The Missioner Fall 2024

The MISSIONER

Alumni return to the House

Many sons and daughters of the House paid a visit to their alma mater for Alumni Day on May 22.

Photo: Parker Asplin

Commencement on the Garth | May 23, 2024

RECEIVE YOUR PRINT COPY

In an effort to steward our resources, fewer copies of The Missioner will be printed and distributed via mail moving forward. A $25 annual donation to Nashotah House will ensure you continue to receive a print copy. If giving by check, please include “The Missioner” in the memo line. If giving online at nashotah.edu/give, check the box indicating you wish to receive an annual print subscription.

Photo: Parker Asplin

Meet Dr. Whitnah D

r. Lauren Whitnah assumed the role of Dean of Nashotah House on August 1. A medieval historian, Whitnah comes to us from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served on the teaching faculty and more recently as research manager and associate director of the university’s Global Computing Lab.

As senior lecturer at UT, she taught more than 400 students annually in interdisciplinary classes exploring the history, politics, culture, art, religion, economics, and literature of Western Europe from ca. 300 to ca. 1500. Whitnah’s academic focus centers on devotion to saints and understandings of sacred place in the High Middle Ages, particularly in northern England and southern Scotland.

As associate director of UT’s Global Computing Lab, she oversaw grant writing and management, education, and outreach for the research lab.

Whitnah holds a PhD in Medieval Studies and Master of Medieval Studies, both from the University of Notre Dame; a Master of Studies in History from the University of Oxford; and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Gordon College.

She recently sat down with The Missioner editor Lauren Cripps to discuss her faith journey, her call to academia, and what drew her to Nashotah House.

Read Donald House

the

Read about

legacy of Bishop Donald J. Parsons at Nashotah House on page 8.

Our new Dean on the academic and faith journey that led her to the House

LW: I will also add my mom has a DMin in spiritual formation and is a spiritual director, and my sister is a sociologist of religion, so it’s all the way around! I’m enormously grateful to have grown up in a Christian family. What that also means is I don’t have my sort of dramatic “Road to Damascus” conversion story. As I go back and think about my family over the generations, on my dad’s side certainly they were people who were committed to mission and to education. My greatgrandparents were missionaries; my grandfather was actually born in what was then Burma, now Myanmar, to missionary educator parents, and so my grandparents were deeply committed to education and to faith, and so are my parents. And my greatgrandparents and grandparents on the other side were in a farming community. Along with that came a deep commitment to hard work and respect for the land and to cultivating the land. So, I think I get that from both sides. It was hugely formative to be raised in a family that took commitment to Christ very seriously, that took mission seriously. Some turning points in my own life were participating in Young Life in high school, and then I went to a Christian college (Gordon College in Massachusetts), and that was where I began to think very seriously — and to learn how to think — about my faith.

LC: Which Christian thinkers have influenced you along the way?

LAUREN CRIPPS: It’s your second day on the job. How do you feel?

LAUREN WHITNAH: Delighted to be here! I’m settling into life in Wisconsin, and I’m really enjoying being in such a beautiful place. I actually arrived as summer session classes were underway, and although I basically hid in a pile of boxes, I peeked my head out from time to time, and it was great to see all the energy here and meet some students. I’m really looking forward to the beginning of the semester as residential students return. I’ve enjoyed getting outside and exploring some of the local trails and local parks as well.

LC: The intro to this Q&A describes a little bit of your bio and background, but I’d like to hear about your journey as a Christian. We know you grew up in the church and have a priest for a father and brother. Tell me about your own faith story.

LW: This is where the personal and professional get mixed up for me because I’m a historian by training who specializes in church history. One of the huge advantages of that is you think about time differently, and you think about the presence of historical people differently. So, when I’m doing research, I feel like I’m actually spending quality time with people who it turns out have been dead for a very long time. The writer of Hebrews refers to this as “the great cloud of witnesses.” That we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses is one of my favorite things about Christianity — that we have this sense of community that stretches across time and space.

The Christian thinkers who have influenced me are many. I find it deeply comforting to think about people over millennia wrestling with similar questions, in different contexts, that we’re wrestling with today. I return frequently to the Rule of Benedict. I will always delight in reading the Venerable Bede; reading Bede was what first made me a medieval historian,

and I find reading Bede one of life’s great joys. There are medieval figures that I find delightful and exasperating. Hildegard of Bingen is one of those. I always love reading Hildegard, even as there are things about her that I find challenging and impenetrable. I’m delighted anytime I get to spend time with Aelred of Rievaulx. Then, more contemporary thinkers who have influenced me dramatically include people like Sister Benedicta Ward; I had the great privilege of studying with her at Oxford, and that informed my professional and personal approaches to life and work. Contemporary thinkers whose books I pick up again and again and find something new and valuable on every reread are Jacques Philippe, a Catholic priest who’s still writing; Fleming Rutledge; Henri Nouwen; Marilynne Robinson; and Parker Palmer.

LC: I’d like to hear more about when you first sensed a call to academia and teaching.

LW: This was an experience of gradual unfolding for me. We often refer to people’s “calling,” but that has

not been as helpful for me as other analogies because I think calling implies “the phone rings, you have to pick it up.” For me instead it has been more of a series of steps I’ve been invited to take. That is a tango analogy; in Argentine tango, we talk about how you’re invited to move one direction or another, and that’s how my move into academia unfolded — a gradual uncovering of what really delighted me, and it so happened that I was also pretty good at what delighted me.

That began to come alive at Gordon, and then I studied abroad for a year at Oxford when I was at Gordon and that opened up all sorts of new possibilities intellectually for me. I loved that so much that I decided I wanted to go back, and I was able to go back and I thought, “Well, we’ll just see how that goes.” I was in my early 20s, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life, and I thought “if I get in (to Oxford), I’ll go and see how it goes.” I got in, and it went very well. I applied for some PhD programs, got in, and decided to go (to Notre Dame). So, it’s mostly been a case of observing available opportunities and

At left: Dr. Whitnah pictured at the 2024 Commencement on the Garth. Above: Whitnah delivers the Dean’s Welcome address during Orientation Week.

responding to those invitations. Frederick Buechner talks about vocation being a place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. That feels like the intellectual life for me. This is important work, it’s difficult work, I enjoy it tremendously, and I’m good at it. So, seeing those things come together, it all sort of gradually unfolded.

I was enormously fortunate in my own teachers. Having people who could model for me what it meant to study well, what it meant to teach well, was really, really important.

LC: At UT, you taught hundreds of students every year, but you put an emphasis on getting to know your students as people. How did you come to your pedagogical approach?

LW: That was hugely formed by my time at Oxford, where the core of teaching is one-on-one tutorials. I came to see through my own experience as a student and then as a teacher that, in education, we are not inputting algorithms into a machine. Instead, this is a profoundly human activity, in which we are coming as our own selves, as people, and bringing all of that complexity into a space with other people with all of their complexity. And for education to be effective, we have to take both of those things into account: who we are as people and who the students are as people.

LC: You’re moving from a big university to a pretty small residential seminary. What do you think you will bring with you from your past teaching experience to a setting like Nashotah House?

“Calling implies ‘the phone rings, you have to pick it up.’ For me instead it has been more of a series of steps I’ve been invited to take.”

we can know each other. Education is so fundamentally personal, and that was an enormous challenge at UT that, eventually in the wake of the pandemic, became completely untenable and unsolvable. So, I’m really delighted to be in a space that is smaller.

One of the wonderful things about this place is that so many people are well connected to it in a multifaceted way; and the challenge is that sometimes we need outside input so we can reevaluate what might be possible. I am an outsider to the institution, but I am also well connected in the broader context and the world in which this institution sits, so I think that’s one of the gifts I bring to the table.

LC: One thing on your resume that might catch people’s attention is your most recent work in high-performance computing. Tell us more about that career pivot and what key experiences you’ve gained in that role that will translate to your work here at Nashotah.

LW: One of the things my experience in a large educational institution helped me realize is that actually a small, residential context is just so much better for human flourishing — intellectual, emotional, mental. All those things are better off in a context where

LW: Yes, people look at that and think, “Well, that’s really different,” and this is where I joke that I have made a career out of reading things I don’t understand. When you really get into the weeds on medieval history, you very rapidly come up against the fact that there is a lot there that is really difficult to grasp, and maybe I won’t ever understand it. That actually situated me to move into highperformance computing, where I was also reading stuff I don’t understand. That means I’m always on my toes and always learning. But I think the thing that ties the two together is communicating

Dr. Whitnah’s adventures

Dr. Whitnah enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, and traveling. Above, she’s pictured with her brother, the Rev. Michael Whitnah, at Frozen Head State Park (Tennessee); Islay (Scotland); Bewcastle (England); and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee).

complex ideas in a way that is really compelling. So, whether that is communicating complicated ideas about, say, the beginning of the Crusades to undergraduates or whether that’s writing a compelling grant application to study nondeterminism and MPI applications, what you’re doing is taking stuff that’s idiosyncratic, that is not necessarily easily accessible, and helping people feel confident that they can grasp what you’re talking about. And I think that’s going to be a key skill set in this role because there are so many wonderful and also idiosyncratic things about this place, so if I can communicate those clearly and bring those skills of communication into this role, that’s going to be an asset.

LC: Let’s talk about when you first heard about this opportunity at Nashotah House. Did you say to yourself, “What’s a Nashotah House?” That’s usually the first response people have to hearing about us. What was your familiarity or understanding of this place?

LW: I’ve actually known Nashotah House by reputation for years. The church I grew up in sent some seminarians to Nashotah House, so I knew a little bit about it. And a friend went to Nashotah after we were in undergrad together, so he actually alerted me to the position and was really helpful in this process because he’s someone who knows me pretty well and also knows the House very well.

I had started discerning that it was time to leave Tennessee in the spring of 2020 before the pandemic. For a number of reasons, I began to think “My time here is going to come to a close, so I need to start thinking about what’s next.” So, that meant in part that I was open to unusual and unexpected things as they came up — and this was unexpected.

