ECF Fellows News: March 2017
Claude Barbre (1995) will present a paper entitled, Ugliness and the Creative Impulse in Social Activism: Conversations with the Aesthetic and Social Theories of John Rickman at the 10th Annual Conference of the Society for Humanistic Studies, APA Division 32 on April 2 in Pittsburgh, PA. Claude will also present a paper, entitled Carried Away to Carry Across: Otto Rank and Ella Sharpe on Metaphor and Art in the Therapeutic Process at the second Annual Expressive Arts Consortium Conference, hosted by The Chicago School of Professional Psychology on May 8 in Chicago IL. In addition, in Chicago on May 18 he will present a paper entitled, Identification with the Oppressor and the Victim-Victimizer Tangle at the Kedzie Mental Health Center. Further, Claude will present a paper entitled, Rehumanizing Life: Historical and Psychological Intersections in the Theoretical and Therapeutic Contributions of Margaret Morgan Lawrence, M.D. at the International Psychohistorical Association 40th Annual Conference May 31 - June 2 in New York City. Claude is a Training Supervisor and member of the Board of Directors of The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis (CCP). Claude is Full Professor of Clinical Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and a psychoanalyst in private practice in Chicago.
Kelly Brown Douglas (1983) was the featured speaker at the annual Christian Studies Lecture Series at Campbell University in North Carolina, sponsored by the Staley Foundation on Feb. 7.She was also the opening keynote speaker at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) Conference February 22-25 in Washington, DC. In April, she will be participating in a panel at Unholy Trinity: the Intersection of Racism, Poverty and Gun Violence, a conference sponsored by Bishops United Against Gun Violence being held at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, IL. The panel will offer perspectives on poverty, racism and gun violence. Kelly is professor of religion at Goucher College and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral.
Timothy Dobe (2002) was one of the scholars awarded the American Council of Learned Societies’ Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars. These fellowships support long-term, unusually ambitious projects in the humanities and related social sciences with the ultimate goal being a major piece of scholarly work by the Fellow. He will complete his residency at the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University during 2018-2019 academic year. Timothy is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
Nancy Frausto (2013) was a headliner for the FORMA Conference for Christian educators in Garden Grove, CA on January 25-27. She also gave the keynote address for the 2017 Equipping the Beloved Community: Vestry and Bishop’s Committee training for the Diocese of California at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on February 11. She will also be giving a presentation at the 2017 Missional Voices National Gathering from April 21-22 at Virginia Theological Seminary. Nancy serves as priest-in-charge of Trinity Church and Assistant at St. Mary's (Mariposa), both in Los Angeles, California.
Jordan Hylden (2015) presented a number of papers, sermons, and presentations over the past few months. At the Society of Christian Ethics meeting in New Orleans January 5-7, he delivered a paper responding to Robert Song's recent book Covenant and Calling: Toward a Theology of Same-Sex Relationships, along with Timothy Sedgwick and Bishop Duncan Gray III. At the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) conference in Washington, DC February 22-25, he gave a presentation titled "Fair and Balanced? Communicating the Gospel in the Partisan World," along with Matthew Townsend, news editor of The Living Church and communications missioner in the diocese of Rochester. On March 3-4, he delivered the Bishop Elliott lectures in the Diocese of West Texas, on the subject "Keeping the Faith in a Free Country: How to Keep Both in a World Coming Apart." Coming up on May 16, Jordan will be presenting an ECF webinar, “Fair and Balanced? Communicating the Gospel in a Partisan World,” that will discuss how to communicate in your church or institution in a manner that isn't just marketing and politics. Jordan is canon theologian in the Diocese of Dallas, associate editor for The Living Church, and a doctoral candidate in Christian ethics at Duke University.
Jennifer Scheper Hughes (2001) was named a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. This Fellowship helps support leading artists and scholars who have both exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishments. She is taking this time to complete a monograph, titled “Contagion and the Sacred in Mexico,” that explores the religious dimensions of the collapse of the indigenous population in the 16th century. Jennifer is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside.
Cynthia Briggs Kittredge (1990) contributed a chapter of a book with co-author Claire Colombo titled Wisdom Commentary: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. Cynthia and Claire contributed the commentary on Colossians. In their work they argue that Colossians's contradictions and complications provide opportunities for entering imaginatively into the world of first-century Christian women and men and read the letter's tensions as evidence of lively conversation around key theological, spiritual, and social issues of the time. Cynthia is dean, president and professor of New Testament at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.
Robert Leopold (2015) has accepted an appointment of rector of St. Luke's Parish in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Bob first encountered the Anglican Church of Canada at their General Synod Meeting (similar to the Episcopal Church’s General Convention) in the summer of 2016 and was immediately fascinated by how the Church is still thriving in a post-Christian nation. St. Luke's is in Ottawa's Chinatown neighborhood and houses a community ministry center called St. Luke's Table sharing over 55,000 meals a year. Meanwhile, the reins of Southside Abbey in Chattanooga, TN, have been taken by a trio of lay leaders, with the sacramental responsibilities being covered in partnership with area congregations and their pastors. Coming up on March 30, Bob will be presenting an ECF webinar titled “You Can Do It Too – Succeeding by Failing Faithfully.”
