Welcome to Pastor Dean’s Desk
Writing on Justice, Rural Community, and Belonging
Hi, friends.
However you’ve come to this space, I’m grateful you’re here!
My name is Rev. Dean Aponte-Safe, and I’m ordained in the tradition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Currently, I serve at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as their interim pastor. My husband, Gerardo, is an Episcopal priest in Royal Oak, Michigan.
I grew up in southeastern Minnesota on my family’s dairy farm and heard early on in my life a call to service - which led me to a Bachelor of Arts at Waldorf University, a Master of Divinity at Luther Seminary, a Master of Sacred Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion.
My work across the whole of my life focuses on rural life and the pursuit of inclusion, affirmation, and justice as we seek to build beloved communities. In these politically and socially charged and tense moments, as a person of faith I believe it’s vital that we commit to belonging to one another. I come to this work most earnestly holding the lenses of faith, sexuality, and place together - believing that they each reinforce one another and our communities.
Welcome to “Pastor Dean’s Desk”, where I’ll share sermons, writings from my dissertation, and snippets and reflections from my forthcoming book manuscript, “I’m Thinking of God More as Love: The Spiritual Journeys of Rural LGBTQIA+ Christians”.
It is my hope that if you need a reminder of your worth, you’ll find it here.
It is my hope that if you need respite, you’ll find blessing here.
It is my hope that if you need a glimmer of hope, you’ll encounter it here.
Thank you for coming along with me, for all that will come!
With peace, Pastor Dean