ASHLEY | PRESIDENT

ASHLEY (she/they) is a full-time social work student graduating after the summer of 2024. Ashley is a semi-retired birth and bereavement doula who is passionate about reproductive justice among many other social justice endeavors. They're also mom to two of the coolest elementary-aged kids (Carter and Lennon). Their husband Tyler–whom they happened to meet at Galileo–is the pastor of another local DOC church. Ashley's interests include holistic health, social justice and spirituality. They were baptized right here at Galileo in 2017! They’re still learning, witnessing and experiencing how God is present in our lives. Ashley deeply enjoys both reading & conversations about the wonder and mysteries of God with their husband and their church family. Their favorite things to do include imagining/playing with their kids,Sci-fi, nature, and gardening.

CHRIS | vice President

CHRIS (he/him) is husband to Wendi, the most amazing human being he knows, for over 21 years. They have 2 daughters, Miranda and Stella. In addition to raising their 2 daughters together, Chris occasionally steals Wendi’s cat for some kitty snuggles (he can’t help it if the cat picks his lap!). In his professional life, Chris works at the unusual intersection of sales and human resources. It’s a unique position that gives him the opportunity to provide counsel and guidance to folx, helping them find success in their careers. In fact, helping people be at their very best is something Chris loves to do in all parts of his life. When he’s not spending time with family and friends, Chris loves to play video games, read and write poetry, and engage in his hobby of collecting fountain pens. Having grown up in a conservative church, Chris’s idea of “being a Christian” was limited. Over the past few years, he’s been expanding and reworking his personal theology, learning about how God’s love is for everyone. In his day-to-day life and through the good work being done at Galileo, Chris hopes to share that love with each and every person he encounters.

WES | TREASURER

WES (he/him/his) struggles to define himself in his constant search for meaning. He is a human trying to be worthy of sharing space with other amazing humans, a champion of social justice, wannabe author, student of public policy, part-time kayaker, part-time crafter, bourbon aficionado, cupcake junkie, full-time therapist, grown-up lost boy, TBD… Most recently he has taken to being a stepparent and developing a love of all things Lego. Relationships are such an important part of his life, and he loves to pen cards and letters to special people using his collection of fountain pens and interesting inks. A homebody by nature, his favorite way to spend time with people is small conversational groups. Wes also enjoys reading, learning about sciency “stuff,” baking, watching documentaries, making fun of bad TV, questioning everything, and trying to keep his acerbic wit in check. Like so many people at Galileo, Wes is overcoming his early church years to have a better understanding of his place in God’s universe. His current focus is figuring out how to accept love and grace, and just let God get what God wants without such a damn fight. The best way to get to know him is tacos, cupcakes, bourbon, and conversation…in any order. 

MISSY

MISSY (she/her/hers) is a retired schoolteacher. Her children, Joseph and Rachel, are now grown-ass, responsible humans, so nowadays Missy raises vegetables and flowers, which is in itself an exercise in optimism every year. Missy also enjoys building things; her current project is a teardrop camper.

Missy has more questions than answers about God, but one thing she is sure of is that God keeps surprising her and putting her together with amazing people who just make life better. Missy says, “Finding the community of chosen family I have at Galileo was worth moving 800 miles.”

LANE

LANE (he/him/his) is a husband to Emily and dog dad to Marla and Wade, who makes a living telling his clients how to spend their marketing budgets. When he's not heads-down in Excel, you can likely find him training for a half marathon, cooking something, or completely selling out to make Emily laugh (this includes lots of objectively terrible dancing and shamelessly bad dad jokes.) Finding a spiritual home at Galileo has helped him reconstruct so many elements of his faith, especially as it relates to understanding the true personhood of Jesus and what it really means for God to get everything God wants.

Kristen

KRISTEN (she/her/hers) is a dog mom to Zero, full-time Medical Assistant, and full-time Criminal Justice Major on track to graduate in December 2024 from UTA. Following graduation she plans to attend UTA to get her Masters in Social Work. She made her way to Texas from North Carolina in June of 2017. 

In her free time, if she isn’t studying, you can catch Kristen and Zero at The Liberty Lounge in Fort Worth drinking mocktails. Or binging some old TV show. She also enjoys learning and speaking about the things she loves the most: drag, sloths, serial killers, being gay, etc. 