Robert MacSwain (2004), Associate Professor of Theology at the School of Theology of the University of the South, continues on his 2016-17 sabbatical as a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. He gave a presentation called "The Hagiological Argument for the Existence of God" at the Center for the Study of World Religions on February 1. He also gave an interview, "Twenty Minutes with Robert MacSwain," that was published on The Living Church website, covering his work on Austin Farrer, his current research at Harvard, the Scholar-Priest Initiative, and "The Bible in the Life of the Church" project. A shorter version was published in the February 26, 2017 print issue. Being in the Boston area has led to several preaching invitations, including at the Monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA; the Chapel of St. Paul's School in Concord, NH; St. Stephen's Church in Westborough, MA; and Trinity Church in Southport, CT.
Kyle Matthew Oliver (2016) co-hosted a webinar on Digital Stewardship for the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in December. In January, Kyle taught Digital Media for Ministry course at VTS to 12 degree-seeking and continuing education students. In March, Kyle contributed an article for ECF’s Vestry Papers titled Digital Giving: A Practice of Hospitality. He also presented workshops on digital storytelling, podcasting, and hybrid faith formation at e-Formation Bootcamp in Boston, MA on March 10-11. Kyle is looking forward to presenting at Kenyon College's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program in July. Kyle is studying for an Ed.D. in the Communications, Media, and Learning Technologies Design Program at Teacher's College, Columbia University and an assisting priest at St. Michael’s Church in New York, NY.
Derek Minno-Bloom (2016) this winter started a 501c3 non-profit called the Asbury Park Transformative Justice Project (APTJP). The APTJP's mission is to drastically reduce recidivism by bringing an end to the victimization and powerlessness inherent in today’s criminal justice system by using a transformative justice collective model. Derek noted, "In the vision we put our belief that people are not the worst thing they ever did into action by providing intentional housing, empowering organizing trainings, mental health counseling, and creating our own cooperative run by former prisoners to people of all walks of life returning from prison." He also had a recent essay published by Evangelicals for Social Action entitled The Kingdom of Heaven Starts at Home: Confronting Christian Male-Identified Privilege and Violence. Derek is the Director of Food Justice at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, NJ.
Titus Presler (1988) will present workshops, “Reconciliation: Testing Our Mission by God’s Vision” and “Not Alone but in Companionship: Anglican Resources for Mission”, this coming May at the annual Global Mission Conference of the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN), held in Poncé, Puerto Rico, at which he was elected vice president of the GEMN board. In June he spoke at the Houston meeting of Bridges to Pakistan and joined its board. His article “Mission Definition: Mission is Ministry in the Dimension of Difference” appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of The Episcopal New Yorker, which was devoted to the theme of mission. “Why Global Mission?” appeared in the November 2016 edition of GEMN Global Mission Notes. Following the Episcopal Church’s September “Called to Transformation” conference in Albuquerque, Titus was certified as a trainer in Asset-Based Community Development. “Muslims and Christians in Encounter and Conflict: Perspectives from a Venture in Pakistan” was the title of his lecture in the annual Robert D. McJimsey Memorial Lecture at Colorado College and Grace Church, Colorado Springs, in October. In November he was the annual Williams Institute Lecturer at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, where he delivered two lectures: “Christian-Muslim Maelstrom: Analyzing and Theologizing a Crisis” and "Christian-Muslim Maelstrom: Building Toward a Viable Future." He was elected a General Convention deputy by the Vermont Diocesan Convention in November 2016 was notable for Titus and his wife Jane for the births of three grandchildren beyond their existing three: one in Vermont, one in New York City, and one in Washington, D.C. You can follow Titus’ many activities on his blog.
C.K. Robertson (1998) finished a new book Why Go to Church, part of an upcoming Little Books of Guidance series through Church Publishing. In addition, two more volumes of his Studies in Episcopal & Anglican Theology serious through Peter Lang Publishing have now been released. One is by Joel Daniels entitled “Theology, Tragedy, and Suffering in Nature,” and the other is by Mkunga Mtingele entitled “Leadership and Conflict in African Churches.” At the end of March he will be doing a presentation on Disaster Preparedness Training in the Diocese of Nairobi with Bishop Jay Magness, formerly Bishop Suffragan of the Armed Services and Federal Ministries. Chuck is the Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Ministry Beyond The Episcopal Church.
Jane Shaw (1991) gave a keynote address at the Mystical Theology Network Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in December. In February, she was in conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on what it means to lead a meaningful life. The resultant video is part of the Rathbun Program, run through the Office for Religious Life at Stanford University, where Jane is Dean for Religious Life and Professor of Religious Studies. She has worked with Vincent Strudwick on his book The Naked God: Wrestling for a Grace-ful Humanity, which was published by Darton, Longman and Todd in England in February.
Joseph Wolyniak (2012) was ordained to the priesthood at Princeton University Chapel in December by the Rt. Rev. William Stokes, Bishop of New Jersey, on behalf of the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, Bishop Pro Tem of North Carolina. Joseph serves as chaplain to The Episcopal Church at Princeton and was appointed to the Committee on the Priesthood and Working Group on Preparation for Local Ordination in the Diocese of New Jersey. He began a triennial term on the Episcopal-Presbyterian Dialogue Committee this past fall.