LC: Just as our board was praying and discerning throughout the search for our next dean, I imagine you were doing some praying and discerning yourself as to whether this was the right opportunity for you. How did you arrive at a decision to accept the call as dean?

LW: I believe in collaborative decision-making, so I’ve always found it really helpful to get strategic input from the right people. There was a lot of prayer by me and also from people who know me really well, and that was helpful because I knew their input was prayerful and attentive to what they knew of me. At one point in the discernment process, I realized that I had people praying for me — a small group of people, mostly women — from every decade of life, from mid-20s to mid-80s. That was remarkable; I found that very moving. I feel this is a huge gift in my life: people who are able to know God and also know me and be concerned about that without any other agenda. I think this is one of the huge advantages of being single. If you are married, if you’ve got little kids, you are in the weeds. So your relational energy is concentrated in this place and with this small number of people. When you’re single and when you’ve been single for a long time, your relational energy is just more widely distributed; it’s not distilled

in the same way. This is by far the best part of being single, having these incredible friends, ranging 60 years in age, and I’m able to invest in all of those relationships with a lot of energy.

LC: That resonates, and that’s a real gift to have that kind of community. Shifting gears and looking forward, what are some of your priorities in these first few months?

LW: My first priority is to build relationships, both internally and externally, so that’s the community of people who are currently living and working and studying in this place but also our broader community. I am going to need to spend some time figuring out the distinctives of this place, and that doesn’t happen overnight. So much that goes on here is truly excellent. Our faculty is top-notch, and I’m committed to supporting them. Our model of residential education is so important, and we’re committed to investing in that, and the HybridDistance and Advanced Degree programs have been a great gift to people. So, we’ll continue to build on those strengths as well as we can.

But we can only do all of that if we keep the lights on. And for this place, as for many institutions of higher education, the question of how we keep the lights on is a pressing one. So, another priority for me in the first few months as part of relationship-building is figuring out how to strengthen the partnerships that we already have and also build new ones for the support of the House and its mission.

LC: There are a lot of alumni and supporters of the House for you to meet. How might people have

Education

BA summa cum laude, History, Gordon College; MSt with distinction, History, Oxford; MMS, Notre Dame; PhD, Notre Dame

Hometown

Fairfax, Virginia

First job

Mucking out stalls in exchange for horseback riding lessons

Favorite book Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

Favorite hobby Hiking, Argentine tango

Favorite city you’ve visited: Too hard to choose! Durham (UK) will always have a special place in my heart. As someone who is interested in historic understandings of sacred place, I particularly enjoyed visiting Angkor Wat (Cambodia) and Baalbek (Lebanon).

Favorite Bible passage

These days, 1 Thessalonians 5:24: He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. I love, love, love the Psalms, though.

Favorite hymn Can’t possibly choose!

the opportunity to meet and get to know you?

LW: Well, I’ll be hitting the road shortly. My travel schedule is already coming together. I’m really looking forward to meeting people in person. I’m planning to be on the road quite a bit, so I would love invitations to come visit alumni and friends of the House. Similarly, I’d like to extend an invitation to alumni and visitors: we would love to have you back for Alumni Day, and we would love to have people come and take a class in the summer or think about a degree or simply visit campus. We are also going to have a couple of video calls for me to meet our alumni and donors, so we hope people will join us for those. And for our local friends, we will host our third annual Fall Benefit on Tuesday, September 17.

LC: You touched on the challenges in higher ed, and seminaries feel those challenges acutely. These days, it’s difficult to convince prospective students of the value of the residential seminary model. And then there’s the challenge of church decline. What do you make of these trends? And where do you see opportunity?

LW: I look at these trends from my training as a historian, so I tend to play the long game. My training as a medievalist means thinking in terms of centuries, so I tend to take the long view. It’s important to remember that there have always been narratives of decline. Now, that’s not to suggest that we should operate from a place of naivete. We are in the world, we need to stay connected to it, and that means taking reality very seriously. It means we need to be excellent stewards. We need to

“I am an outsider to the institution, but I am also well connected in the broader context and world in which this institution sits, so I think that’s one of the gifts I bring to the table.”

is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” To continue to offer what we provide the church and the wider world, that is where we try. The rest is not our business. If the narratives of decline cause us to operate from a place of anxiety, that is profoundly unhelpful. We want to be operating from a place of trust in God, in his plan, in his providence, in his ability to inspire people to help us meet our needs and fulfill our mission. That’s what we want to be operating out of, not from a sense of desperation or panic.

LC: I’ll close with this question: What’s something you want people to know about you that they can’t find out by Googling you?

LW: If anybody asks me to take a walk I will almost always say yes. I’m an avid hiker. I love to be outdoors and try to get outdoors every day. I’m looking forward to getting back into cross-country skiing, which is not something we do in Tennessee but something I did in Indiana and New England. I also really like art, so if you visit the Dean’s office or you visit the Deanery, you’ll see some original pieces on the walls.

be “wise as serpents.” And also, at the same time, we are not called to be hand-wringing about it. Our primary responsibility is to be faithful in the place where God has us. For nearly 20 years, I’ve had a passage of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets on my desk that says, among other things, “For us there

I also like to travel, particularly if some sort of sacred place is involved. I still go to Northern England every chance I get (usually once a year), and I had the enormous privilege of visiting both Ankor Wat in Cambodia and Baalbek in Lebanon. Both Ankor Wat and Baalbek have been sacred sites for various world religions for millennia, and as a scholar who specializes in Western religious traditions, I found both these sites fascinating. Although I’m not a motorcycle rider at home, I did ride motorbikes in both Phnom Pehn and Beirut!

A family-friendly summer at Nashotah House

Students, alumni, and their families enjoyed spending time at Nashotah House this summer. From fishing on Upper Nashotah Lake to eating meals in the Refectory to participating in chapel, the youngest members of our community are invited to take part in all that our campus has to offer.

IN BRIEF

Nashotah House celebrates another record fundraising year

NASHOTAH HOUSE

COMPLETED another strong fiscal year, raising a record amount for the seminary’s annual fund.

From July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, the seminary received $1.03 million in unrestricted gifts to the annual fund, representing a 33% increase from the previous fiscal year. The total also represents a significant goal realized.

As part of a five-year strategic plan, seminary leaders set an ambitious target in 2021 of raising $1 million for the annual fund by FY 24 to move the seminary toward

sounder financial footing.

Gifts to the seminary’s annual fund sustain its day-to-day operations.

“Year after year, our donors demonstrate just how important this

Breck Conference to focus on agnosticturned-Anglican writer Evelyn Underhill

THE 2025 JAMES LLOYD BRECK CONFERENCE on Monasticism and the Church will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Evelyn Underhill, the Anglican writer on worship and mysticism.

The conference, held June 18-20, 2025, will investigate Underhill’s mystical theology to discover how she understood the role of monasticism in the history and spirituality of the church and how every Christian can be a single-minded mystic.

Dr. Robyn Wrigley-Carr, Associate Professor in Spirituality and Spiritual Care at Whitley College (University of Divinity, Australia), will deliver the keynotes.

Find registration and more information at nashotah.edu/breck.

mission is to them,” said Robin Little, Senior Director of Advancement. “We are so grateful for their faithfulness, which allows Nashotah House to offer seminarians our unique model of

ministry formation and send out students to serve local churches and communities.”

Nashotah House raised $1.33 million in total in FY 24, including unrestricted and restricted donations, grants, and bequests.

Donors gave $130,936 in direct support of student scholarships, with many of those donations being given as part of the 2024 Founders’ Day Giving Challenge, held in April. Through this year’s challenge, 121 donors gave a total of $87,640, exceeding the seminary’s $75,000 fundraising goal.

McCombe, Dubic attend EPF’s Preaching Excellence Program

OVER THE SUMMER, seniors Jennifer McCombe and Wesny Dubic participated in the Episcopal Preaching Foundation’s Preaching Excellence Program in Richmond, Virginia.

Making a joyful noise

My experience at the Church Musicians Workshop

BY JENNIFER McCOMBE

When I told my peers about the lineup of the 2024 Church Musicians Workshop faculty, a common response was, “That sounds amazing! I would love to have the opportunity to learn from them.” Nashotah House was indeed privileged to have such a distinguished group of faculty leading this year’s fiveday workshop.

As Dr. Geoffrey Williams’ workshop assistant, I enjoyed attending sessions along with the other students and helping in whatever way was needed. This also afforded me the opportunity to learn from our esteemed CMW faculty: Nashotah’s own Dr. Williams; Dr. David Hurd Jr., an organist, composer, and music director; and Dr. Marty Wheeler Burnett, Associate Professor of Church Music and Director of Chapel Music at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Having grown up an Episcopalian, I’ve sung in church choirs since my teens and continue to sing through the Choral Scholars program at Nashotah and in my local parish. I’ve also sung in community choir and started a

choral group that supports individuals in hospice. Yet, despite my musical experience, I haven’t had a formal education in music. Coming into the CMW week, I was a little intimidated to be among 17 participants ranging in age from their early-20s to mid-70s, all of whom have taken classes in music theory. But I was excited to learn alongside them and gain a greater understanding of our liturgy, the importance of music in the life of the parish and the history of the 1982 Hymnal.

Our week was full, beginning Sunday evening with an introductory rehearsal in St. Mary’s Chapel. We went on to sing at every service over five days — eight in total — along with twice-daily hour-long rehearsals in the chapel. It was an intensive, sometimes exhausting, exhilarating experience. We were always learning and working to make beautiful, spirit-filled music in our worship.

Following breakfast, students gathered for our first plenary session each day. It was a privilege to hear about how church music has shaped the lives of Dr.

Williams, Dr. Hurd, and Dr. Burnett. Each felt the calling to serve the church through the ministry of music, choosing to use their spiritual gifts of music for the glory of God and to help others access their own musicality. Dr. Hurd taught at General Theological Seminary for over 39 years, while Dr. Williams and Dr. Burnett have taught at Nashotah House and Virginia Theological Seminary, respectively, for over five years.

