Rev. Anastassia Zinke

Developmental Minister

Responsibilities

Biography

I come from a family of strong women – from my mother, to my sisters, to my nieces and daughter. Like true New Yorkers, we like to talk late into the night. My family has always had an intellectual bent, and as a child I remember us gathering round, choosing parts, and reading entire Shakespearian plays out loud. My interest in ideas, writing, and scholarship were fostered from an early age. Mingled with this was a deep love of New York City – its diverse history, its neighborhoods, and its people. Because building connections with people outside our immediate neighborhood was important, my mother enrolled me in the Harlem School of the Arts and signed me up for tennis lessons on Harlem’s community courts. This engagement with life ensured that even when we were poor and had few possessions, life still felt rich to us.

My husband, Kent, and I met twenty years ago while working for Senator Edward Kennedy. We share a commitment to progressive causes, international travel, and community service, but most of all we enjoy being with each other and mutually embracing the adventure of life. Kent is a generous, wise, and caring person who also likes to kick back, relax, and listen to live music. He has volunteered for food banks, street papers, and as a youth mentor. Our relationship has been a transformative blessing within my life. I am grateful to have him as my spouse, and to raise our two children with him. I truly don’t know how I would be able to do parenting and congregational ministry without him.

Our children are a central part of our life. Sadie (11) is a determined, smart, ethical person who has come to love congregational life and who desires to be an artist. Benjamin (6) is an empathetic sweetheart, a now retired paleontologist (wink), and a soccer player in the making. He is fierce when it comes to inclusion. We love instilling them with a sense of adventure by bringing them into new environments and cultures. You will see some photos of these journeys in the photo stream. (My travel dream is to see a mass animal migration).

Even with the demands of ministry and parenting, I try to answer “yes” to life. For the past few years, I have been working on a memoir, that primarily focuses on the difference that loving, spirituality, and community made in my life when I came from a dysfunctional family. This writing, which I plan to have published, has been meaningful to me as well as a time of creativity. My casually, in addition to reading, exercising, and the theater, I am eclectic in my interests. I’ve done African dancing, Indian miniature painting, and worked on off-off Broadway theater productions. I have been a yoga practitioner for over twenty years, and gravitate towards religious sites, rituals and celebrations. One big focus of my life currently is environmental sustainability, and how our family can eliminate its carbon footprint. I invest in personal growth to the benefit of myself, my family, and my ministry.

Our family loves living in Washington, D.C., and the remarkable community we are a part of on Capitol Hill.

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