Hey, I'm Amber Lea!
I'm an artist, pastor, spiritual director, and writer making a life in Tupelo, Mississippi, with my husband, Andrew, and our little fur family.
Most days, you'll find me somewhere between a paintbrush and a pile of books, with a few unfinished projects scattered around for good measure. I love digging in the garden, dancing to a good beat, and conversations that make you lose track of time.
I've never been very good at keeping creativity in one tidy little box. It spills into just about everything I do—watercolor painting, writing, preaching, teaching, and the spaces I help cultivate. Somewhere along the way, I've come to believe that art isn't just something we make. It's a way of paying attention to the world.
Art has a way of bringing us together, getting conversations started, loosening our assumptions, and helping us imagine possibilities we might otherwise miss.
That belief is at the heart of Artful Awakening, an exploration of creativity as a spiritual practice that became the focus of my Doctor of Ministry work. What began as a research project has grown into an ongoing invitation to create, reflect, and encounter the sacred in unexpected places.
I'm glad you've found your way here. Take a look around. I hope something sparks your curiosity.
A little more of my story:
I'm an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and I've been serving in local church ministry since 2014. At the heart of my call is a deep love for people and a desire to create spaces where we can wrestle with hard questions, grow in our relationships, and discover the grace already at work in our lives.
Art has been part of my life for a long time, but my relationship with it has changed quite a bit over the years. That shift really took shape during my Doctor of Ministry program, when I began exploring the relationship between creativity and spiritual transformation.
For my final project, I developed Artful Awakening, a six-week creative experience that invited participants to engage with art, poetry, and lyric for the purpose of transformation. We explored what happens when we slow down, pay attention, and allow creative experiences to stir something within us.
That experience changed me, too. I came away with a much broader understanding of what it means to be an artist. It shaped the way I approach ministry, the questions I ask, and how I engage with the world around me.
Questions & Answers
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I believe we have an incredible capacity to grow, change, and surprise ourselves. I've seen what happens when people feel safe enough to ask hard questions, try something new, or imagine a different way forward.
I love being part of those moments. Whether it's through art, ministry, writing, or a conversation over coffee, I want to help create spaces where people can be curious, encounter grace, and discover possibilities they hadn't considered before.
And somewhere in all of that, I keep finding myself changed, too
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Yes! I have been a pastor at a local church since 2014. Ordination in the United Methodist Church is a 7-year process that includes a Masters of Divinity, writing 100s of pages on theological reflection, board interviews, a residency, multiple psychological evaluations, and so much more. I went through all of that and was approved for ordination in 2020.
I know that a lot of people have a love/hate relationship with the church. It’s done so much harm. I also believe it has done so much good.
I’m working in the messy middle. I have seen the church be a place of welcome and grace, and my heart breaks for the people who experience something different.
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I'm a lifelong learner via podcasts and google, but I also have some formal education. I have a BS in Religion from Carson Newman College, an MS in Counseling from the University of Memphis, an MDiv from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and a Dmin from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
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I love the enneagram, and it has literally been life changing. I love that there are not bad types, but instead a focus on each type’s desires and fears. All that said, I am a 7w8. The more I learn and research and have conversations about the enneagram, the more I realize how much I’m a 7w8. If you want a little insight into how I operate, that’s a good place to start.
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My parents separated when I was 4, and they both remarried to some pretty awesome people. I’m the oldest of 4 sisters. I married my husband, Andrew, in November 2013. Quick truth: Marriage is hard, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We have two dogs (Leo & Luke) and one cat (Luna). That’s pretty much the basics!