CMW students chose one of two seminar tracks: “Composing for a Lifetime of Liturgy,” with Dr. Hurd, and “Liturgy and Music,” with Dr. Burnett. Along with seven other students, I chose to attend Dr. Burnett’s class. A highlight of the week was learning from Dr. Burnett about the process and history of the 1982 Hymnal. Dr. Burnett’s upcoming book, Shapers of The Hymnal 1982, will be published in 2025, and I will definitely be buying it.

Participants in Dr. Hurd’s class were equally enthusiastic about their track, as they delved into hymnody and were given the opportunity to compose their own hymns. Each student, some battling nerves, presented their compositions to their classmates and Dr. Hurd.

Nashotah House was honored to premiere Dr. Hurd’s commissioned pieces, Nashotah Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis), on the Eve of St. James the Apostle during Evensong. CMW participants sang Dr. Burnett’s Mathes Hymn the following evening during the Solemn High Mass. As students, we deeply appreciated Dr. Hurd, Dr. Williams and Dr. Burnett’s willingness to share their knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and musical gifts. They made themselves available to answer questions, offer anecdotes, and give advice. We were blessed to have all three meals together every day for a week.

The Nashotah community was also treated to a faculty concert presented by organist Dr. Thomas Heidenreich, Dr. Williams, and Dr. Hurd. I wasn’t alone in being mesmerized, enchanted, and moved to tears by the pieces sung and played in St. Mary’s Chapel.

I will be forever moved by the vitality, deep spirituality, passion, and dedication to church musicians and all members of the Anglican Communion demonstrated by our workshop leaders. They are a blessing to the church and a gift to all of us.

Above: Jennifer McCombe sits in on a lecture by Dr. David Hurd; Below: Dr. Hurd explains the hymn-writing process; Bottom: Dr. Thomas Heidenreich accompanied on the organ throughout the week. Photos: Paul Johnson

Jennifer McCombe is a senior pursuing a Master of Divinity at Nashotah House.

From State Election Board Chair to seminary student

Malcolm Guite drew Bill Duffey to Nashotah House for the summer, and then he decided to stay.

BY BILL DUFFEY

I love being a lawyer. My career has been fascinating, the work intellectually challenging, the impact of my cases significant, and my life rich.

My career path was unusual. I began practice as a member of the Air Force Judge Advocates Office in Ankara, Turkey, where I worked on NATO mission matters, advised the US Forces in Saudi Arabia, and served as counsel to the Marines,

providing legal advice during a NATO amphibious assault exercise. When I returned to a stateside assignment, I tried criminal cases at Air Force bases throughout the southeast and the Republic of Panama. After active duty, a large Atlanta law firm hired me to litigate cases, before I transitioned to internal corporate investigations, including an investigation of the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, to evaluate responsibil-

ity for the large oil spill caused by the grounded vessel.

In 1994, I joined the Whitewater Independent Counsel investigation in Little Rock, Arkansas, as Deputy Independent Counsel. I returned to private practice and in 2001 was appointed to serve as the United States Attorney in Atlanta, and in 2004, I was nominated and confirmed to serve as a U.S. District Judge in Atlanta. Retiring in 2018, I returned to public service in 2022 as the gubernatorially appointed Chair of the State Election Board in Georgia, a position in which I served until September 2023.

My legal career presented varied and unique opportunities. Few lawyers get to interview the pres-

ident of the United States and First Lady in a criminal investigation, to represent their country before federal courts, to work with the Department of State to resolve international disputes, to represent their country at a public policy conference convened by the Pope at the Vatican, or to represent clients in matters important to them personally and professionally. I am so incredibly grateful to have served in positions to make meaningful contributions to my country, community, and profession.

If there is a common thread in my career it has been the willingness to accept challenging and unique assignments. My move from private sector practice was intentional. Public service aligns with how God has wired me. I found deep satisfaction in public service work, where each day the goal was to improve the community and seek fair and just resolutions in cases. Retiring in 2018 gave me margin to invest in others and to serve people and institutions in need of legal services. That is what makes life rich, a George Bailey life philosophy.

In November 2023, I enrolled in a master’s program at Nashotah House. You may ask: why seminary and why Nashotah? It may seem like an odd turn in a legal career but let me explain the path that brought me to Na-

tracts, Wisconsin seemed a pleasant enough place to spend a few days. Only later did I learn that the presentations were at a seminary called Nashotah House, an odd name it seemed. The pictures of the seminary (all taken in warm weather) depicted a pastoral campus on a lake. That the Guite lectures were at a seminary didn’t matter. We weren’t going there to become priests but to hear lectures.

shotah. It began with Malcolm Guite, the English poet, theologian, priest, songwriter, and motorcyclist. A year ago, Betsy, my wife and spiritual influencer, suggested that we use Fr. Guite’s book of poems for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany as our devotion during that season. We read a poem a day and usually spent considerable time talking about it and Guite’s background information on each poem. These discussions were deep and meaningful. I read more of his poetry and poets he recommended. Poetry appealed to me and aligned with my longstanding literary interests.

One day Betsy came into my office and told me that Guite was speaking in the United States on spirituality and creativity. I asked where. Betsy said Wisconsin. Betsy and I had once traveled through Wisconsin on a trip to hike in Yellowstone. From what I saw from the

We arrived on a Sunday, and because we were encouraged to attend Evening Prayer in St. Mary’s Chapel, we did. After instruction on how to use the Book of Common Prayer and the hymnal, the service started. We recited Psalms, exchanging lines with the people across from us. We recited a creed that I had long ago memorized but was not part of the contemporary worship services we attended at home. The liturgy was stunningly beautiful and meaningful. When the service was over, Betsy and I looked at each other in silence. It had been a long time since we engaged in authentic corporate worship, where everything was based on scripture and where God was the object of our worship. It was moving and emotional, and we attended morning and evening services each day. It was the advent of renewal for us.

Guite’s lectures were masterful, insightful, playful, reverent, and God-worshiping — another interesting and

At left: Duffey pictured with Malcolm Guite during the summer 2023 term at Nashotah House.

Upper right: Duffey works on his Nashotah House studies from his home office.

“It had been a long time since we engaged in authentic corporate worship, where everything was based on scripture and where God was the object of our worship. It was moving and emotional, and we attended morning and evening services each day. It was the advent of renewal for us.”

unusual experience for us. The people we met — students, faculty, staff, and others attending the seminar — were kind, interesting and deeply devoted to the Lord. It was for us a spiritual oasis.

And then there were Jim and Betsy Sweeney. Jim, as I soon learned, was a Nashotah-educated priest and deeply committed to the seminary. I also learned he was a lawyer, also from Atlanta, but had left law practice to serve in leadership roles in faith-based schools in Georgia.

One night I confided in him my experience as Chair of the State Elections Board and how politics impeded my ability to lead the board to restore public trust in elections and that I had reservations about continuing in the role. As I was confessing this struggle, he smiled. He told me that he served in the California Secretary of State’s office as Chief of Staff and was intricately involved in the California elections process. I asked him about his experience in that position. He said it was just like mine. Political interests outweighed legal ones, sound legal advice and judgment were ignored, and the environment was unpleasant. I asked him how he responded to it. He told me he quit after about 15 months.

At the time I had served for about the same number of months. I resigned when I returned to Atlanta. Fr. Sweeney and I are close, and we visit him and his Betsy often. Over dinner one evening I mentioned I was evaluating how I was going to use the time that was available after resigning from the Election Board. He responded, “You need to take a course at Nashotah House.” His thought was that I needed space to decide where I am called and that a course would help bring perspective. He thought I would find seminary work invigorating and inspiring, as he had found it. I thought every pivot I had made in life was in response to an important and interesting new assignment. I concluded that engaging in study at Nashotah and worship at St. Mary’s Chapel would offer insight as to where God was now drawing me.

It was not, after all, Malcolm Guite who brought me to Nashotah. It was God working through those who believe in him to offer kingdom opportunities. Betsy and I believed it was God’s plan for me to accept the opportunity to study and learn more about my heavenly Father in my new life season. So here I am, having just completed course number three in my hybrid learning program.

Those interested in my academic pivot, especially other lawyers, have asked about my first seminary class experience. I admit, sitting in class with people with more theological education and career objectives, I felt out of place, an odd duck paddling in an unfamiliar pond. Then I discovered my studies aligned with legal work I had done for 40 years — interpreting writings, determining author intent, discerning what a document meant for those for whom it was written, examining the motivation of people, reconciling different views and opinions, and doing so honestly, objectively, and with integrity. I concluded my background and experience may be invaluable to digging deep into biblical texts, interpreting texts, examining church doctrine and ethics, and other subjects.

All of this to say, there is no formula I can offer for someone to decide whether seminary is or is not the right path for them. I suggest a good test is to discern if you have an honest sense that God is calling you to consider seminary study and then ask if you desire to be in the company of godly people in a caring, loving community. Don’t overthink the decision. You are not committing to anything other than responding to a call of the heart. For me, the only place I ever considered was Nashotah House, but from what I have said here, you can understand why.

Leave your legacy while investing in ours.

By including Nashotah House in your will, you help ensure future generations of seminarians have access to formation for ministry in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

You may do so by using this wording:

“I give to Nashotah House, a theological seminary located in Nashotah, Wisconsin, or its successor organization, the sum of $ ______ or ___% of my estate to be used for its general support and charitable purposes without restriction.”

If you would like to discuss your giving, contact Robin Little at rlittle@nashotah.edu or (202) 306-5352.

Alumni Day 2024

This year’s Alumni Day festivities included Mass, a luncheon, live music, Solemn Evensong, and a reception held in honor of

Dr. Garwood Anderson’s retirement as dean. Photos: Parker Asplin

A fool’s errand Alumni Day sermon

By the Ven. Alexander Pryor

Idon’t know about you, but I can really relate to the disciples in today’s Gospel reading.

If we back up a bit in John 4, we know that they’ve been faithfully following Jesus, going where He leads, learning as they go.

