AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Two hard boiled eggs…..open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Sunday School Breakfast 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 12/01/2026A new Substack is out….open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like: Creating Space for Hard, Holy ConversationsNew Year’s Eve 2024, I said it out loud: 010
Reposted by AskForShaniPresbyterian Outlook @presoutlook.bsky.social · 29/12/2025Number nine on our top news stories from 2025: “D.C. churches respond to federal show of force” D.C. churches unite against heightened federal policing, defending vulnerable neighbors and calling for justice over fear-based governance. #pcusa @askforshani.bsky.social @davidensign.bsky.socialbuff.lyD.C. churches respond to federal show of forceD.C. churches unite against heightened federal policing, defending vulnerable neighbors and calling for justice over fear-based governance. 072
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 21/12/2025It stripped away any illusion that love is abstract. It dismantled the version of faith that offers tidy answers in moments of unbearable pain. It taught us that survival is often quiet, slow, and communal. Blue Christmasopen.substack.comSometimes Church looks like: The Embodiment of Empathy and PresenceDisclaimer: This reflection deals with youth suicide and mental health. 030
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 21/12/2025And in this season of waiting, longing, and becoming, Advent love reminds us that nothing, no grief, no fear, no system, no power, can separate us from the love of God. And once you have met that love, really met it, you cannot help but live it out loud.open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Love without boundaries 030
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 16/12/2025Joy meets us in dry places…open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like....Joy Blooms in Dry Places 030
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 08/12/2025Sippin and trippinopen.substack.comSippin and trippinsipping coffee 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 07/12/2025Sometimes church looks like….. Week 2 of Adventopen.substack.comStumbling and Wrestling with PeaceADVENT WEEK 2- Peace 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 04/11/2025“Politics was supposed to be a shared responsibility — a way of protecting the collective good. Now it too often looks like the exploitation of the very people we’re called to represent.” New Substack is out…open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like…Civic Duty 031
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 17/10/2025Love in any form, forms us.open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like… Loving, Losing, and Letting GoA story of love, friendship, and connection 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 15/10/2025A birthday poem!!!! Hello 50!open.substack.comCollard GreensI was born on a Tuesday 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 18/09/2025Choosing, Honoring and Living…. May it be so!open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like Choosing, Honoring, and LivingA meditation on freedom, ambiguity, and loving God and neighbor beyond the lines 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 16/09/2025…..And another one!substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Many identities, many intersections, many........ 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Sometimes Church Looks Like: Permission to Mourn Differentlyopen.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Permission to Mourn Differently 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Instead of crashing out I just write about!!!!open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Why Moaning Is Holy, and Silence Is Not 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 02/09/2025 A new Substack is ready!open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like:Being Curious Enough to Get Free 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 26/08/2025He’s coming for us but our magic will never lose.open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like Protecting the Most VulnerableToday It's Black Women: Tomorrow it may be you. 031
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 26/08/2025I'm attending Harriet’s Wildest Dreams's event, “Courtwatch DC Training” - sign up now to join me! #HarrietsDreams www.mobilize.us/hwd/event/52...mobilize.usCourtwatch DC Training · Harriet’s Wildest DreamsCourtwatch DC is a growing DC-based program that provides the space and training for the community to observe local court proceedings in the District of Columbia and document our city’s policies in ac... 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 19/08/2025See you on the other side of freedom.open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like Declaring WarIt's time to choose a side. 031
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 25/07/2025Writing and living, living and writing. And all the in between. ❤️❤️❤️❤️open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like: Getting Free from “I’m Sorry”On Black womanhood, time, and the audacity to stop apologizing for existing. 001
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 14/07/2025A new Substack is up. open.substack.com/pub/shanimci... 010
