Maggie Welchhance (she/her), Co-founder
Hello! I grew up following my grandfather around various General Baptist and United Methodist churches in Missouri. Most of these churches were small, rural congregations. When I moved to Iowa for college, I began attending a Reformed Church of America before I made my way back to a United Methodist church a few years after graduating. As the country and the UMC found themselves grappling with major injustices in 2019/2020, I decided that I wanted to be involved in the moving forward piece. I reached out to my friend Sean and asked them to help me better understand this church I had been tangentially related to all my life. This led me to a place where I felt sharing my experiences could be impactful. Since 2019, finding a way to create safe, affirming, celebratory spaces for all, and specifically LGBTQ+, persons has become a passion. Conspire was born of this passion and the drive to help make the change I needed to see. I very much look forward to working with new and old faces as well as continuing my own learning journey and finding ways we all can conspire together to create a future where queer and trans people are celebrated.
Maggie and her wife have 2 children, 1 dog, 2 cats, a few fish, and way too many legos.
Rev. Sean McRoberts
(they/them), Co-founder
Greetings! I am a non-binary person living in Iowa City. I grew up in the United Methodist Church, and was ordained in 2009. I served as pastor with churches in Ames, Mason City, and Iowa City.
In 2018 I attended Gamaliel’s National Leadership Training as a leader in the Johnson County Interfaith Coalition. This training helped me gain insight into my own interests and motivations for political action. In particular, it really brought home the tension of being a trans person and religious leader in a homophobic denomination. Ultimately, I withdrew from my denomination. Now I am using what I am learning to defend trans people’s rights in society and equip religious people to act as allies.
I met my spouse, Colleen, while in seminary in Denver, Colorado. I am now working as Director of Operations and Development at the Wesley Center, a campus spiritual community that invites and partners with students to seek justice, encounter community, and linger in Divine truths.
Conspire 