Just put yourself in their position: we’re told that they’re now exhausted from their journey. They’re hungry, they’re out of water. They arrive at a well outside this Samaritan town, and Jesus is weary. He needs to sit down for a bit.

So they do what any one of us would do. Jesus didn’t give them any specific instructions; no, instead they took the next faithful step. They did a perfectly rational, faithful, logical thing: they go to town to look for food, just like any of us would do in that situation.

And let’s remember: this is the heat of the Middle Eastern day, and they’ve just journeyed many miles on dusty roads. They do the next right thing, they faithfully face the next hurdle, and we can be sure that it was no small effort, walking by that well, wishing — I’m sure — they had a bucket, but instead continuing into town to go to the market. That took some real work on the part of the disciples, work they were willing to offer, as

a sacrifice, as they’ve been finding out who Jesus is, and learning to follow Him as Lord.

They get to town, they buy their groceries, and now, with sweat on their brow, the sun beating down from above, and rocks in their sandals, they come back with lunch. It’s a job well done, a good day’s effort, a hard day’s work, and all done in the heat of the day.

Just imagine: “Jesus, we’re back! We did the thing you needed; we’ve run the errands. Here, we got you some food.”

And then the Lord says, “Oh, thanks . . . but don’t worry about it, I have food.”

Put yourself in their shoes in that moment:

Like, what? What do you mean you have food? Why did we even bother going into town? What’s the point? You mean to tell us that you had snacks all along and didn’t share them?

Come on, Lord, we thought we were doing what you wanted! You could have just told us not to bother; believe me, we would have listened. This feels like a fool’s errand, a pointless task, completely wasted effort when we were already tired.

Like I said, I don’t know about you,

but there are days — even seasons — when I can certainly relate to the apostles in this passage.

They had put in real, costly effort. They made a faithful sacrifice. And let’s remember, the Lord hadn’t told them one way or the other: they weren’t being disobedient. They were faithfully doing the next thing to be done. And now, in this moment, when Jesus said, “I have food,” it appears that it has all been a total waste.

But, my friends, it wasn’t, was it?

No, because in that time when they were off running what certainly felt like a fool’s errand, they had set up the situation so that one woman from Samaria could encounter the Lord and Savior of the world while he was alone and in need of her service at that well. And in that encounter, she, a most unlikely candidate, becomes empowered to bring the Good News of Jesus to bear not just in her own life, but in the lives of her entire community, as they come to encounter the one who condescends to meet us where we are, the one who causes their Samaritan types and shadows to pass away as the newer rite of God’s presence is made known in the person of Jesus Christ.

If we could comprehend the fullness of the mind of Christ, we would see a picture incredibly bigger and more intertwined than we could ask or imagine; but we can’t. At least on this side of the veil, we can’t comprehend that fullness. No, what’s more, we can’t even comprehend our small part in it. And so, yes, we have days when we find ourselves like the apostles in that moment, bewildered, perhaps even upset, wondering why they bothered to run to the store hungry if the Lord had snacks with him all along.

Sons and daughters of this House,

There are no fool’s errands if the work is done in obedience of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to the glory of God the Father.

my friends, this is the unromantic flip-side that in the Lord’s great work, unfolding from before the foundation of the world, one plants and another waters; one sows and another reaps.

We all want to be the harvester, coming home with baskets overflowing, sharing in the joy of that harvest as we can see with our eyes and know clearly that we have done well as faithful servants, seeing that the Lord’s kingdom has increased by our efforts. And, by God’s grace, I pray each of us will get to experience that harvest joy at least at some point in our ministry, being the one who gets to joyfully reap what another has sown and others have faithfully watered.

But the truth of parish ministry is more often like the flip-side, where, for the apostles on that great and life-changing day for that community in Samaria, their great task and contribution, at least from our limited human perspective, was to walk a few more miles and get some groceries.

Or, if we want to be blunt, their job that day was just to faithfully get out of the way.

They must have been confused. “We came back with food. What happened while we were gone? Who are all these people? What did we miss this time?” But then, if we know the rest of John 4, we know they did get to reap what another had sown, as they spent two more days faithfully teaching and healing the people of that town.

My friends, especially those who are just graduating, these may not sound like words of encouragement for those setting out in ministry. But as I’m sure so many of us here can attest, the real beauty and gift of true parish ministry is found not in those rare high-points where there is an overflowing harvest. And that’s on purpose, because to be involved in

true parish ministry means you’re not a laborer who just shows up on harvest day.

To be in parish ministry, whether as a priest or a deacon or a lay catechist or a chaplain, means being in it for the long haul. Frustrating as it is, this is not quick work, and there will be days and seasons when we feel we have received little or no instruction from the Lord, and we’ve faithfully done the next logical thing, only to find out the Lord was doing something else in the background.

But that’s OK, because we’re in it for the long haul, and as catholic Christians we know we are united in this big, unchanging work, even the revelation of the one who was lifted up to draw all people unto himself.

There will be big days, and there will be lots of small days. There will be times of harvest, but there will be times of drought. There will be days it feels like we are on a fool’s errand, working on a pointless and impossible task.

But you know what? Where is the wise man? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Cor. 1:20).

There are no fool’s errands if the work is done in obedience of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to the glory of God the Father. There are no fool’s errands if we seek to have the mind of Christ and faithfully do the work He has given us to do.

Even if we feel like fools — like those trudging along in the heat of the day to buy snacks for one who says He already has food — the Lord does not waste our effort as part of His Body. When ministry is humanly frustrating and makes no earthly sense, I can trust it’s probably because whatever the Lord is doing through my simple, faithful bounden duty and service is so far above and beyond my comprehension that

it’s best I don’t know the big picture, or else — like the apostles had they been there when the Samaritan woman came — I’d trip over myself, and the Lord would have to work in spite of me, instead of me working with and for his purpose.

And so, like Moses with those prophesying in the camp, we must refrain from envy. And even as we pray to the Lord of the harvest for a harvest, as long as we’re faithful, we must not worry ourselves when it looks like our service is fruitless.

No, instead, like faithful workers who know that “one sows, another waters, another reaps, but it is God who gives the growth,” we simply need to claim our field and do the work. We need to faithfully determine what the next errand is — even if it looks like a fool’s errand — knowing that sometimes it isn’t the errand itself that is the point; it’s all a means to an encounter with the one true and living God, revealed eternally in Christ Jesus.

And so, my friends, do the long work of parish ministry. Pray the Daily Office, in drought and in plenty. Go on the Lord’s errand, whether it’s tea in a lady’s living room, bringing the sacrament to a hospital bed, giving hope to your firefighters and first responders, having that Bible study where only half of half a dozen show up, getting through that next vestry meeting, or having another little chat with that guy who doesn’t have it all together who sleeps sometimes on the bench outside your church. Go on the Lord’s errand.

We focus on the task. We want to go to the store, get the snacks, come back, and hear “well done.” But we serve the one who says, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to accomplish his work.”

Stand firm. Stay the course. And do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life.

The Ven. Alexander Pryor is Executive Archdeacon of the Diocese of The Arctic. He graduated from Nashotah House with a Master of Divinity in 2014.

Celebrating the Class of 2024

(In alphabetical order) Master of Divinity: Erica L. Andersen, Robert Eugene Davis Jr., Andrew Wellington Hollinger, Timothy Clarence MacDonald, Yehoshua Olufemi Odidi, Matthew Scott Phillips, Garrett Peter Puccetti, Alister Teddy Rihumana, Joseph A. Roberts, Christian Schell, Cameron Michael Walker, Jack H. Waneuma | Master of Pastoral Ministry: Elmer Samuel Miguel, Elizabeth H. Nash, Michael Kenneth Rasmussen, Justin Todd Renner, Emilie Joudi Vick | Master of Theological Studies: Melissa Alexandra Kneen, Jordan Thomas Stewart, Riggs Dalton-Mikael Wolf | Master of Ministry: Kay S. Mueller, Courtney McQuien Greene | Master of Sacred Theology: Russell Boston Hilliard, Brandon M. Thompson | Diploma in Anglican Studies: John B. Heffron

Nashotah House awarded degrees to 26 graduates during Commencement on May 23, 2024. Also during the exercises, honorary Doctor of Humane Letters were conferred to Dr. Garwood Anderson and Katrina Wilson. Wilson, who is the author of the memoir War, Love, and Redemption and the wife of Nashotah House alumnus H. David Wilson, delivered the Commencement address.

Photos: Parker Asplin

Too small a thing 2024 Valediction

By Dr. Garwood Anderson

Isaiah 49 is among those passages that we have come to know as Servant Songs.

There is a reason this passage especially is associated with the church and her mission. Remnant Israel, God’s Servant, has a mission here described; it is a mission taken up by God’s Son, which, in turn, is a mission entrusted to God’s people.

The Servant is raised up to regather the lost sheep of Israel, to restore the wayward remnant of Jacob. This is the good news Israel in exile would hope to hear — the best news — that, through his appointed Servant, God is restoring the fortunes of Zion.

But there is a twist.

The Servant, having acknowledged that God formed him from the womb to bring Jacob back to him; the Lord interjects a surprise: Yes, yes. All of that. But he goes on: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6, RSV).

The point is clear enough: our wildest dreams are not wild enough. The proper longing the Servant might have for Israel’s restoration on this side of the exile — good though it is — is still less than God has in mind.

“I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

In times of trouble and decline, in a season when we may think of ourselves in exile, the first, and too often the final, impulse is to look inwardly or even to focus on institutional survival: How do we get this church back on track? How do we get people to return to our services after COVID? What does the seminary need to do to improve its recruitment? How can the church become relevant again on the other side of this season of cultural indifference or even hostility?

There is nothing wrong with these questions. In fact, there would be something wrong with not asking them. The impulse to yearn for the good old days or for the restoration or perpetuation of an institution is not a bad impulse and is fully understandable. But this right impulse is the wrong impulse when it becomes the only impulse.

This is because the well-being of churches and the stability of institutions has never been more than a penultimate good in the economy of God. Even the full restoration of Israel from her exile is not the end in itself.

