ECF Fellows News: Spring 2015
Liza Anderson (2010) will be a scholar in residence at the Anglican Centre in Rome in May, and will spend the rest of the summer in Yerevan, Armenia as a graduate fellow with the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus. She will be studying Syriac manuscripts held at the Matenadaran, and researching her doctoral dissertation on the 9th century Syrian Orthodox writer John of Dara.
Claude Barbre (1995) was promoted to Full Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL. He is Course Stream Coordinator of the Psychodynamics Orientation, and also teaches in the Psychology and Spirituality Studies, and the Child and Adolescent Track. In addition, Claude will present a paper, “Science and Poetry,” at the American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, August 6, 2015. The paper will be part of a panel entitled “Diversifying Empirical Evidence in Research Assessment and Clinical Practice,” sponsored by The Society for Humanistic Studies, Division 32. Finally, Claude has also written a review essay of a book by J. Holmes (2014), The Therapeutic Imagination: Using Literature To Deepen Psychodynamic Understanding and Enhance Empathy for the journal The Psychoanalytic Psychologist (2015).
Bruce Chilton's (1974) most recent book, Christianity: The Basics, has been published in London by Routledge. His recent presentation in St Petersberg, Russia was printed in Moscow as “Taxes, and the Teaching of Jesus,” by the Journal of Institutional Studies 6,2 (2014) 43-57. Another article, “The Exodus Theology of the Palestinian Targumim,” appeared in The Book of Exodus. Composition, Reception, and Interpretation: Supplements to Vetus Testmentum 164 (eds Thomas B. Dozemen, Craig A. Evans, and Joel N. Lohr; Leiden: Brill) 387-403. Bruce addressed the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in Seged, Hungary, and the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, in both cases regarding the Aramaic sources of Mark's Gospel. CNN and the National Geographic Channel have aired separate interviews with him regarding James, the Brother of Jesus, on whom an entry is to appear in Oxford Bibliographies. Bruce is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.
Pamela Cooper-White (1995) will join the faculty at Union Theological Seminary, New York on July 1 and has been awarded the Christiane Brooke Johnson Memorial Chair in Psychology and Religion by the Union Board of Trustees. She is leading a student group from Columbia Theological Seminary on a theological study course in Hungary and the Czech Republic in May, and will be presenting a paper entitled "Recognizing the Other: Intersubjectivity and Justice" at the International Conference on Spiritual Care, sponsored by the University of Bern in Bern, Switzerland, on June 1. Prior to her appointment to join the faculty at Union Theological Seminary, Pamela was the Ben G. & Nancye Clapp Gautier Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care and Counseling Columbia Theological Seminary and Assisting Priest at Holy Trinity Parish in Decatur, Georgia.
Joseph Duggan (2008), founder of Borderless Press a project of Postcolonial Networks that seeks to decolonize knowledge production, distribution and consumption, will collaborate with Drs. Esther Mombo and Joseph Wandera of St. Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya to offer the first Writing and Publishing Workshop for Aspiring Scholars this August. An international team of authors and copy editors will facilitate the workshop including Rt. Rev. Dr. James Tengatenga, Visiting Professor at Sewanee and Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council. Please email Joe if you are interested in learning more about this project. Joe is currently Priest-in-Charge at St. Francis’ Episcopal Church, Fair Oaks, CA and is also the founder of Postcolonial Networks, an organization in pursuit of global justice through knowledge activism made possible by the creative use of media.
Natalie Finstad (2014) led workshops with St. James’ Cambridge, the Diocese of Ohio, the Life Together Fellowship in the Diocese of Massachusetts, the Road Fellowship in Atlanta and St. Paul’s Richmond that build the capacity of leaders to be the Church through building Beloved Community. Natalie’s work is connected to a national movement, Katallasso: Build the Beloved Community, which desires to see the Church realize our purpose as a loving, reconciling and restorative community in the world today. Katallasso seeks to achieve this goal by organizing a national network that equips, supports and mobilizes leaders for the work of being Beloved Community. Katallasso is currently forming local hubs of leaders who gather to worship, build relationships, learn skills and offer a collective living witness against oppression. Natalie reports it is expected that Katallasso will launch in five regions by June of 2015 and expand to sixteen local hubs by 2016. The founding members of the Katallasso project,Mary Beth Mills Curran, the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, the Rev. Ken Phelps, the Rev. Matthew Luckens, Isaac Everett and Nancy Radeki, gathered with Natalie in February of 2014 to design the strategy and structure of the movement.
