Summer Diegel (any pronouns)

Pastor for Youth & Families

Summer Gail Diegel (any pronouns) is V&M's director for education and serves the community through leading our children, youth, and family ministry programs. Summer enjoys collaborating with people of all-ages in imagination, play, and exploring the Divine universe. Summer leads early childhood, elementary, and youth programs by designing inclusive curricula and leveraging technology to increase engagement. By guiding our volunteer teams, including providing safety and inclusion training they support the organization to foster trust and collaboration. Summer has also launched various community dialogues that encourage people to build understanding and create actionable change for uplifting youth leadership. Building on over a decade of their experience in the service of children, elders, & families with diverse needs, she embraces playfulness. They seek to care for people the way they have been cared for: with love and authentic action. In practice this means showing up alongside queer communities, growing relationships in churches, feeding their neighbors, participating in mutual aid, supporting overdose prevention programs, organizing healing & first aid support on the streets, and making zines, poetry, jewelry, art.

Summer is a full-spectrum care worker committed to teaching through modeling consent and compassion in learning, and practicing intergenerational community care. She does full spectrum support because it centers autonomy and choice. Summer has completed programs in full-spectrum care with Birth Advocacy Doula Trainings, Institute for Birth Breath Death, Faith Matters Network, Cornerstone, A Sacred Passing: Death Midwifery & Community Education, and others. The framework of full spectrum care is to provide non judgemental support in pregnancy, life, and end-of life regardless of a person’s chosen or unexpected outcome. Summer serves on the board of directors with A Sacred Passing where they offer community education in end-of-life preparation and care, including workshops on topics like children and teens grief, preparing advance directives and documents, and history of nonmedical death care. Summer graduated with a B.A. in comparative religion through the Theology & Religious Studies program at Seattle University in 2019, where they received the Sullivan Leadership Award. They are currently working towards a Masters in Divinity degree at Eden Theological Seminary. 

A student of earth-based and ecumenical Christian traditions, Summer leans into her Catholic and non-denominational family background. They have a love of scripture, rituals, stories, and especially seasonal festivals and feast days. Summer is connected to animist theologies, valuing stories of interconnectedness of God, earth, and earth’s creatures such as in Genesis and believes that “all that exists lives. All that lives is worthy of respect.” Their spirituality is informed by academic study and research as well as their lived experiences playing, growing plants from seeds, and imagining alternatives to the world as they know it as someone who has experienced interpersonal violence and poverty. In life so far Summer has grown beautiful faith relationships with change-makers, community organizers, and those who practice a variety of Christian traditions. Summer’s call toward care work began as a teenager, with her first role as a certified nursing assistant which they continued for six years. They have volunteered with grassroots and national organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Montana state’s Health Advisory Board, and as the National Region 5 Vice President SkillsUSA where they taught as a peer educator around the country, and met with senators and house officials in Washington, DC to discuss funding for career and technical education. They were awarded the National Volunteer Service Award by President Barack Obama in 2015. Summer worked providing assisted living support and home health care before moving to Seattle, Washington where Summer shifted to working a variety of outreach positions including at Plymouth Healing Communities, Lifelong, and Ventures, as well as seasonal roles nannying and providing elder care for Seattle families.