Hello rad NNPCW members, alumnae and interested parties...this is Ann Crews Melton guest blogging while Kelsey and Brianne are in southern California.

So first cheers to Kelsey for her goodbye post the other day. Today is actually my last day at the Presbyterian Center, which feels a little like the last day of school--without exams. But still a lot of cleaning and moving to do. I've been here two years working in the Women's Advocacy Office, and without trying to sound sappy, must say my role here is in large part due to my involvement with NNPCW during college. Shout out to Kristy, Molly, and Dani, the first hip women I met who connected me to the Network...without which I probably wouldn't have stayed involved with Christianity, much less Presbyterianland, at all. NNPCW helped me discover God in community, and provided the spaciousness to explore my burgeoning politics and theological doubts. Which are still present and evolving, but mainly, regardless of where our politics or beliefs fall, NNPCW showed me how to stay in community and learn to love one another along the way.

So I'm leaving my job and stepping out in search of a new community. I'm giving up my apartment, my office, and probably my car....to rely on the grace of others for awhile. I plan to visit Open Door Community in Atlanta, which is modelled on the Catholic Worker Houses to offer food and shelter to anyone in need. They also maintain a space for activism, participating in the School of the Americas protests and anti-death penalty work. I look forward to the pilgrims I will meet upon this journey, there and in other spaces, and am sure I'll run across NNPCW alums along the way. We are everywhere. God is, I am, we are, here and now. Drop me a note and let me know how you're doing. Peace everybody.

Ann Crews

"I keep running round in circles
I keep looking for a doorway
I'm gonna need two lives to follow the paths I've been taking...." -belle and sebastian