Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge

The Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge, the last of five children born to a Southern Baptist minister and his wife, felt God's call on her life from as early as she can remember. The Greensboro, North Carolina, native always knew that God wanted her to minister to others in some way, but being raised in the Southern Baptist church, her options were limited. Those options were further limited when she came out as a lesbian at age 16.

At the age of 17 she began a career in journalism after being offered an opportunity to work at a radio station in Buford, Georgia, where she spent much of her childhood. Her journalism career spanned nearly 20 years and included jobs at several Atlanta radio and television stations including WGST radio and CNN.

In 1996, she combined her journalism skills and that persistent call from God to serve and founded Whosoever www.whosoever.org), the first exclusively online magazine for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians. The bimonthly magazine provides inspiration, guidance and information and explores many topics of faith from the GLBT perspective including grace, spiritual self-defense, loving one's enemies and living a life of integrity. More than 500,000 people visit Whosoever each year.

Whosoever brought up new questions for Chellew-Hodge about her spiritual walk as a lesbian and a Christian--and readers of the magazine challenged her to explain how one can be both gay and Christian. This led her to enter seminary in 1998 to deepen her own understanding of the Christian faith and how it meshed with her sexuality. She received a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2002.

Despite the magazine and the degree, God continued to call Chellew-Hodge deeper into ministry. She answered that call and was ordained as a minister of the gospel on December 7, 2003, by Gentle Spirit Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and currently serves as assistant pastor at MCC Columbia in Columbia, South Carolina.

She and her spouse Wanda share their home with their furry children, the dogs--Loki, Sadie and Bandit and the cats--George and Copper.

(This biographical statement provided by Candace Chellew-Hodge.)

Biography Date: July, 2005

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