As a pillar of her community, Reverend Shug Goodlow uses faith as a vehicle to promote inclusiveness not only within the church, but in the entirety of Missouri. Being a black, queer woman puts Goodlow in a very small category of the population of Missouri, and she uses that to her advantage, taking on dozens of titles that all seem to have one goal: Helping people in need.
Below is an excerpt from her church’s page that in a couple paragraphs, tries to highlight all the work she does towards this goal.
Rev. Shug currently serves The Episcopal Church as Deputy to General Convention, member of the Interim Bodies General Convention LGBTQIA+ Task Force, Co-Consultant for the Diocese of West Missouri Bishop Search, Chaplain for the Vergers’ Guild of the Episcopal Church and regular panelist for the Prophetic Preaching Podcast.
She serves the Diocese of Missouri as Missioner for Racial Reconciliation and Social Justice, Dean of the Jackson Kemper Convocation, member of the leadership team for the Dismantling Racism Commission, Trustee for the Episcopal Presbyterian Health Trust (EPHT), President of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) chapter, member of the Disciplinary Board and Co-Chair for the diocesan 2024 Revival. Past duties include her being ECW Chaplain, two terms on Standing Committee with one term as President, one term on Diocesan Council, and many years as a licensed lay preacher.
She is now 71 living in Kirkwood, MO with her wife of 42 years, Doris, and has two daughters and a granddaughter. Shortly before getting in touch with Goodlow, she learned one of her daughters, Monica, 61, had fallen down and been there for four days with no help or assistance. In this time, an abscess had formed on her back where she laid and she had contracted sepsis due to that. Doris had left home to go care for Monica in California, leaving Shug alone in Missouri to continue handling her responsibilities and thoughts during this time.