In the words of Isaiah, “it is too small a thing”(RSV) to long for parochial success if success is only defined parochially. A growing church attendance or a sound budget or even a growing seminary are “too small a thing.”

The message of God through the Servant is that our wildest dreams for our ministry are usually not wild enough. While we rightly pray, work, and hope for fuller pews, sounder budgets, for a respectable music program, or to take up again our once esteemed place in the community, these are not the ultimate goods for a church called God’s Servant, named for the Servant of God, Jesus Christ.

These good things are not good enough. And when made ultimate they will prove unworthy of our sacrifices and at their best will only offer us selfsatisfaction, or quite probably deny us of the same.

One of the greatest contributors to ministry burnout is that we have given ourselves to “too small a thing.” A sustainable and orderly parish is a wonderful thing, but when a sustainable and orderly parish becomes an end itself, it is “too small a thing” — “too light a thing.” Not, mind you, too easy, but too insignificant.

The point here is not that we are called to plant megachurches with mega-budgets. No. The point is that God’s mission, if it is God’s mission, does not terminate in the church as it is, until the church, God’s Servant, fills the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Hab 2:14 RSV adapted).

When God has made us to be a light to the nations, how can we simply settle for keeping the lights on?

When it becomes the church’s clear and unmistakable purpose to be a light to the nations, when the glory of God expressed in the redeeming sacrifice of Christ embracing a harassed and helpless world — when this becomes a singular passion, keeping the lights on will matter, but it will become “too small a thing,” and it will take care of itself.

If it seems like I am now talking like an evangelical . . . well, you had to find out sometime. (And I don’t think this has been a very well kept secret, in any case.)

I am sometimes called an evangelical, to which I can only say, “Would to God that it were so!” — that the evangel of God might become our one, consuming passion to the ends of the earth until the end of the age.

BY JENNIFER BURCHELL

In March, I was asked if I would consider repairing and restoring some Nashotah House vestments. It was an unexpected honor. What I didn’t anticipate was the overwhelming beauty of the collection; some pieces quite literally took my breath away.

I learned to sew and embroider as a young boarding student with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada. Years later, while I lived and worked in London, England, I enrolled at the Royal School of Needlework. I pursued the craft as a hobby for a few years and then hung up my embroidery hoop to pursue a career as a paralegal.

When a 1920s-era cope of Christ Church in La Crosse, my home parish, was deemed beyond repair, I offered to rescue it from the burn pile. Little did I know God had set a new path for me: a strange, silent, and often underappreciated call to restore and create things for His holy altar and for His greater glory. When I accepted that call, Cornerstone Curators was born.

Every project begins with prayer. I thank God for giving me the talent to do the work and ask Him to guide me through the task. The Lady Chasuble of Nashotah House was a particular challenge. My apprentice, Molly Gough, and I removed the embroidered orphreys from the chasuble and stole. I trimmed and stabilized the beautiful embroidery and remounted the orphreys on a new silk chasuble I created in a Glastonbury Brocade. Extra effort was taken to find something that matched the original brocade as closely as possible.

The Agnus Dei chasuble is one of the finest embroidered pieces I have ever worked on. Dating back to 1949, it needed a lot of extra attention. Again, the orphrey was removed and the embroidered Lamb of God was cleaned, repaired, stabilized, and remounted on another new chasuble made of Glastonbury Brocade.

In the course of restoring these sets as well as the Ramsey cope, Nashotah House has become a precious place for me. I pray for the students and faculty every

morning. God needs good deacons and priests, and Nashotah House is creating them.

Repairing, restoring, and remounting ecclesiastical embroidery and garments has become my passion. Even when only a fragment of something can be saved, I will find a new home for it in a stole, a pulpit hanging, or even a Gospel bookmark. I enjoy giving the work of other hands new life. Even linen from the high altar is cut down to make purificators and corporals.

I have also faced the challenging task of helping a parish that must close its doors or merge with another. That is also a prayer-filled task. Emotions run high. Patience and fortitude are required of all participants if compromise and right choices are to be achieved and accepted.

Designing and creating new pieces is a joy. First, I ask for pictures of the sanctuary where the item will be used. I then carefully consult with the priest, altar guild, or both to bring their vision to life in a way that expresses particular themes or devotions. Unlike the big-box catalogue companies, I listen. I don’t keep a regular inventory. My mission is to create each piece for the individual or the parish. No two pieces are ever truly alike. For example, I recently designed and created a red stole with a St. Andrew’s cross and thistles. I know it will be cherished for many years to come, and that makes my artistic heart smile.

Cornerstone Curators does not have a mission statement, per se. Instead, we frequently invoke St. Homobonus, the patron of tailors, cloth makers, and ecclesiastical seamstresses. We have a firm policy in our work: Always for His greater glory!

Jennifer Burchell is owner of Cornerstone Curators, a small, Catholic business based out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, that specializes in creating, repairing, and restoring ecclesiastical vestments. Find more information on Facebook at Cornerstone Curators or on Instagram at @cornerstone_curators.

1. Cornerstone Curators relined this Nashotah House stole, made repairs to some of the embroidery, and cleaned the gold work.

2. & 3. These copes were each restored.

4. The embroidered orphreys were carefully removed from an old Marian chasuble, stabilized and repaired and then remounted on a silk brocade.

The choral tradition of Nashotah House in a BCP 2019 Recension The St. Bernard Breviary

By the Rev. Ben Jefferies, ‘14

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it 1842 times: Nashotah alumni saying, “You know, the thing that formed me the most here was the daily prayer life in the chapel.” And, pace the faithful labors of the professors in the classroom, it’s true! The sheer quantity of hours spent praying together, it leaves a deep impression.

Much of that prayer was, of course, sung prayer (in my day, under the aegis of the inimitable Canon Kucharski. If there was a chapel musician before him, few are old enough to remember it!). Like all sons and daughters of the House, even after graduating, the sweet melodies of Evensong after Evensong continue to resound in my ear.

For love of this beautiful worship of God, many of us alumni are eager to continue chanting our praises to the Lord in the parishes that we serve, but an extremely small portion of us are privileged to serve in churches that have an embedded culture and corresponding resources to support choral offices. If, like me, you are not among those lucky souls, then you have probably had an experience like mine: undaunted, you set yourself to sing Evensong with the one parishioner who comes to Evening Prayer in the week. You realize that you need no fewer than four books for the task: a BCP, a plainsong psalter, a Bible, and a hymnal, and switching between these books about every 90 seconds, and needing to give directions to the faithful soul in attendance. “OK, now S-59 in the hymnal . . . now pick up your psalter . . . OK, now for the Magnificat . . . Yes, we will sing just the melody line . . . Oh, yes, this is a different style of pointing the text,” etc.

It is almost impossible to not lose heart and throw your hands up at the impossibility of it. The situation is even

worse if you are in the ACNA (as I am), because the texts in the 1982 Hymnal have slight variations from the BCP 2019 text, and thus throw another wrench into the works. Never mind also that the psalter in the BCP 2019 doesn’t exist in a published plainsong psalter, you have to grab a different translation to chant: either the 1979 (in the Nashotah Plainsong Psalter) or the 1662 (in the St. Dunstan Psalter). So, you probably give up on Evensong.

But then some years go by, and, in an effort to stay faithful to the said Office, you discover the various supplements to the Office — the collections of

gathered breviary material, either in their Anglican or Roman recensions — and it’s a delightful smorgasbord of antiphons and versicles and whatnot. But then, it can take forever to locate the needed material, and only then do you realize that, of course, it’s using the 1662 or some other pre-Vatican II calendar system. But you persevere, and you find the right antiphon for the Magnificat, only to realize it’s really long and curiously ponderous in its prose, and you can’t see the connection between it and the feast . . . and then you have to explain to that faithful soul (who, hopefully is still showing up at this point!) that you are going to read an antiphon, that, no, it isn’t in his BCP, he just needs to listen to it . . . *sigh*.

Faced with these dispiriting situations, all the while still remembering the joy and beauty of Evensong at the House, I recognized the task before me: to create a single-volume breviary, using the Office text and psalter from the BCP 2019, set to simple, easy-tolearn plainsong (and melody-line Anglican-chant), with modest additions here and there from the breviary tradition, and all of the text of the Bible for the Office readings arranged in lectionary sequence.

Well, after four years, having spent roughly 1,500 hours type-setting, and countless hours of “praytesting,” at long last this vision has been realized, and it is called the St. Bernard Breviary.

Now, in one volume, you have everything you need to sing not only Evensong, but Matins, and Midday Prayer, and Compline (and even an Office of Vigils!), and to keep the joy of the sung office tradition alive in your family-size parish with ease. The St. Bernard Breviary has:

» The New Coverdale Psalter set to plainsong (using a type-pointing method nearly identical to that which is codified in the Nashotah House Plainsong Psalter)

» The Canticles set to single-voice Anglican Chant

» A full-length written tutorial on how to chant

» The fragments of chant for versicles, etc. (e.g., “O God make speed to save us”) placed in-situ in the liturgy

» The Collects of the Christian year, pointed for chanting

» Selections from the Occasional Prayers, placed on a weekly cycle

» Seasonal Antiphons for the Magnificat

» The 100-hymn Hymnal of the Heart

» The readings for the year (ESV)

» Quotes from the commemorated saints of the calendar, on their feast day

» Aids for self-examination in preparation for Confession and a Daily Examen

In the parish in which I serve, I have been able to “onramp” parishioners into the method of singing within three or four offices — and have been able to teach children as young as 7 — how to chant. And there’s no book-swapping, no confusing page-flipping; the book draws very little attention to itself, and is what it was designed to be: a tool for prayer — beautiful, sung prayer.

In the acknowledgments in the Breviary, I acknowledge, “First, the faculty and my fellow seminarians of Nashotah House Theological Seminary 2011-2014, [who] by their devout example, taught me how to pray and chant the Offices with faithfulness and regularity. Especially thanks to Canon Joseph Kucharski, who was patient with we novice singers, and who developed such an intuitive way of marking plainsong with typography.”

