About
Meet Tonetta
Rev. Tonetta Landis-Aina is a North Carolina native who came to Washington DC in 2004 and kept finding reason after reason to make this beautiful city her home. She holds a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary, which she'll tell you qualifies her to argue about scripture with real credentials, though she was arguing about it long before the degree.
She is passionate about helping marginalized people find their own stories in scripture, and she is convinced that the gospel is good news for BIPOC folx and for liberation movements everywhere. She believes the church still owes the world a more honest shape—and a more beautiful gospel—than the one too many of us inherited. She believes BIPOC people hold the truths and practices the whole church needs for a more beautiful, more genuinely Jesus-following Christianity—and that any church worth its future will be queer in posture. She is a lover of Washington DC: not the Capitol, but the city of neighborhoods once known as Chocolate City.
Tonetta is happily married to her wife, Bukola, and outnumbered at home by two kids who keep her on her toes. In addition to being Co-Lead Pastor at The Table Church in DC, she is a facilitator, teacher, writer, strategist, instigator of ritual, gatherer of the sacred, lingerer with beauty, and lover of good humor, good food, and good whiskey. In all things, she hopes to make "the revolution irresistible," as the great Toni Cade Bambara put it.
Education and Certifications
- B.A. in English from NC A&T State University, 2003
- B.A. in History from NC A&T State University, 2003
- M.A. in International Affairs from American University, 2006
- M.DIV from Wesley Theological Seminary, 2018
Published Works
Black, Butch, Queer — and Baptized Into God's Scandalous Love
As I dance in the streets at my city’s Pride parade, I will embrace the scandal of it all and try to become more scandalous in my own expression of grace and faith. And in so doing, I will find myself inside the abundant, raucous pleasure of God, who is ever joining all our stories in promiscuous love.
Affirmation Guide for Sexuality and Spirituality
As LGBTQ+ Christians discerning a sexual ethic in keeping with God’s revelation, it is imperative that we seek to embrace our bodies.
Walking on the Edge for the Lord
My calling is not to build bridges these days but rather to allow my body itself to become a bridge. My calling has become presence, mere existence in spaces where people like me aren’t supposed to stand.