Jo has always wanted to have an author photo because she has always wanted to be an author. However, she is not currently getting paid to write, unless you count sermons and weekly newsletters, so she’s putting thoughts out into the universe in the hopes that one day, someone will take an author photo of her with a better camera than her partner’s iPhone (which actually did a great job with this photo).

Born and raised in a small town in Western North Carolina, Jo is currently working as a freelance web designer, writer, podcast producer, and administrator, after working as a bartender, serving in the mountains of North Carolina as a licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church, and working as a planetarium educator. She received her bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy from UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a Masters in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh and a Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in DC. It’s been an interesting time. Her hobbies are watering her plants, carefully considering every thought her anxiety throws at her, and thinking about getting a dog.

All text, photos, and footage, unless otherwise attributed, are by Jo Schonewolf. You can find other work by her on The Resistance Prays and her podcast, What the Hell is a Pastor.