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The Future Church Begins Here Table of Contents � Recent alums and alums-to-be on the record � A look back to the Rochester era � Reimagining lifetime learning SUMMER 2019› VOL. 7: ISSUE Nº 1 THE FUTURE CHURCH BEGINS HERE TABLE OF CONTENTS A message from President Micah T.J. Jackson 3 Forming ministers for a new church 4 New skills for new challenges 6 More alums called to episcopal ministry 8 The Rochester years 14 Expanding our learning community 20 Stewards and stewardship 24 On the cover: Recently and soon-to-be incorporated members of Christ’s eternal priesthood, welcomed with the help of students and alums featured in this issue. See pages 4–5 and 8–9. On this page: A glimpse of our May 17, 2019 Commencement Eucharist at St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church, Chicago. See pages 10–11 for more information. A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT JACKSON New beginnings President Jackson’s Installation Eucharist, October 18, 2018 Dear Friends, A few years ago, I was standing in the back of the chapel talking with some students at the end of the academic year. One of them said to me, “It’s strange to think that in only a few months there will be a bunch of new students here, and we don’t even know who they are, yet.” I said, “Right, but what’s really strange is to think that NEXT fall, there will be a bunch more students here, and they don’t even know who they are, yet.” It’s a truth that can be hard to get one’s head around: God knows more about what will happen, and has set in motion more of the future, than is entirely comfortable. I’ve been reflecting on that idea a lot lately, and not only as we bid farewell to our most recent alums and prepare to welcome our incoming students. Sure, they’re about to take their first calls; or return to their current ministries with new ideas and training; or set out on theological formation for the first time. It’s cliché to say they are the future of the church, but it is true. Even more, though, I’ve been thinking of those of our alums who have recently been elected to serve as bishops. In the year that I’ve been president, I’ve attended three of their consecrations, and have two more scheduled already. Clearly, God saw all this coming, even if nobody else could. We don’t know, and can’t know, who will be the next rector of any given parish, or the next bishop of any given diocese. But we trust that God is already placing those people on their paths and equipping them for what is in store for them. That’s the future we serve at Bexley Seabury—the unknowable future that exists only in God’s dreams. The future rector of your parish, the future bishop of your diocese, is in seminary right now. Maybe even here, at Bexley Seabury. We have accepted the call to form the women and men in our charge for the church that is coming, whatever that may look like. Within these pages you will read stories of this church that is coming into being, and the work that our community—students, alums, faculty, staff, board, and friends—are doing to bring it about, and how we are preparing ourselves and others to serve as its leaders. I invite you be a part of this mission, however your gifts and callings lead you. The future church begins here. Micah T.J. Jackson (Seabury-Western ’04) President 3 ANSWERING THE CALL BEXLEY SEABURY “ I believe I am so called.” Forming new ministers for a new church In fall 2016, Bexley Seabury introduced a newly revamped non-residential curriculum for its Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Diploma in Anglican Studies (DAS) programs. We asked two recent graduates and one current student to share their experiences with the seminary’s pioneering approach to preparing for ministry. an incubator for new ministries, particularly for persons whose voices have been marginalized within the church or who, for whatever reason, do not feel comfortable in a traditional church. “We’re experimenting with forming new types of Christian community in a particular neighborhood in Indianapolis. It was Bexley Seabury that led me to that ministry versus the other way around,” Burke said. HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING “I don’t know,” Burke said, “if I would be hitting the ground running if I had chosen a traditional seminary. The seminary and the professors were all flexible enough to let me explore this type of ministry in my coursework, and encourage me, Patrick Burke (at right) blesses baby Ezra during communion at and give good feedback and coaching. So it’s a different type Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in Brownsburg, Ind. Ezra was of formation process, but one that is going to be instrumental baptized shortly after this photo was taken. in how we see the church in the 21st century. It’s an incredible The Rev. Patrick Burke (MDiv Bexley Seabury ’19) was a youth program from that perspective.” director in suburban Indianapolis and working in insurance when he saw the opportunity to answer his call to ministry. “When Bexley Seabury reformed the Master of Divinity program, it was the program I could really do while continuing to work full time and have a family,” Burke said. ROOM TO FIND A NEW WAY “Bexley Seabury was very instrumental in opening the door to both study and experience with new ways of doing ministry. ... It was a much different way of doing ministry with a big permission slip to think outside the box and think what we might be as a church in the future,” Burke explained. IRREPLACEABLE LESSONS Burke counts as lasting assets the examples set by faculty, Teresa Cantrell pictured in her church’s garden in northeastern including what he called an incredible illustration of flexibility, Arkansas where she lives with her husband and children. Cantrell sensitivity, and humility. “Almost the whole weekend was teaches full time at an elementary school 12 miles from her home. taken up by us challenging one of the texts that one professor presented to us. The ability to stop, listen to us, and really dig Leading youth ministry was pivotal for Bexley Seabury Master into a text that we found problematic in a way that he hadn’t, to of Divinity student Teresa Cantrell in discerning her call. be humble and open to that discussion and learn alongside of “I saw our youth ministry as a small congregation, and us—someone with a PhD—it was brilliant. ... Literally everyone pastored it as a congregation. As part my continuing I’ve encountered at Bexley Seabury has been that way. education, I did youth and family ministry training and really Just incredible.” felt beckoned toward sacramental ministry,” Cantrell said. BEXLEY SEABURY LED ME FLEXIBILITY AND RIGOR Ordained to the priesthood last December at Good Samaritan Cantrell is the first aspirant to the priesthood in her diocese to Episcopal Church in Brownsburg, Ind., Burke is now parish choose Bexley Seabury’s non-residential program for seminary. missioner at St. Paul’s On The Way, a “third space” ministry of “It was important that we not uproot the kids. Plus, there’s the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Indianapolis. The community is practical consideration of needing to keep my day job because 4 Summer 2019 ANSWERING THE CALL we depend on having my salary, too. I had other options but I five years at the diocesan cathedral, St. Mark’s, one-half of the wanted an accredited seminary,” Cantrell said. team leading a shift from transactional to relational outreach The Bexley Seabury curriculum appealed to Cantrell, too. ministry. He is saying farewell to a group of Visitation Sisters “I especially liked having more field ed time—five semesters that he ministered with in racially segregated North Minneapolis, instead of two—plus practical classes, like nonprofit management offering radical solidarity and witness to people living in poverty. and the ‘Learning from London’ course,” Cantrell said. “I like the He is separating from a monastic community in Omaha, Neb., idea of seeing how people are growing the church in other areas.” and moving to Los Angeles to live alongside another monastic EYE-OPENING INTERNSHIP community while considering vocational next steps. He says his experience at Bexley Seabury has equipped him Two semesters in, Cantrell rates her internship experience at to move forward with confidence. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Marianna, Ark., as top-notch. In order to keep a beloved rector who relocated to Arizona, A GROWING WEB OF SUPPORT the congregation invested in equipment to host CloudPriest, Maynus said one lesson he learned at Bexley Seabury is the a platform of the rector’s own creation for real-time streaming wisdom of honoring where you’ve been and where you’re going. liturgies and services that is based in the Zoom platform. The Because students stay anchored in their home communities priest is on-site at the church twice each month and conducts while participating in the seminary community, they are services from her home twice each month through CloudPriest. encouraged and fed by both. “It’s not like piping in a service. When you sign on, the first “You’ve got access to the people who have recognized thing you see is a conversation and a private message from the your gifts of leadership, the people who have called you to be priest. It’s been amazing to experience church this way.
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