at potlucks, musical performances, public parks, churches, coffee shops, and thrift stores. My latest find, you may ask? Why, an oven mit with antlers! This year, I am coming to understand who I want to be in the world as one who lovingly walks the path between the established and the experimental in lifestyle, worship, and artistic expression. I hope to continue to develop as a decent human being and even one day own a dog.
Leslie
I enjoy pink, watching things and people grow, and cooking up something yummy from leftovers. I joined the intentional community to discern where I might use my skills and talents to best bring about the Kingdom of God. Any given week, I grow in my personal story, coach friends through job opportunities and looks for something to make me laugh–but not at other people, unless they are really funny.
Maggie
Who am I? Well there’s a loaded question if I’ve ever heard one. Well, the boring stuff is this: born inNew Hampshire, grew up in Sharonville, Ohio. I graduated from Ohio State in 2011 with a degree in Spanish Linguistics. As if you really wanted to know that anyway… I love God, I love whales, I love tattoos (in fact, I have a tattoo OF a whale), I love working with kids, I love soccer, I love shoes, I love the Episcopal Church, I love my friends and my (modern) family. I have recently taken up running, and I will run my first half-marathon this spring. I am really good at brainstorming. I believe in Jesus, and I look to him as the ultimate example of love and tolerance. I am awed by the incredible power of God’s love at work in the world through all kinds of different people, some weak and some strong. I believe in the life-giving power of humor. I also believe that the best weather is when you can wear jeans and a hoodie without being too hot or too cold.
Hollis
I was born into the Episcopal Church and brought up in the Redeemer community. I am a councilor at Procter Summer Camp. This coming school year I will be transferring to DAAP. In the meanwhile, I am taking marketing and religion classes at the University of Cincinnati. While taking part in the discernment community I have been actively seeking a lifestyle and career path which could reconcile my spiritual yearnings with our modern society. While this is an ongoing process, taking these past months to focus on decompartmentalizing my life has been a wonderful. Come visit the community at some of our public gatherings or prayer services. One love.
Tahshara
Tahshara graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio. After Graduating from college she moved back home to California. While their she realized that she was just going through the motions of life and knew if she wanted to live life to the fullest needed to understand/ know what God has called her to do. She started seeking God for answers to figure out her calling and purpose in life. During this period she learned about the Young Adult Formation program with the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. In the fall of 2012 she began the Young Adult Formation program and quickly understood that the program was designed to be a place of spiritual discernment and to understand Gods calling and purpose for her life. God provided a space for her to be able to heal from old wounds so that she could grow and truly live.
Ross