Reposted by AskForShaniPresbyterian Outlook @presoutlook.bsky.social · 09/05/2025On sacred, trembling ground: Charleston and the spirit of womanist leadership Over 100 attendees from all denominations gathered for the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership Biennial Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. @askforshani.bsky.socialpres-outlook.orgOn sacred, trembling ground: Charleston and the spirit of womanist leadership - The Presbyterian OutlookOver 100 attendees from all denominations gathered for the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership Biennial Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. This year's conference honored the… 172
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 07/05/2025Braid my hair. Another Substack.open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks Like✂️ Braid My Hair: Where Legacy, Liberation, and Love Meet at the Root 011
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 23/04/2025open.substack.com/pub/shanimci...open.substack.comSometimes Church Looks LikeRoad Trips, Lent Ends, Renewal Begins 000
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 01/04/2025I just need my guy to surpass Strom’s 1957 filibuster. That’s how petty I am. Go, Cory, Go! I called Zora for him… “If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it!” Zora Neal Hurston 030
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 23/03/2025The framework has been written. And now an elderflower spritzer 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 22/03/2025Imagine being in a Black body and being told all your life to stay busy, to work, work, work. Only to go to the text and learn a new thing. A new perspective. A new understanding. Don’t believe me. Just go learn for yourself. Rest and growth. Rest. Grow. Bear fruit. Repeat. 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 20/03/2025Listening is where love begins. ❤️ Mr. Fred Rogers 030
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 13/03/20251. So…. I got my nails done yesterday 2. My nail tech is like my biggest fan 3. She loves hearing where I just came from. If you want to know the rest just follow me on other platforms because I’m about to be at the character limit. Fall dates are available…. 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 10/03/2025I had to pitch in and serve food and I gotta tell It’s not my ministry. I served one time at a funeral some years ago. And Elder Jones said 1 piece of ham per person. My girl got so mad at me for following the rules. Then called everyone saying “Shani refused to give me two pieces of ham!” 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 08/03/20254 years ago when I had the joy and fear of interviewing Dr. Christine Hong for the NEXT Church National Gathering! I followed my gut and we talked about our grandmothers. ❤️❤️❤️ It was a God move. @nextchurch.bsky.social 050
Reposted by AskForShaniPresbyterian Outlook @presoutlook.bsky.social · 07/03/2025The gift of active listening Shani McIlwain reflects on the power of active listening in coaching, fostering curiosity, empathy, and understanding to build stronger relationships. @askforshani.bsky.socialbuff.lyThe gift of active listening - The Presbyterian OutlookDiscover the power of active listening in coaching, fostering curiosity, empathy, and understanding to build stronger relationships. 071
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 26/02/2025Here we go. Let’s see what God gonna do!open.substack.comFarewell, Benefit of The DoubtWelcome to my substack 020
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 20/02/2025Why do people join a meeting late and then take up space to tell the entire group why they are late? We don’t care. The fact that with the world on fire you showed up. Good for you. Now, be quiet. 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 25/01/2025I think I do some of my best creative work late in the midnight hour. Also—- I cannot wait to share what I was doing here in this photo. 😂😂😂 There will be a still shot that may look like I’m singing. That’s hilarious. #joy 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 23/01/2025This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. Toni Morrison 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 22/01/2025I think the narrative of DEI is often undermined because the majority of people defending and explaining the benefits are Black and queer people but in the last 50 years White women have been the largest demographic who’ve benefited from such initiatives. 010
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 06/01/2025Check your calendars. Call me. Email me. Bless me so I can bless you. Let's work together to make something cook. 😂😂😂 040
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Another ancestor….💔💔💔 i hope i die warmed by the life that i tried to live Nikki Giovanni Farewell… Farewell. I know her and Uncle James are cutting up right now. 080
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 20/11/2024I’ve been sitting with nuance and privilege lately and on TDOR I know a lot of folx family, friend, acquaintances, foes, onlookers, etc… find trans issues hard to understand. 120
AskForShani @askforshani.bsky.social · 15/11/2024Pastor William got mad because I told these preachers AFTER I preached I ain’t been to seminary….. just yet. 😉😉😉 He said I learned everything I need to know about preaching I got from vacation Bible school. 😂😂😂😂😂 #CompellingPreaching #LutherSeminary #Whatisthelistenerhearing 130