Winter 2011

Devon Anderson (2007) is leading the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane in a Lenten campaign by which Episcopalians “address the real human need of hunger, by committing 0.7% of their income to local and global hunger ministries.” Read more about the Organization for Mission campaign.

Tom Breidenthal (1983) challenged the Diocese of Southern Ohio’s Episcopal Community Services to “help churches root community ministry in Christian formation.” This has resulted in a curriculum to help congregations apply scripture, prayer and home-grown case studies to their community ministries to fight poverty. More information about this challenge and curriculum can be found in the following article by Episcopal News Service.

More recently, Tom has joined his voice with his fellow bishop of Ohio, Mark Hollingsworth, and the Coalition of the Common Good in urging state representatives to create a budget that is “just, respecting the rights of all while protecting the most vulnerable of our society.”

Fred Burnham (1965) retired in October 2010, traveled for a few months in Europe, and is now dedicating time to local projects in the Diocese of Western North Carolina, including the “Young Adult Vocation Task Force.” 

Ellen Davis (1984) spoke to the Associated Press about Sudanese Christians’ widely held belief in the biblical foretelling of Sudanese Independence. “There’s no doubt that Isaiah 18 really is speaking about the people of the upper Nile,” she said. “It really is speaking about the Sudanese people.”

David Green (1964) has spent the past five years translating Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart from German to English for Brill publishing. Once complete, this translation will constitute 13 volumes. See Religion - Past and Present (Leiden: Brill, 2007)

After the death of Emmett Jarrett (1976) in October 2010, a colleague at Interfaith Worker Justice, Aina Gutierrez, wrote the following brief reflection on the impact he had on her life and in the Episcopal Church. 

Cynthia Kittredge (1990) is a member of the National Council of Church’s Bible Translation and Utilization Committee. This committee is seeking to explore new print and electronic formats for the NRSV and RSV bible translations. She will also be a speaker at the Episcopal Preaching Conference taking place on March 21-24. The theme of this conference is “Preaching the Passion and Resurrection.” 

Earl Kooperkamp (1985), rector of St. Mary’s Manhattanville in New York City, has been an advocate for the preservation of the East Harlem African Burial Grounds where some members of the parish are buried. He was quoted in a recent article by the NY Daily News.

Harold T. Lewis (1980) will be speaking at the upcoming 48^th National Workshop on Christian Unity which will be held in Pittsburgh, PA on May 9-12.

Wendel (Tad) Myer (1982) will be serving as interim minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church as the university continues its search for a permanent minister to replace Peter Gomes. Click here to learn more.

Mary June Nestler (1987) spoke to Michael de Groote of the Mormon Times about why nondenominational churches are gaining members faster than mainline denominations. “We are now a global community with global communication. … And so we are finding a melding of culture, a melding of regional identity and with that goes a melding of denominational identity."

Ephraim Radner (1990) was mentioned in the following article about the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. “Scholars such as historical theologian Ephraim Radner of the University of Toronto's Anglican Wycliffe College speak of the 400th anniversary as something of a funeral notation for biblical literary culture – a culture that only four decades ago shaped the soaring oratory and cadences of Martin Luther King Jr. but now is passing rapidly from the collective memory of an English-speaking world with no knowledge of the bonds of its rhetoric, metaphors and sublime rhythms.”

Susan Richardson (2008) will be the keynote speaker at the Diocese of Alabama’s annual Parish Leadership Training Event on April 2.  The theme of this year’s event is “Connecting with Young Adults: Connecting with Ourselves.”

William Sachs (1976) and Diana Butler Bass were the first recipients of Seabury Western Theological Seminary's Chabraja Fellowships. These fellowships are awarded to innovative church leaders who will help Seabury reshape theological education in response to the changing needs of the 21st century church. More recently, William Sachs was a presenter at the House of Bishops meeting on March 28.

Stephanie Spellers (2008) was a presenter at the Diocese of Massachusetts’ Spring Learning Event 2011, this year organized as an “Episcopal Village Mission Event.”

Robert Wagner (1969), Episcopal priest and former president of South Dakota State University, died peacefully on January 17. His obituary was followed by a moving reflection on his role as a teacher.

ECF program director Maurice Seaton had been in contact with Dr. Wagner over the past few years and reflected: “He was a kind man and a real leader in both the diocese and the state of South Dakota, with an influence that spanned decades. He had great affection for ECF’s Fellowship program, telling me it provided him with the means to gain graduate education without which he would never have become president of a university! He will be missed.”

J. Robert Wright (1965) and Christopher Wells (2005) participated in the sixth meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the USA (ARC-USA) which was held in Berkeley, California. This body examined the Episcopal and Roman Catholic theological positions on moral discernment and homosexuality.

Malcolm Young (YEAR) wrote a brief reflection on Identity and Other Religions for the Los Altos Town Crier.