So, with gratitude and joy, I wanted to share this new recension of the Nashotah House singing tradition with my fellow alumni in The Missioner.

The St. Bernard Breviary can be purchased online for $95 from Anglican Liturgy Press at anglicanhousepublishers.org/anglican-liturgy-press.

The Rev. Ben Jefferies serves as rector of The Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Opelika, Alabama. He graduated from Nashotah House with a Master of Divinity in 2014.

MAKING A CHURCH GREAT

Son of the House Fr. Jim Adams completes 43-year tenure as rector of St. Peter’s, Geneva

The Rev. Jim Adams and his wife, Sue, are sitting in a cabin on a quiet 110-acre campus in the scenic Catskill Mountains.

After a month at the Lake Delaware Boys Camp, campers have returned home. The staff, too, have left for the summer. And for the first time in over four decades, camp directors Fr. Adams and Sue don’t need to rush back three hours west to resume parish ministry in Geneva, New York.

“We are, for the first time, I think, experiencing what being retired is like,” said Sue. “It hasn’t quite hit yet.”

Jim closed out his career of 43 years as rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Geneva, a town of 13,000 people in the Finger Lakes Region, just before camp began in July. It’s a remarkable tenure when

compared to national pastoral tenure averages, which are estimated around five and seven years.

Jim’s longevity at the parish has lent the stability needed to develop and grow thriving ministries, of which St. Peter’s is home to many: a nonprofit community arts academy, four active choirs, wellattended adult Christian education classes, and a weekly free meal program. It has kept the congregation strong and stable at a time when many churches across the Northeast have seen major decline.

Sue has served as Jim’s partner in ministry, both as St. Peter’s church administrator and a leader of its various ministries. Since 1988, the couple has

also run Lake Delaware Boys Camp, an academystyle summer camp that offers — in addition to the customary summer camp activities of sports, zip lines, swimming, and overnight camping — a Drum and Bugle Corps and daily chapel services from the Book of Common Prayer.

While churches led by long-tenured clergy can run the risk of stagnancy — and, often, decline — throughout his career Jim innovated as he remained rooted in a single community.

“In Pentecost, the Old Testament readings from Joel talk about your young people having visions and old men dreaming dreams, and I think that’s true for parish ministry — to have visions and dream dreams,” Jim said.

Jim attended Nashotah House in the late 1970s, when former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey taught ascetical theology.

“I remember him saying that, as a parish priest, you can never expect the commitment of the congregation ever to be any greater than your own,” Jim said. “And so that stuck with me, that the commitment to the gospel, the commitment to Christ, the commitment to the parish, was at the core of leadership.”

Upon graduation, Jim completed his curacy at Christ Church in Cooperstown, New York. He served there for three years before accepting the call in 1981 as rector of St. Peter’s, described by his bishop at the time as “a parish with a distinguished past and a questionable future.” Founded in 1853 by the first bishop of Western New York as an Episcopal mission, the church had fallen on “some hard decades” amid the wider economic decline of its region, Jim said.

“The bishop said, ‘We can give it three years and see what happens,’” he said.

Jim and Sue quickly “fell in love” with St. Peter’s and were captivated by its history. They also sensed parishioners were eager to grow, Jim said.

“It was a small congregation at the time that really wanted to grow spiritually and really wanted their church to thrive, so they were totally open to change and to new visions,” he said.

Jim started offering Bible studies, and parishioners showed up in large numbers.

“It was a real time of spiritual renewal for the congregation and for us,” he said, adding that Christian education and Bible studies have remained a core part of the church’s life over the decades.

Five years into his ministry at St. Peter’s, Jim

The Rev. Jim Adams celebrates Mass during his last Sunday as rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal. Photo: St. Peter’s, Geneva

spearheaded a large capital campaign to renovate and restore the church’s gothic architecture in accord with the original design, while also creating a space suited for worship according to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

The result was a downtown campus better positioned to serve the community, and the church began channeling its energy and resources into local mission. Looking to strengthen the parish’s connection to the local community, Sue launched a weekly event called Neighbors Night, opening the doors to area children to enjoy a free meal, games, and fellowship.

“It began with that handful, eight to 10 kids every Wednesday night, and we’d have some fun songs and games and crafts and a Bible story — just planting some seeds — and we’d have a snack,” Sue said. “And then after several months we realized that for some of the kids that was going to be their dinner, so we asked people from our church to provide a pot of soup. As our numbers grew, then we had a retired teacher, who was a member of the parish that loved to cook, and he cooked a full dinner for the neighbors. We’d have up to 100 kids.”

The ministry continues today. The church now delivers meals — a response to COVID — often accompanied by crafts and school supplies. The change in model has given volunteers more insight into the transient living situations of some neighborhood children and allows the church to serve the entire family, Sue said.

“It’s been really important to the parish,” she said. “A number of years ago, a member said to me, ‘If Jesus belonged to St. Peter’s, he’d be volunteering at Neighbors Night.’ It became highly recognized and appreciated in the whole community throughout the years, and as St. Peter’s has continued to grow and develop and thrive, it has become more and more recognized as a real important asset to the community.”

Inspired by a sabbatical spent at Salisbury Cathedral in the early 1990s, Jim realized the next opportunity for St. Peter’s was to build a great music program. The parish then hired a recent graduate of the University of Cambridge as the church organist, choirmaster, and youth director. That seed of a music ministry would eventually grow to include three youth choirs and an adult choir.

“It was, again, the parish being willing to hear about a dream and them being willing to carry it out and support it,” Jim said.

In the early 2000s, the Adamses began pursuing their next dream: opening an Episcopal parish school. After touring 20 Episcopal schools throughout the country, the couple saw a more pressing need in the community for arts education that was accessible to students, regardless of their families’ ability to pay, and St. Peter’s had the resources to meet that need.

“We already had great musical people on staff, and we have these great big buildings that were inspiring places to make music,” Jim said. “Again, the parish got behind it and there was a lot of seed money that had to go into it.”

For the first few years, St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy ran on a deficit, but the parish continued to invest in the program until it became sustainable, Jim said. Today, it serves over 300 students. St. Peter’s held a successful $2 million capital campaign for a new building, with funds coming largely from outside the parish. Through a collaboration with the Geneva

Sue Adams pictured during a celebration of her and Fr. Jim’s retirement.

Photo: St. Peter’s, Geneva

City School District, the arts academy offers lessons for free to public school students who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

Sue has led the arts academy as executive director, in addition to her work as parish administrator.

“We didn’t do rest very well,” Jim said. “We took two sabbaticals in the 43 years, and one led to us starting choirs and the other led to us starting the school.”

There were plenty of opportunities to take other jobs over the years, including some at “very attractive parishes,” but Jim said he always felt there was more work to be done at St. Peter’s.

“We kind of made the decision that, instead of looking to move to a larger church or a bigger position, it was going to be much more rewarding to try and make St. Peter’s a great church,” Jim said. “And so that became our goal: to make St. Peter’s a great church rather than to climb a ladder.”

Some studies, including a 2014 survey of the Episcopal Church, show a bell-curve relationship between clergy tenure and church growth. A congregation is likely to grow gradually through a priest’s initial years with the parish, with the likelihood of growth beginning to decline after five years. Clergy age is also associated with parish growth, the same study found. The rate of congregational growth was highest among parishes with a priest 39 years and younger, with rates decreasing accordingly with older priests.

Still, Jim remains convinced of the value of an effective long-term pastorate. Membership and attendance at St. Peter’s have been remarkably stable, even as the town’s population steadily declined. Even after a pandemic slump common to many churches, attendance at St. Peter’s in 2022 was 85 percent of what it was a decade before.

Often when churches reflect on their golden age of growth and stability, it was under the leadership of a long-term pastor, he said.

“None of [St. Peter’s initiatives] could have happened if we hadn’t been there that long,” he said. “It was long enough, several times over, to have a dream, and then make that dream become a concrete goal. It takes years to accomplish those things. I don’t think any of those things could have happened without the longterm trust.”

He shares the credit with St. Peter’s vestries, which grounded his big dreams in practicality and found the resources to execute them.

The search is now underway at St. Peter’s for its next

“INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO MOVE TO A LARGER CHURCH OR A BIGGER POSITION, IT WAS GOING TO BE MUCH MORE REWARDING TO TRY AND MAKE ST. PETER’S A GREAT CHURCH.”

rector. Sue and Jim plan to remain in Geneva and, after giving the parish space during the transition, they say they might make their way back to its pews.

“If whoever the next rector is is comfortable to invite us to sit in the pew, that might be on our radar,” Sue said.

“We ended with so much mutual love and admiration and appreciation between pastor and people there. That meant so much to us and leaves us feeling so fulfilled,” Jim said. “During that last year, there were a lot of tears, but also a feeling of real gratitude. It was not contradictory for them to be sad at the thought that we were going to be retiring but yet knowing it was time and looking forward with excitement to the future.”

This story, written by Lauren Cripps, was originally published by The Living Church

The Artistic Vision: Cultivating a Sacramental Imagination for Creative Practice

Alumnus develops STM thesis into book

BY THE REV. GARY BALL

In “The Trees’ Counseling,” Victorian poet Christina Rossetti, through her contemplation of nature, admires the contentment of a tree as it is, simply being what it is. On various occasions Rossetti uses nature analogically to deliver spiritual meaning. Her interpretation and expression is a result of her vision, a sacramental way of seeing that anticipates the presence of God throughout all that he has made. Rossetti was one among a variety of artists who were influenced by the Oxford Movement’s sacramental view of creation. Some artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood attributed their symbolic realist style to the influence of the typological interpretation of Scripture as it was taught by the Tractarians.

The influence of the Oxford Movement upon Victorian art was at the center of my Nashotah House studies. The movement set out to confront an over-rationalist approach to Scripture that limited God to explanations, the scientism of the day, and the restraints of human imagination. Recovering a sense of awe and reverence was a top priority for them. They contended that by retrieving a patristic hermeneutic the church could be revived. The early church’s manner of in-

terpretation, sometimes referred to as allegorical or spiritual, was imaginative in nature, and is often referred to as poetic. The anticipation that characterized their search for Jesus in Old Testament types was carried over into their view of creation.

