in Vestry Papers and filtered by Communications, Vestry, Mission + 9 other(s)
By Charis Bhagianathan
This issue (and our previous one) celebrate the incredible leadership and ministry from ECF Fellows. Since 1964, the Episcopal Church Foundation has supported over 200 scholars and ministry leaders throughout The Episcopal Church, fostering innovation in theological formation and ministerial leadership in challenging times.
By Sally Benton
ECF is in the process of reimagining our historic Fellowship Partner’s Program and particularly the academic Fellows track, which is currently on pause. In The Role of Scholarship in the Episcopal Church, Sally Benton tells us about the process of listening and learning as ECF staff prepare recommendations and plan for the academic track’s relaunch.
By Jesse Zink
In Flight Adjustments in a Changing Church, Jesse Zink describes his vocation in theological education and his work at as principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College, sharing how this challenging, exhausting and yet delightful calling is akin to flying the Millennium Falcon through the world of theological education today.
By Stewart Clem
Is lying wrong? In Truth, Lies, and Ethics: A Theological Journey, Stewart Clem, a theological ethicist by training, presents his studies and thinking on Thomas Aquinas’s writing on truthfulness, truth as a moral virtue and what understanding truthfulness through this lens implies for our life as Christians.
By ECFVP editorial team
In Lucinda Mosher and Building Bridges, the ECFVP editorial team describes ECF Fellow Lucinda Mosher’s (ThD, General Theological Seminary) journey that begins during her dissertation work which addressed fostering dialogue between Muslim and Christians through the lens of comparative theology. Dr. Mosher is a prolific writer on Christian-Muslim work, exemplified in the annual Building Bridges seminary which brings together Christian and Muslim scholars at Georgetown University. While Dr. Mosher’s extensive publications speak to her skills as a researcher and scholar, her ECF Fellowship made those early scholar days easier. Dr Mosher says, “According to recent research, during the many decades that General Seminary offered a Doctor of Theology degree, the overwhelming majority of those who earned it were men; only eight women completed that program. I am one of those eight. Having the support of the ECF was such an important part of attaining that goal!”
By Albert R. Rodriguez
In A New Paradigm for Reaching U.S. Latinos, Albert Rodriguez discusses the multi-layered identity created and fostered by both his Mexican and American identities. Rodriguez highlights that lived experience as one of liminality as he and many other American-born, U.S.-acculturated, and English-prone Latinos work to find their place in the Episcopal Church. Albert writes about his work on Transcultural Latino Ministry, an expanded and more inclusive evangelization practice that celebrates these multi-layered identities and works to include the lived experience of many generations of Latinos in the Episcopal Church.
By Derek Minno-Bloom
In Charity and Solidarity Must Come Together, Derek Minno-Bloom’s original Fellow’s work sought to develop an intersectional Food Justice ministry and transform the charitable soup kitchen and pantry at Trinity Church Asbury Park, New Jersey, into a social justice mission enmeshed in the local community. Derek tells the story of how this project successfully developed Trinity’s mission into one that exposes the intersectional relationship between homophobia, racism, and poverty and how they want to dismantle these institutions. Minno-Bloom’s work shows how one individual’s work can be the beginning of bigger changes and greater impacts not just on a community but together with community members in collaborative and life-giving ways.
By Charis Bhagianathan
In parking lots and picnic grounds. By rivers and along the mountainside. On TikTok and the Metaverse. Church is happening all around us, and we are discovering new spaces in which to praise, to pray and to build Christ’s community. In this issue, hear from people doing profound and deeply inspiring work in non-traditional church settings, creating meaningful relationships through powerful ministry.
By Ben Maddison
Leaving your comfort zone and trying new things is always a learning experience. Sometimes it’s also incredibly fun. In TikTok and Real Ministry, Ben Maddison describes his foray into TikTok which started out as a way to make people laugh and has now become a powerful source of real ministry.
By Jon Davis
What is our modern day understanding of the mission of the church? In The Third Place, Jon Davis tells us about spaces where people gather outside of home and work, to witness and experience redemption, reconciliation and repentance, making these sacred communal places also ‘thin places’, where the Holy Spirit can be felt working in and through us.
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