Rev. Ashley Mayham

Rev. Ashley Mayham serves as the Social Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator for NBA. In this role, she works to support young, innovative health and social service enterprises. Ashley is a longtime Houstonian, a musician-artist, coffee enthusiast, and lover of people. She has a distinctly personal and vocational interest in the intersection of spirituality and the arts, and the ways these fields cultivate healing. Ashley is passionate and ever curious about what it means to have an embodied, relevant, holistic faith. She brings this curiosity and passion to the NBA as she supports social enterprises in their forward-leaning, faith-rooted work.

Ashley received her undergraduate degree in music performance from the University of Southern California. Her graduate studies at Fuller Theological Seminary focused on Theology and Ministry, specifically within areas of trauma, addiction, and abuse. Prior to joining NBA, Ashley served in ministry, both in the local and wider church. In her spare time, you will find her writing, spending time in nature, doing yoga, and connecting with family and friends. She lives with her wife, her son, and their three fur babies.

Getting to know Ashley

Why do you feel “called to care” about Disciples health and social service ministry?

As someone who cultivates healing spaces and communities, compassion and care are intrinsic to how I understand my own identity and vocation. I am convinced that God’s work of healing, redemption, and transformation is decidedly holistic, and takes place far beyond the walls of a church. The NBA’s role in equipping and partnering with those doing the work of holistic care (mind, body, soul, etc.) is both crucial and exhilarating. The fact that I can take part in this system is deeply life-giving and important to me; it gives room for me to do work that aligns and resonates with my sense of identity and my theology.

Who is a hero of yours, and why?

My heroes are the many humans (across time and space) who do the work of pushing against and dismantling norms and systems that perpetuate oppression and injustice: the humans who live outside of the box and don’t let fear have the final word. I am eternally inspired by the lives and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Father Richard Rohr, Alice Walker, Rev. James H. Cone, Walter Brueggemann, Anne Lamott, and many other poets, feminists, womanists, liberationists theologians, and artists.

If I tried to find you in a supermarket, what aisle would you be in?

This is a toss-up: either in the fresh produce…or the baking aisle. Either way, I find myself in an endless pursuit of making the most delicious version of “healthy.” I need the best of both worlds!