During my time at Nashotah, I traveled to the Pusey House in Oxford to read Edward Pusey’s “Lectures on Types and Prophecies of the Old Testament,” which remains unpublished. These lectures captured the heart of the movement’s desire for the church to recover this ancient approach to Scripture as a way of reviving it from what they believed to be a stagnant state. As an artist, I was moved by the sacramental imagination demonstrated by the early church’s approach to Scripture. In the same way that Jesus was revealed in Old Testament types, there was an anticipation instilled within them to see the character of God revealed in all that he has made. Many artists in the Victorian age would come to imitate the world as they saw it, but the surface images on the canvas contained layers of meaning. Their art (paintings, poetry, architecture, etc.) demonstrated their vision of the world, a way of seeing that was deeply shaped by the sacramental interpretation of Scripture taught by the Tractarians.

Along with co-author Dr. Alex Sosler, I recently completed a book project titled The Artistic Vision: Cultivating a Sacramental Imagination for Creative Practice (Wipf & Stock, 2024). This book is based on what I observed to be a crisis of vocation with the artists in my community. They were struggling to find purpose, confused about how faith is related to their creative practice. Many artists describe a disjointed vision: either a material vision of the world that led them to interpret the world void of God’s presence or a spiritual vision that overlooks the realities of earthly life.

Our assertion is similar to that of the 19th-century Oxford Movement: that a sacramental vision of the world could lead them to interpret the world as imbued with divine meaning. This is where artists will find meaning in their vocation, a new depth, by imitating the way God reveals his character in and through the things he has made. While the movement was a catalyst for this project, the book considers a variety of contemporary artists, such as Flannery O’Connor, as examples of the way vision inspires creative practice.

The following are a few excerpts from The Artistic Vision:

The Tractarians believed that this search for Christ in Scripture would

condition the church to see Christ in the world. They believed that an increased awareness of divine activity in creation would help overcome the view of God as remote or impassive. Creation provides us with a sense of God’s nearness that is experienced through our enjoyment of nature’s combined beauty and function. The mystery the Tractarians sought to recover is grounded in beauty—not that beauty simply leads to a greater admiration of natural forms, but that it serves as an invitation to contemplate the divine presence as it is made known through creation. (70)

G. B. Tennyson refers to Rossetti as “the true inheritor of the Tractarian mode in poetry.” The Tractarian sacramentality of creation has been credited with providing the basis for Rossetti’s analogical view of the world and her implementation of nature in poetry as a vehicle of divine truth. Rossetti depicts a sacramental world by using earthly images in the way God has intended: to make the divine presence known through that which he has created. In John Keble’s Tract 89, he speaks of the use of analogy in our attempt to make sense of transcendent meaning, stating, “There is everywhere a tendency to make the things we see represent the things we do not see, to invent or remark mutual associations between them, to call the one sort by the names of the other.” In her poetry, Christina Rossetti draws upon the

analogies of creation as the means to express that which is indescribable, while exercising an appropriate level of restraint, in order to avoid the implication that it is possible to adequately describe God. She incorporates these analogies into her poetry just as she observes them, as an indirect means of revealing truths that are too great for words. By pointing to the analogies in nature, she models a way of seeing; as an artist, she invites us to see the world through her eyes, and in doing so, she makes a profound statement about God’s mode of communicating truth. (74)

These statements put sight, the ability to perceive the things of God, as the primary goal of artists. In fact, this way of discernment is described as a poetical act, one that requires us to recognize God’s means of communication and then to consider what truth is held within the analogies. This way of seeing takes cooperation with God in order to recognize where he is made known and then to faithfully reveal what we discover. We have much to learn from the teaching of the Oxford Movement. Artists could benefit from the Movement’s sacramental vision of creation, but these benefits are not associated with technique or form; rather, they begin with learning how to see. (7576)

The Artistic Vision is available for purchase now on Amazon.

The Rev. Gary Ball is rector of Redeemer Anglican Church in Asheville, North Carolina. He received his Master of Sacred Theology from Nashotah House in 2021. The Artistic Vision originated from a thesis project he completed under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Hans Boersma.

ALUMNI UPDATES

ORDINATIONS, CALLS AND RETIREMENTS

The Rev. Roy Allison (‘12), rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Ormond Beach, Florida, was appointed by Dean Lauren Whitnah to serve as the first president of Floreat Nashotah, a new association for Nashotah House alumni.

The Rev. Carolyn Bartkus (‘16) was called as rector of The Episcopal Church of the Annunciation in Lewisville, Texas.

The Rev. Margaret Brack (‘17) was selected by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to represent The Episcopal Church at the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan this November.

The Rev. Adam Bucko (‘19) was appointed as one of four honorary canons of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York, on April 7, 2024. The appointment is in recognition of his co-founding the Community of the Incarnation and the Center for Spiritual Imagination.

The Rev. Monica Coakley (‘23) was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on September 7, 2024. Coakley serves as a chaplain at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville and serves at Luminous Anglican Parish in Franklin.

The Rev. Robert Davis (‘24) was ordained to the priesthood at All Saints’ Cathedral in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 20, 2024. He was ordained to the diaconate on January 6, 2024, also at All Saints’ Cathedral. Davis serves as priest-in-charge of St. Boniface Episcopal Church in Mequon, Wisconsin, and is a US Trustee of KARIBU Ministries.

What are you celebrating in your ministry right now?

“People excited about their ministry in the church and community and testimonies of answered prayer. People grasping the grand narrative of Scripture as it points to Jesus and living more hope-filled lives.”

-THE REV. SARAH L. BRONOS DIRECTOR OF ONLINE HEALING MINISTRIES, THE ORDER OF ST LUKE THE PHYSICIAN

“I am celebrating our new grief program, Living with Grief, developed here from the ground up, intended to be implemented in any parish. Our materials are turning out really beautiful, and we intend to share them freely with any parish interested in running grief groups. We will be running a multi-parish ecumenical training workshop this fall.”

-THE REV. MAUREEN MARTIN

ASSOCIATE

FOR PARISH LIFE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, CHRIST CHURCH GROSSE POINTE

The Rev. William Patrick Edwards (‘11) began as head chaplain of the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge on May 16, 2024.

The Rev. Dr. John Gullett (‘22) was appointed vicar of All Souls Anglican Church, a new church in the University City/Concord, North Carolina, area.

The Rev. Marie Kirk-Clunan (‘15) was ordained to the diaconate on June 15, 2024, at Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Rev. Hunter Farrow (‘21) was ordained to the diaconate on January 6, 2024, at All Saints’ Cathedral in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Rev. Andrew Hollinger (‘24) was ordained to the priesthood on August 25, 2024, at Church of the Incarnation, Bryan/College Station, Texas, and to the diaconate (transitional) on February 3, 2024, at Christ Church in Waco, Texas.

Shruti Gopal Kulkarni, an STM student, was commissioned as a lay chaplain at the Parish of All Saints in Ashmont, Massachusetts, on April 24, 2024.

The Rev. Johnny Lawrence III, a senior at Nashotah House, was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on March 12, 2024, at Holy Apostles Anglican Church in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. He will serve as curate at Saint James the Great Anglican Church in Smiths Station, Alabama, when he completes his studies.

The Rev. Brandon LeTourneau, an STM student, was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 2023, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Loomis, California. LeTourneau serves as rector of St. Mark’s.

The Rev. Timothy MacDonald (‘24) was ordained to the priesthood on August 10, 2024, at Church of the Nativity, Sarasota. He was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on January 20, 2024, at The Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley (‘13) was appointed to the Jonathan Blanchard Chair of New Testament and Public Theology at Wheaton College. Dr. McCaulley began July 1, 2024.

The Rev. Vicki Nadzke (‘02) was conferred the title of Rector Emeritus on February 18, 2024, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

The Rev. Yehoshua Odidi (‘24) was appointed curate at St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Denton, Texas.

The Rev. Thomas J. Pettigrew (‘11) was instituted as rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Schenectady, New York, on March 15, 2024.

The Rev. Matthew Phillips (‘24) was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on April 13, 2024, at All Saints’ Cathedral in Milwaukee.

What has been a significant challenge in your ministry, and what have you learned from the experience?

“My new position (as director of a supportive housing facility) is the fruit of what I’ve been learning organically as I’ve been serving full-time at our little church plant this year. I’ve been opening the door to pray the offices in the downtown facility we share with another church, and I have been learning ‘the hard way’ about sustainably caring for neighbors experiencing homelessness and addiction and the strategies and challenges faced by our broader community as these crises worsen year after year.”

-THE REV. NATHANIEL KIDD, PHD VICAR, RECONCILIATION ANGLICAN CHURCH DIRECTOR, ST. FRANCIS PLACE

The Rev. Garrett Puccetti (‘24) was ordained to the priesthood on August 18, 2024, at the Cathedral Church of Saint Luke in Orlando, Florida, where he serves as assistant rector. He was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on January 11, 2024, also at the cathedral.

Elliot Ritzema, an STM student, was confirmed April 3, 2024, at Zion Episcopal Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

The Rev. Leighton Ryder, a senior at Nashotah House, was ordained to the diaconate on June 28, 2024, by the Rt. Rev. Derek Jones at Christ’s Church in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

The Rev. Gregory Seeley (‘22) was installed as rector of St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church by Rt. Rev. Bishop Donald Lerow on August 11, 2024.

We want to hear from you

The Rev. Audrey Sutton (‘21) was instituted as rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Deland, Florida, on June 9, 2024.

The Rev. Jason S. Terhune (‘15) began serving as an associate priest at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 20.

The Rev. Cameron Walker (‘24) was ordained to the diaconate (transitional) on February 7, 2024, at St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church in Hartland, Wisconsin, and will be ordained to the priesthood on September 14, 2024. He serves as curate in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island at St. John’s of Lattingtown Episcopal Church in Locust Valley, New York.