David Gortner (1998) was a panelist in a webinar, “Caring for Clergy and Congregations” sponsored by the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) on February 12. He will be panelist on another ECF webinar “A Crisis of Leadership?” on March 21. David recently led several workshops including, “Taking it to the street: Everyday evangelism,” at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) Conferee in February and “Building basic practices for evangelism,” at the Invite*Welcome*Connect Summit earlier in May. David is also part of a planning conference for rethinking new clergy support and development through mentoring and facilitated peer groups, taking place later in May in Chicago, IL. Other engagements this past winter included preaching at historic Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia and consulting with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia on new directions for the church. This summer, David will be directing the Doctor of Ministry Summer Session at Virginia Theological Seminary, in its three tracks: Ministry Development, Educational Leadership, and Christian Spirituality. David is the Director of the Doctor of Ministry program and Professor of Evangelism and Congregational Leadership at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia and now canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
P. Joshua Griffin (2013) co-authored an article, “Interior Secretary Has 'Much to Learn' from Kivalina's Iñupiaq Elders on Climate Change and Village Relocation,” with his colleagues from Re-Locate, the project in Kivalina, Alaska that Griff has been working with as part of his dissertation. The article about Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell’s visit to the Kivalina community was published in The Huffington Post. In March, Griff led a webinar, “Global Warming and Global Ministry,” on the impact of global warming on communities and how we can respond as individuals and communities of faith. A recording, copy of the slides, and a resource sheet are available on ECF Vital Practices. Griff is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Washington and Priest Associate at St. David of Wales, Portland, OR.
Leander Harding (1986) continues to serve as Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Catskill, NY. He is also a regular book reviewer for The Living Church and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Trinity School for Ministry. This June term, Leander will be teaching Advanced Sacraments.
Edmund Harris (2013) has been called as Priest in Charge of St. Peter's Episcopal Parish in Seattle, Washington. An essay he wrote on his experiences starting a street church during the Occupy Wall Street movement was included in the recently published book, Boats without Oars: Ancient-Future Evangelism, An American Road Trip, and Collected Stories from the Episcopal Church, by Michael and Kristin Carroccino.
Lyndon Harris (1997) has assumed duties as Co-Director of Tigg's Pond Retreat Center in Zirconia, North Carolina. In addition to speaking engagements about the power of forgiveness around the country and world, Lyndon is developing a forgiveness institute and a pilgrimage walking trail at Tigg's Pond called "The Journey to Forgiveness at Tigg’s Pond." The institute offers educational seminars, workshops, film screenings and dialogues about the important work of forgiveness and conflict transformation. He will also keynote the Christian Formation Conference, June 8-12 at Kanuga in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The keynote address will be "Hope in the Midst of Crisis: From Tragedy to Healing Through Forgiveness," drawing from his experiences serving as priest in charge of the rescue mission at Saint Paul's Chapel in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Lyndon will share lessons learned from that experience, including his life-changing embrace of the power of forgiveness.
Robert Hughes (1972) and his wife Barbara returned in early December from teaching a semester at Msalato Theological College, Dodoma, Tanzania. It was the third time that they have done this. Bob has since returned to Sewanee, retired but still teaching on an adjunct basis, and taught a seminar this past semester on Ecotheology: Humane Treatment of Animals. On March 27, Bob gave a paper, “Begotten in Love: An Active Role for the Spirit in the Eternal begetting of the Word?” at the American Theological Society meeting at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is currently preparing the essay for publication. Bob is the Norma and Olan Mills Professor of Divinity, and Professor of Systematic Theology, emeritus at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Christoph Keller (2003) will be a camp leader for the 2015 SUMMA Theological Debate Camp, being held July 21–29 at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. SUMMA, which Christoph helped to pilot, is a program for high school students and uses theological debate to teach tools for critical thinking, knowledge of the Christian theological tradition, and skills in public speaking. In addition to serving as Lecturer in Theology and Debate and Senior Fellow of The Beecken Center at Sewanee, Christoph is Interim Dean and Rector of Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Cynthia Kittredge’s (1990) new book, A Lot of the Way Trees Were Walking: Poems from the Gospel of Mark (Wipf & Stock, 2015), was published in February. Her book has been praised for crossing the genres of poetry and biblical interpretation that also mirror the qualities of Mark's Gospel. She is also the author of Community and Authority: The Rhetoric of Obedience in the Pauline Tradition (Trinity Press, 1998), Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of John (Church Publishing, 2007), and is co-editor of the Fortress Commentary on the New Testament. Cynthia is Dean and President and Professor of New Testament at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.
Alison Lutz (2014) published an op-ed on money and power in the latest edition of The Episcopal New Yorker (Spring 2015, p. 12). The article is entitled "Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor...you always have the poor with you (if you want)" and addresses how individuals of faith can approach and examine issues of wealth, power, and inequality. Ali is pursuing a PhD in ethics and society at Vanderbilt University and serves with St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel at Vanderbilt.
