About Heather

Heather Celoria is a storyteller. She weaves together the threads of communication and deep spiritual transformation to create spaces where healing and connection flourish.

Born into the world of Southern evangelism, Heather is one of seven children raised in sustained childhood trauma. Her journey of healing has spanned over two decades, leading her first to prophetic training and practice, and later to the healing academy at Asbury Theological Seminary, where she earned her M.Div. in 2016. For Heather, healing is not a destination but an ongoing unfolding—a gift she seeks to share with others.

Heather lives in Lakeland, Florida, with her two adult children and their adopted greyhound, Vern. Their home is part of an urban homesteading community, planted in the heart of the city’s poorest neighborhood, where transformation is both a personal and collective pursuit.

 

Contemplative work

Blossoming project (2011-12): I wrote these songs about 14 years ago during a season of deep inner healing. As I listen to them again now, they feel more true than ever. Listen now…

God Wants to Rest (2012): I want to tell a story. A big story, a cosmic story. It’s about the whole world and about all of us. It’s a story about a God who wants to rest. It’s a story about a God who wants to come home. Read more…

Seedbed.com articles and reflections (2013-17):

  • The Every Day Art of Listening: Do you remember the last time you heard the voice of Jesus? Maybe it was two minutes ago or maybe you are not actually sure if you ever have. Hearing God can seem out of reach for many because it has sometimes been seen as mysterious or reserved for mystics and the exceptionally spiritual. Heather Celoria shares why it doesn’t have to be this way.

  • Between Earth and Sky: A Reflection for a New Year: Heather Celoria shares a reflection on Communion and rebirth for the New Year.

  • The Unexpected Move of the Holy Spirit: Heather Celoria shares how the movement of the Holy Spirit does not always fit our expectations, but it is always right.

  • Struggling Through a Distorted Image of God: How does a person end up with a distorted image of God? Heather Celoria offers wisdom regarding how one might end up with distorted images of God and the difference between leading and controlling.

Trust the process: What I learned at The Covenant Center (2015): I quickly recognized that these are not so much concepts that I have learned and sort of have in my pocket for the journey, but practices that I continue to live into. It’s more like they are things I’ve learned to learn. I don’t HAVE any of these concepts unless I continue to DO them. These are what I recognize, looking back at ten years here, as being the most significant in my healing and training. I think all are important to any Christian, but I believe these are vital for prophets. Read more…

Academic, theology, biblical studies

Bless Your Enemies (2015): With the help of Holy Spirit, we can repent © 2015 Heather Celoria heatherceloria.com Page of 6 7and begin to bless our enemies and those who have hurt us. I don’t know what that looks like in each case for each of us. It may just be prayer, it may be more than that. Each of us has to work that out with the Lord. I don’t know what God may do with this sort of obedience, but we may be surprised. Read more…

Creation and Chaos (2014): In this paper, I will focus on the functional ontology of creation, the role of humanity in exercising dominion, and the ongoing process of creation which humans hinder through the choice to sin or participate in by obedience to God’s order and will. See slides here and read the paper.

Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2016): Bonhoeffer was truly brilliant, and a deeply theological and philosophically-trained scholar. Yet, I was so moved and in agreement with his constant themes of practical, earthy, incarnated theology that does not stop at brilliant thought but moves into brave action. Read more…

The Minor Prophets (2016): These are inductive bible study surveys, detailed analyses, and interpretations of books of the minor prophets Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Haggai, and Malachi. Read more…

Women’s studies, social justice

Does 1 Timothy 2 Prohibit Women from Teaching, Leading, and Speaking in the Church (Priscilla Papers Academic Journal, 2013): First Timothy 2:9–15 is a difficult passage to interpret, and there are many opinions about appropriate meanings and applications. Read more…

Wives and Husbands in 1 Peter: Who is the Weaker Vessel? (TheJuniaProject.com blog, 2015)): A Commentary on Living with Injustice. Read more…

Abigail: An Old Testament Type-of-Christ (Seedbed.com article, 2013): Often within a marriage, many churches teach that women should submit to the decisions of their husbands, even if the husband is making very wrong decisions. Women are encouraged that if they will submit and pray, God will honor this and intervene on their behalf.

Where Racial Reconciliation Begins (Seedbed.com article, 2017):Sometimes we really want to learn, to grow, to love. But, it can be hard to know how to start. Heather Celoria shares how to begin a life of self-awareness that roots out the evil of racism in our hearts.

Suffering with Purpose: Jesus suffered on the cross precisely because he spoke out against injustice in all its forms. He suffered and was killed because His teaching and actions exposed the systems of worldly power as false and contrary to the Kingdom of God. There is a distinction between suffering for no purpose and suffering for the sake of the Gospel. Read more…