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Barbara Dunlap

@elfsocks.bsky.social
437 followers 376 following 145 posts

Fighting for girls & women & their sacred selves | Chaos Muppet | UMC Deacon |

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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Just bought 1,212 period products to be used by summer interns at Project Transformation and for Horizon Texas Annual Conference. I love being The Period Pastor!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The life of The Period Pastor: Calling the convention center where our Annual Conference will be next month to see if they provide period products in their restrooms.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Preaching on Jonah tomorrow and including a bit about how Amber Glenn is the anti-Jonah. He pouts when others get blessings, and she celebrates them. Love having real-world examples of incredible women to use in sermons!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Perpetual reminder that your church should have period products in the bathrooms.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
I be talking about period poverty from the pulpit tomorrow. I wish this weren't a rare thing. (Sermon on Wesley's General Rules, specifically Do Good, framed by Luke 8:40-56.) Jesus cared about the health of menstruating women. The Church needs to catch up.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
I am a big fan of celebrating small wins, medium wins and big wins. It helps all of us stay engaged and realize that we are making a difference, even if it feels slow. I'm in Texas and an advocate for Reproductive Justice, so you can imagine that I'm going to take any win we get no matter how small!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
If you are worried I'm rewriting my sermon in light of the news, I appreciate that you assume I had already written it.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
What a week to be a guest preacher.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I read this last night, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I feel like this take may help some of my clergy siblings reconsider their AI usage. Or I can at least hope. Thank you for putting it so well.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Just started Northanger Abbey. It’s my 4th Jane Austen this year. Finally reading them.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Sing lustily and with good courage!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I like when it’s on the screen and the hymn number is listed. Everyone is happy! (Except people who want to sing CCM, I guess, but that’s a whole other topic.)
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
I sing far more enthusiastically from a hymnal than a screen. I need to know the notes! I need to know where I’ve been and where I’m going! And I probably left my distance glasses at home but have my readers. Plus the guy in front of me is too tall.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
AI sermon writing upsets me, but what really gets me mad is people (clergy)who use AI to write prayers.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
AI is biased in many ways. The names for the various iterations are as well.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Wow. That is both horrifying and unsurprising.
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Reposted by Barbara Dunlap
Fort Worth Star-Telegram @star-telegram.com · 30/10/2025
Though only a handful of students go on to pursue music professionally, every one of them leaves their band programs as more well-rounded individuals.
bit.ly
North Texas bands just need 8 minutes to inspire hundreds
Though only a handful of students go on to pursue music professionally, every one of them leaves their band programs as more well-rounded individuals.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Especially in school restrooms--not just in the nurse's office! Kids shouldn't have to get a pass to the nurse, walking past several restrooms along the way there, just to get a pad.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
To be fair, those did radicalize me. Deeper into Methonerdery.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Yeah, just like all the Mary adoration in the Catholic Church (which I love!), but that doesn’t stop them. Who knows? Maybe it’s because we ordain women?
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
I guess not from other denoms, but they did when they left the UMC. But overall, all Wesleyans are probably still grace-focused for the trad boys.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
You don’t think they went to the GMC? They did here. At least some did.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
I wouldn't say "uncomfortable." I like being a visible reminder that women can and do serve in ministry. I actually keep thinking about wearing mine more. It's just that in the Bible Belt any kind of clerical vestments confuse a lot of people.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
I rarely wear mine, but when I do, people do not know how to process what they are seeing.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Brite grads are rad! Really though, it’s a Disciples of Christ seminary, but with about 50% of students who are UMC. We get the best of both worlds.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I’d for sure send people to visit Perkins and Brite here. I had several Brite classmates transfer to other conferences, and they are flourishing!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
The old pipeline worked for old systems. It wasn’t created with women, especially young women, in mind. Or really anyone who isn’t an able-bodied white straight man.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Come recruit down here. We have an abundance of clergy! Well, not quite as many as before disaffiliations, but still lots of them. But I’d also venture that the system itself is part of the problem, especially for women.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
A reminder for all of us this week: Many of those yelling the loudest on any give day are just looking for attention and love. Let's all try listening more. You are a beloved child of God now and always. So is that person being yelled at. And the one doing the yelling.
Cursive text in dark pink on a light background. It reads "Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable." David W. Augsburger. There is a logo in the bottom right which says Sacred Worth and has an image of a woman's profile surrounded by a pink and gold halo.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang - finally close to finishing it!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Is it the actors going over most? I haven’t paid enough attention to know if it’s them or the directors/producers/writers. Several also said they would make up the difference, so 🤷🏻‍♀️
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
"Whimsical Symphony Wednesday Morning" Sometimes my Spotify Daylist is too good.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Was once again reminded today that not everyone has heard that they are Beloved children of God. I'm here to tell you or to remind you: You are Beloved. You are Enough. You are Cherished. You are Worthy. Yes, you. Not because of anything you have done or will do. Just because you are. 💜
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
So many people worship Zeus and call themselves Christians.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
We had Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Crinkles this week, and they were the best we’ve had in maybe forever. Other than sweet potato fries, which are really the best.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
"Wellness" Please excuse my snark here. Unless you are in charge of a "wellness" program.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
This is disgusting. Tarrant County already has very low voter turnout, and this will make it even lower. So for my friends in Tarrant County, please be sure you exercise your right to vote in EVERY election. People not caring about local and midterm elections is what brought us this mess.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Spoiler free image of me after the season finale of The Gilded Age. (And I’m not even sure who I’m exactly mad at. Other than Julian Fellowes. And HBO because it’ll probably be two or three years before we get more.)
media.tenor.com
a woman is sitting at a counter with the word no on her hand
Alt: Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec slamming her hands on a counter and saying “No!”
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
"Women are the kind of people that people come out of." Reposted and endorsed by our Sec.of Defense. Calling for women to lose the right to vote. I will keep asking “What would the world look like if women and girls were seen as children of God with sacred worth?” & working to answer that question.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Anyone else Google “perimenopause rage” today or is it just me?
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Me at the end of tonight’s The Gilded Age. My daughter emerged from her bedroom to see why I screamed.
media.tenor.com
a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a wall with framed pictures on it
Alt: Michael Scott from The Office screaming “Noooooooooo”
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Same.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Ugh. IS SO helpful! 🤦🏻‍♀️ (Unlike autocorrect)
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Disposable plates, cups and silverware. Paper towels and toilet paper. People bring food, but no one does the dishes. Disposable stuff isn’t helpful! (Also after a new baby—or any time a meal train or whatever is set up.)
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
A few years ago, I started noticing people calling sweatshirts “sweaters.” The new thing is calling tortillas “burrito shells” or “tortilla shells.” As if we didn’t have enough going on in the world!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
The Gilded Age really has me out here rooting for a robber baron.
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
We are not handling this news well in our house. So sad!
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Depends on context. Part time, Physical Therapy/Therapist, patient, exercise (I guess it’s physical training?).
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Barbara Dunlap @elfsocks.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
True. I do have some other tab groups too. 🤣
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