Nicole Garcia took a huge step in her Lutheran faith on Saturday, one she could not have made without her years of effort to tear down barriers in the church.

Her advocacy in the 2000s for the denomination’s allowing transgender people, and the spectrum of the LGBTQ community, to become pastors resulted in Garcia’s profile quickly catapulting in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a group that includes more than 10,000 congregations and 4 million members across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Garcia, a transgender Latina woman who turns 60 next month, at a Saturday ceremony at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Louisville took advantage of the ELCA’s 2009 decision to allow transgender people and people in same-sex relationships into its pastoral ranks.

With her ordination, Garcia became the first transgender woman of color to be called as a pastor in the ELCA.

She is set to lead the newly formed Westview Church. The church, just east of Boulder city limits on Arapahoe Road was established by congregants who recently moved out of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in west Boulder, a property soon to be repurposed as affordable senior housing. Garcia was director of congregational care at Mount Calvary before her ordination.

“She has changed the Lutheran Church in important ways, and it’s not surprising to me that a church here in Boulder County has selected Nicole to lead, because not only is she a trans Latina, but she is a person of faith who builds bridges and honors the entire community with her work,” said Mardi Moore, executive director of Out Boulder County.

Garcia’s journey with her faith and identity began as a “good Catholic boy” born and raised in Boulder.

Although Garcia always loved church, she strayed from Catholicism in her 20s, after she said she realized “God wouldn’t fix me.” Struggles with alcohol and a nine-year marriage to a woman ensued before Garcia, then known as Michael, ended the relationship and began exploring her gender, transitioning into womanhood from 2003 to 2006.

In 2003, Garcia became a Lutheran after again immersing herself in church through St. Paul Lutheran Church in Denver.

Her advocacy for LGBTQ people in the massive Evangelical Lutheran Church in America denomination began shortly after, and in 2008, she was appointed transgender representative to the national board of directors of ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation.

Although she fought for LGBTQ congregants to be able to advance as pastors in ELCA, Garcia wasn’t immediately interested in pursuing the designation after it was decided she could, and instead continuing to work as a state Department of Corrections official and studying for a master’s degree in counseling.

“Probably in about 2012 I started thinking I really wanted to do more with the church, but I didn’t know what I wanted to be doing,” Garcia said.

She hesitated to apply for seminary, but eventually settled on applying at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minn.

“I thought to myself, ‘At least I can apply,'” Garcia said. “Because it would be a really good dog-and-pony show to go wandering around to all these different churches (saying), ‘I wanted to be Lutheran pastor but the church said no, we have to keep pushing.’ And they said yes, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh they said yes.'”

She quit her job with the state in July 2014, focusing on a counseling internship after receiving her master’s from University of Colorado Denver.

Paula Stone Williams, a transgender woman who is one of three co-equal pastors at Longmont’s Left Hand Church, an independent church, is excited for Garcia’s addition to Boulder County’s roster of LGBTQ religious leaders. Williams before she transitioned was a frequent preacher in megachurches and a prominent figure in the evangelical church network, which is separate from ELCA, who was rejected by her church when she came out as trans.

Williams believes LGBTQ people tend to make strong preachers in part because of the pain some interpretations of religious text can cause the demographics.

“I think one of the real strengths is that most all of us have suffered at the hands of religious teachings, so we lead with grace,” Williams said. “We don’t lead with law.”

That approach is apparent when Garcia speaks.

“I’ve always considered myself just a big goofy Jesus freak,” Garcia said. “I think being so comfortable with who I am, and knowing that I am perfectly made in my mother’s womb and made in the image of God, and I know Jesus loves me, and you need to know that, too, that is infectious, and it helps people open their hearts and open their minds.”

While Moore acknowledged Garcia’s step into a local pastoral role as significant for the LGBTQ community’s progress in being accepted by religious institutions, much work remains to be done, Moore said.

“Being raised in a faith community, and then being asked explicitly not to be there or not to be valued is hard on a person,” Moore said. “There are many (LGBTQ) persons in our community who have an interest in reengaging with faith communities, but because of the harm that has been done, are hesitant to do so. Having a trans Latina woman ordained in a local church will provide hope and possibly direction for members of our community who want too reengage in a faith community.”

Garcia’s first service leading Westview will be Dec. 1, and she recognizes how she can be an inspiration to others in the faith community.

“By being a brown, transgender woman at the altar, I give people hope,” Garcia said. “It means the church is opening their eyes and seeing the talents of all people. … The people here (at Westview) are just loving. They have supported me, nurtured me, seen me grow. It is such an honor to be called as their pastor.”