Rev. Christine Haider-Winnett is an ordained Roman Catholic Womanpriest and a Commissioned and Endorsed Minister with the Federation of Christian Ministries. She holds a Master of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion, a BA in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College, and a Certificate in Women’s Studies in Religion from the GTU. She lives in Davis, California, with her husband, Alex (a UU Fellowshipped Minister), their preschooler and two cats.
Christine serves as Palliative Care and Inpatient Hospice Chaplain at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. She also has a small ritual arts practice (Via Sophia Ministry) which provides radically inclusive Catholic ritual and spiritual accompaniment. Prior to serving as a chaplain, she spent over a decade working in faith-based social justice organizations, including: Friends Committee on National Legislation (a Quaker social justice lobby), Call To Action (a Catholic Church reform organization), Equally Blessed (a coalition of LGBTQ+ affirming Catholic organizations) and Sister Parish, Inc (a solidarity-based organization linking churches in the US and Central America). She is also a former Co-President of the Women’s Ordination Conference, the oldest and largest organization advocating for the ordination of Catholic women. Christine served on the original Anti-Racism Team for the Women’s Ordination Conference and has actively participated in RCWP’s process to strengthen its commitment to anti-oppression, particularly around racial justice and trans-inclusion.
Of her experience at PSR, Christine says, “PSR recognized my call, cultivated my skills, and offered me mentorship when I was unable to access that support in my home denomination. I truly do not believe that I would be able to live out my vocation as an ordained Catholic woman without PSR being unafraid to support “unconventional” faith leaders. The training that I received at PSR prepared me to minister to a hospital system that reflects the diversity and complexity of our global community. PSR’s commitment to critical thinking, cross-cultural engagement, and justice-centered leadership has formed me as a priest and a chaplain. I am so proud to take those lessons with me wherever I go.”
