The Business of Humans with Andrea Forsythe Lighthouse Conversations with Chelley Canales

Andrea Forsythe describes her spirituality as humans interacting on a very imperfect level while having grace for, and seeing each other, through God’s eyes. Her religious affiliation belongs The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which she also finds imperfect. Her deep love for the church compels her to stay as she asks the institution to face its shadow and start protecting members that have traditionally been ostracized by its laws.
 
Andrea’s “mental break open”, an experience when everything in her life fell apart, catalyzed her advocacy for those who have experienced trauma in the church, including women and the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Although she lost friends and social currency for speaking out, she gained a voice that she is using to mobilize others in helping the church shift to prioritizing people over dogma.
 
Bio: Andrea Forsythe is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) who loves the church and also tries to create a safe and inclusive place for BIPOC, women, disabled, people with mental health challenges, and LGBTQ+ members inside the church. It’s her conversion to Jesus’ life of radical love and inclusion and her own mental health struggles that have been the inspiration for her activist work inside the church. Andrea is a public speaker, writer, mother, wife, musical theatre performer, and friend.
 
You can follow her @AndreaForsythe on Facebook, @AndreaSitterudForsythe on Instagram, and @AndreaForsythe5 on Twitter.
 
For more on Chelley, visit www.chelleycanales.com