During the pandemic, Kristen found herself overwhelmed by deconstruction and often likes to make sure what she believes is “the real deal”. Following the recommendation of her two best friends, she started attending Galileo in October of 2022. Galileo has served as a place for Kristen to come out as a queer, as well as restore her trust in the God that gets everything God wants. She believes Galileo is the perfect place for a spiritual refugee and has made it her mission to love everyone who walks through Galileo’s doors. 

MIRANDA

MIRANDA (she/her/hers) is the oldest daughter of Wendi and Chris and the older sister of Stella. Her primary job is as a full-time chemistry and physics student at UTA (she couldn't just choose one so she chose both!), where she's involved in the Honors College and a research lab on campus. Outside of her love for science, Miranda absolutely adores cats and takes every opportunity to smother both of her family's cats with love. Her hobbies include drawing, reading psychological thrillers, playing video games, and creating piano arrangements for some of her favorite songs.

Being a part of Galileo has really helped Miranda discover more of who she is. Because of her religious upbringing, she had no idea that one could be queer AND Christian at the same time; "I was basically a closeted queer who had no idea I was queer - I hadn't even considered it a possibility." The Galileo community has really allowed Miranda to express herself fully and openly, for which she is forever thankful, and she hopes to be able to foster that openness to its fullest by welcoming any and all that walk through Galileo's doors. 

MAEGHAN

MAEGHAN (they/them) is a DFW native, crazy cat person, and high school ELAR teacher who you can always depend on for a dad joke/bad pun.  They, along with their wife, have been part of Galileo Church since 2019 and together the Brieses facilitate S4 each month.  Maeghan is passionate about the Inside Out and G-Youth ministries and justice for LGBTQ+ people (especially kids and young adults!). They also love attending G-Craft whenever they get the chance, and facilitate G-Brunch. 

Jillian

JILLIAN (she/her/hers) has been married to her amazingly supportive partner Janice since 2002 and they are moms to two cats. She is currently attending Brite Divinity School working towards her Masters in Divinity. Jillian has been on a journey of personal and spiritual discovery and renovation since 2021 and believes her Creator needed her to embrace her true self before she could truly embrace her Creator. She also promises that she really does like you, she’s just not always great at displaying it! Sorry in advance!

Jillian is retired from sports radio after 25 years and enjoys editing audio for podcasts as well as voice acting. She also enjoys pro wrestling, building Lego sets, and binging her comfort shows. She and Janice have been at Galileo since June of 2022 and have never felt more accepted and loved, and Jillian wants to make sure everyone- and she means everyone!- is welcome at the table of our Lord. 

Kelly

KELLY (she/they) is the head of product for a close-knit startup working to improve the lives of those taking care of aging parents.   She has been super fortunate to hang out with a lot of smart people, solving problems and building software for over 20 years.   Originally a physics major at UTA, she made the switch to liberal arts - because, well, math is hard. Physics for poets is more her speed and she still has a strong love for astronomy.

She has been with her wife Lisa for two decades now, running off to Massachusetts to get married before it was legal in Texas.  They have two young kiddos that keep them on their toes and it has been the best thing they ever did together. 

Kelly wasn’t raised in a church and always felt uncomfortable, unwelcome or just uninspired in those spaces.  She found Galileo and listened to “That’s What She Said” for maaaaaany years before finally making her way to the barn in the summer of 2022.

KATE (she/her) has already lived a rich and varied life full of experiences and vocations that shape her world view. She has been a wrangler and guide in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, an architectural draftsperson, and business owner, among other things. She feels most at home when outdoors hiking, kayaking, or biking. She’s also a nerd who loves deep conversation, reading, music of all kinds, listening to podcasts about topics as varied as social justice, economics, neurobiology, psychology, and personal development. Currently, Kate is a senior manager at a food company where she is the chief cheerleader and advocate for her team members while also working to ensure that food safety rules are followed enterprise wide to keep consumers safe. 

Kate is so grateful to have found Galileo and this community of spiritual refugees at the prompting of her beautiful fiancée, Marilyn, when they met and began dating in 2021. Marilyn currently serves on the SCT. Together, they raise puppies for Canine Companions, an organization that provides service dogs to give people greater independence. If you see us around the Big Red Barn with our current pup in training, feel free to stop by and ask to give some pets and cuddles to the cute wiggly embodiment of love and joy!