She is an
American progressive, and was a priest at St. David's Episcopal Church in
Pepperell, part of the
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Ragsdale has served for 17 years on the national board of the
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She is also on the board of
NARAL Pro-Choice America,
The White House Project, the Progressive Religious Partnership, as well as the bi-national advisory board of the
Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence. She presented to the
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in 2004. She was named president and dean of
Episcopal Divinity School on July 1, 2009. Her appointment was criticized by religious conservatives, including Anglicans, who have been particularly critical of her endorsement of the "blessing" of abortion. She is the editor of
Boundary Wars: Intimacy and Distance in Healing Relationships and the author of numerous articles, including
The Role of Religious Institutions in Responding to the Domestic Violence Crisis and
Hannah, a short story. She contributed an essay titled "Not by Outrage Alone" to the 2008 anthology
Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America She is
openly lesbian. ==See also==