Lucinda Mosher (1999) has a new book that she co-edited entitled The Community of Believers: Christian and Muslim Perspectives which offers the proceedings of the 2013 Building Bridges seminar, a dialogue between leading Christian and Muslim scholars under the stewardship of Georgetown University. Lucinda most recently completed an interreligious-relations event in Kentucky entitled “To Know and Love Thy Neighbor.” She also co-presented “Next Steps in Interfaith Relations” with the Rev. Margaret Rose, Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Collaboration at The Episcopal Church, at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) Conference. Lucinda is Faculty Associate in Interfaith Studies and Director, of the Multifaith Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.
Thomas Ni (2014) shares that on April 11 the Li Tim-Oi Center co-hosted the annual concert for UN Autism Awareness Day to help the autistic children and raise the awareness of Autism among the Chinese community in Los Angeles area. The concert raised more than $2,900 to support a specialist to offer a course to the teachers from special education schools in China. California Congresswoman Judy Chu presented a certificate to Li Tim-Oi Center recognizing its contribution to the Chinese community in helping autistic children. Thomas is the Executive Director of Li Tim-Oi Center and priest at Church of Our Saviour in Glendale, California.
Sarah Nolan (2012) was interviewed in a recent ENS article about combatting food insecurity in the Diocese of Los Angeles. In the article, she shares how The Abundant Table where she works is more than just a farm but also, “…developing an ecosystem that creates an economically viable church and farm model.” Last year Sarah was awarded an Environmental Stewardship Fellowship from the Office of Justice and Advocacy Ministries and The Abundant Table was awarded a $100,000 Mission Enterprise Zone grant from The Episcopal Church. Sarah is the Director of Programs and Community Partnerships for The Abundant Table in Ventura, California.
C. K. Robertson (1998) shares that Church Publishing just released a new DVD series and study guide entitled “Hazardous Saints,” a follow up and complement to his earlier book, A Dangerous Dozen (SkyLight, 2011). The DVD series looks at six saints who risked all for the sake of the gospel and has questions, exercises, and offers activities for individuals, small groups, and congregational leadership teams. Chuck’s latest book Barnabas vs. Paul: To Encourage or Confront (Abingdon, 2015) was published earlier this year and also contains study questions for individuals or group study. Also, as chair of the National Council of Churches Convening Table on Christian Education, Ecumenical Faith Formation, and Leadership Development, Chuck oversaw a newly released online resource entitled "A Starter Kit for Teaching and Learning About Mass Incarceration," edited by Joseph Crockett. Chuck serves as the Canon to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.
Albert Rodriguez (2013) was named Interim Director of the Hispanic Church Studies Program at Seminary of the Southwest (SSW) and continues to teach there, focusing on Hispanic ministry to multigenerational Latinos. The Hispanic Church Studies Program at SSW guides students pursuing a concentration on Latino/Hispanic ministries. Al is also teaching a summer continuing education course, June 1 thru 5, 2015, designed for clergy and lay leaders seeking competency in a re-conceptualized Latino ministry that must now include the multiple generations of American born Latinos. “I have to give credit to the ECF Fellowship designation for all of these new developments associated with the Seminary of the Southwest,” says Al who adds, "It has provided tremendous opportunity to amplify and pursue my Fellowship project, American Latino Evangelistic Outreach (ALEO), which adds to and dovetails beautifully with what I’m teaching.”
Christopher Seitz’s (1982) latest book on Colossians for The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (2014) was published at the end of 2014. He also completed a commentary on Joel for the new International Theological Commentary series (T. & T. Clark) while on a research leave at the University of Goettingen, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Christopher is President of the Cranmer Institute and Canon Theologian of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas.
Regina Walton's (2005) essay "George Herbert on the 'Dangerous' Art of Preaching" was included in the latest volume of Peter Lang's series Studies in Episcopal and Anglican Theology, Preaching and the Theological Imagination, edited by Zachary Guiliano and Cameron Partridge. This series focuses on, “renewed practices of, and approaches to, preaching, study, and spiritual development.” Her poem "Looking at Memling" appeared in Scintilla: The Journal of the Vaughan Association, vol. 18. Regina is Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Newton, Massachusetts.
Ellen Wondra (1985) has published a book review, "Questioning Authority,” in the Spring 2015 issue of the Anglican Theological Review as part of her ongoing research in ecclesiology. At the National Workshop on Christian Unity, she gave two presentations on the World Council of Churches’ statement Church: Toward a Common Vision. Ellen has also accepted appointment as Interim Editor of the Anglican Theological Review, of which she was Editor in Chief from 2006 through 2013. Ellen will be presenting a webinar Who decides? And on what basis? On authority & ecumenical ecclesiology on May 20 at 2PM ET as part of the Scholar-Priest Initiative’s theologian webinar series. Ellen is Research Professor of Theology and Ethics at Bexley Seabury in Chicago, IL.