The Rev. Sam Wilgus (‘17) was instituted as rector of St. John’s Church in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18, 2024.

Share your ministry updates and stories by scanning the QR code.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ANNIVERSARIES

The Rev. Dr. John D. Alexander (‘04, STM) received the 2024 Nelson R. Burr Prize from the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church for his article, “Christ Church, Providence, 18391851: An African American Parish in Antebellum Rhode Island,” published in the September 2023 issue of Anglican and Episcopal History The article focuses on the beginning of Alexander Crummell’s remarkable and multi-faceted career and sheds light on the history of the short-lived New England parish where Crummell served as rector, as well as on the overall position of African Americans within both the Episcopal Church and American society in the mid-nineteenth century.

The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, SSC (‘74) celebrated 50 years of ordained ministry and 30 years of consecration on July 6, 2024, at Christ Anglican Church in Moline, Illinois.

The Rev. Dr. Shane Gormley (‘12) was awarded Loyola University’s 2024 Humanities Dissertation of the Year for his dissertation, “To This You Were Called: Rereading First Peter on Discipleship, Suffering, and Social Identity.”

Dr. Lindsey E. Hardegree (‘18) received a Doctor of Ministry on May 11, 2024, from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Rev. Canon James Kaestner (‘59) celebrated his 65th ordination anniversary with a special service and reception on Friday, August 23, 2024, at Zion Episcopal Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

The Ven. Dr. Richard Leggett (‘81) was nominated for the 2024 Companion of the Worship Arts award. The CWA is awarded every three years in recognition of significant contributions to the worship life of the Anglican (ACC) and Lutheran (ELCIC) churches. The awards were presented in July in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The Rev. Leighton Ryder, a senior at Nashotah House, was recognized as the second-place winner in the laity category of the 2023 Archbishop’s Annual Summer Essay Contest, presented by Anglican House Publishers, for his essay, “The Petrine Spirit of Global Anglicanism: A Summary & Threefold Approach.”

At left: The Rev. Canon James Kaestner (‘59) celebrated at Zion Episcopal Church in honor of his 65th ordination anniversary. (Photo: Karen Buker)

Below: The Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman (‘74) celebrated 50 years of ordained ministry and 30 years of consecration at Christ Anglican Church.

The Rev. Leighton Ryder (‘25) is pictured with an award for his essay in the 2023 Archbishop’s Annual Summer Essay Contest.

Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd recognized Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd was honored with a Texas Historical Commission Marker in recognition of its long-standing history and deep impact on the city of Wichita Falls. The historical marker was unveiled at a ceremony on August 17. The Rev. Elmer Miguel (‘24) serves as rector of the church.

Warriors to Lourdes Pilgrimage

The Rev. Steven Rindahl (‘23), pictured with Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for Military Services, in Lourdes for the International Military Pilgrimage as part of the American contingent sponsored by the Knights of Columbus - Warriors to Lourdes.

St. Laurence Church breaks ground for new parish hall

St. Laurence Church in Southlake, Texas, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new parish hall on the feast day of its namesake on August 11. The Rev. John Jordan (‘06) serves as rector and the Rev. Matthew Rogers (‘20) as associate rector.

David of Wales moves into new church building

On August 11, St. David of Wales Episcopal Church in Denton, Texas, held its first service in its new building, which has double the capacity of its former home. The Rev. Paul Nesta (‘13) serves as rector and the Rev. Yehoshua Odidi (‘24) as curate.

St.

NOTIFICATIONS OF DEATH

The Rev. Scott Peter Albergate (‘00) died September 7, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas.

The Rev. Christopher Cantrell (‘86) died March 7, 2024. Fr. Cantrell served as rector at St. Matthias Church in Dallas, Texas.

H. David Herman, distinguished professor emeritus of music and former university organist at the University of Delaware, died April 8, 2024. An active church musician for more than 50 years, he received the doctor of music, honoris causa, from Nashotah House in 2007 for his contributions to the field of church music.

The Rev. Gary “Gari” Green (‘86) died July 25, 2024, at the age of 74.

The Rev. Randall Keehn (‘16) died on January 21, 2024, at St Vincent’s Care Center in Bismarck, North Dakota.

The Rev. Arthur W. Mattox (‘95) died April 26, 2024. Fr. Mattox served as a priest in the Roman Catholic ordinariate in Colorado.

The Rev. Christianne McKee (‘88) died February 27, 2024, in Ellensburg, Washington. Mother Christianne served as a priest in the Diocese of Spokane and was the director of Holy Ground Holy Space Center for Spirituality in Ellensburg.

The Rev. Canon Benjamin Musoke-Lubega (‘87) died on January 22, 2024. Fr. Benjamin was hired at Trinity Wall Street Church by the Rev. Canon Jamie Callaway in 2005 as a senior associate. While at Trinity he worked to create partnerships

Caryl McElvain Bradford Keys of Dallas, Texas, a patron of Nashotah House and mother of Andrew Bradford, vice-chairman of the Board of Nashotah House, died May 18, 2024. Ms. Keys is pictured during a campus visit this past spring.

with church leaders in the Anglican Communion across Africa.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Lawrence Shaver (‘08) died November 9, 2023. Bishop Shaver served as bishop of the Diocese of the Central and Western States, Anglican Province of America.

Glenn R. Simpson died December 2, 2023. He served as a vestryman and warden, Sunday school teacher and Sunday school Superintendent at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He served as a trustee of the House in 1970 and served on many committees and projects.

The Rev. Robert Earl Stiefel, PhD, Obl. OSB, (‘78) died at age 83 on July 20, 2024.

NOTIFICATIONS OF BIRTH

The Rev. Samuel Cripps (‘22) and Lauren Anderson-Cripps welcomed their son, Garwood Paul Anderson-Cripps, on January 4, 2024.

The Rev. Andrew Hollinger (‘24) and Elizabeth Hollinger welcomed their son, Albert Charles “Charlie” Hollinger III, on August 3, 2024.

Joseph Lindsay and Amanda Payne Lindsay (‘20) welcomed their son, Lyle Curtis Lindsay, born on April 22, 2024.

FACULTY NEWS

ARTICLES AND BOOKS

THE REV. HANS BOERSMA, PhD, Chair, Order of St. Benedict Servants of Christ Endowed Professorship in Ascetical Theology:

» “God as Embodied: Christology and Participation in Maximus the Confessor.” St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 67.1–2 (2023): 147–69.

» “Justification” and “Hierarchical Power.” Re-formed Catholic Anglicanism. Ed. Charles F. Camlin, Charles D. Erlandson, and Joshua L. Harper. Anglican Way Institute, 2024.

» “Pedagogy of Peace.” The Scholar-Gipsy: Thrownness, Memoricide and the Great Tradition: Ron Dart Liber Amicorum. 2 vols. Ed. Matthew Steem and Wayne Northey, 1:103–15. Abbotsford, BC: St. Macrina Press, 2024.

» “To Whom Shall We Listen?” Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. 37/2 (March/April 2024): 20–21.

» “The Fall of Rome.” Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. January 2, 2024.

» “The Unsurpassable Treasure.” Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. (January/February 2024): forthcoming.

In September, GARWOOD ANDERSON, PhD, began a part-time role as a Distinguished Fellow in Biblical Studies and Theology at the Lumen Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Lumen Center is a community of scholars deepening the dialogue between Christian thought and the academic disciplines through scholarship and public engagement. Launching in Fall 2024, it is made up of fellows studying the intersection of Christianity and culture who represent diverse disciplines and Christian traditions, united by a commitment to faith-informed life of the mind.

» First Things blogs:

- “God Gets into Our Boat.” First Things, web exclusive. August 5, 2024.

- “We Were There When They Crucified the Lord.” First Things, web exclusive. March 29, 2024.

- “A Sumptuous Meal During Lent.” First Things, web exclusive. March 14, 2024.

- “Philanthropy in the Desert.” First Things, web exclusive. February 23, 2024.

- “Withered Hands and Minds”. First Things, web exclusive. January 29, 2024.

- “Let’s Speed Up the Coming of Christmas.” First Things, web exclusive. December 9, 2023.

THE REV. THOMAS HOLTZEN, PhD, Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology:

» T. L. Holtzen, Newman and Justification (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2024).

THE REV. PAUL WHEATLEY, PhD, Assistant Professor of New Testament and Greek:

» “Lingering on the Banks of the Jordan,” Covenant Journal, December 13, 2023.

» “Life Has Its Own Mortal Loveliness,” Covenant Journal, March 27, 2024.

» “Comparative Pilgrimage,” Covenant Journal, July 5, 2024.

GEOFFREY WILLIAMS, DMA, Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of St. Mary’s Chapel:

» Williams was commissioned by The Living Church Foundation to compose his “Missa Brevis,” a singable Mass setting for congregation and organ/piano, which has been purchased by over 100 parishes for use in their weekly worship.

GARWOOD ANDERSON, PhD, Donald J. Parsons

Distinguished Professor of Biblical Interpretation:

» January 25, 2024, Thursday Night Out Lecture Series, Trinity by the Cove Episcopal Church, Naples FL, “Visions of Freedom: Modern, Ancient, and Pauline”

» February 28, 2024, Lenten Series, Holy Cross, Wisconsin Dells, “Rethinking Repentance”

» March 10, 2024, preached and taught Adult Education Forum, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Champaign, IL

» August 23-25, 2024, parish retreat, Mustang Island, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Harlingen, TX, “Following Jesus according to St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians”

BOERSMA:

» Delivered “Architecture and Metaphysics: Sacramental Ontology in Maximus the Confessor,” a seminar for Eric Perry Architects, with Peter Newby, Christian Frost, José de Paiva, David Leatherbarrow, Tracey Winton, and Eric Parry on January 24, 2024

» “Making Patristic Sacramentality Great Again,” Re:formera podcast with Stefan Lindholm and Magnus Persson, May 10, 2024

THE REV. GREG PETERS, PhD, Servants of Christ Research Professor of Monastic Studies and Ascetical Theology:

» Presented “Edward Bouverie Pusey and Christian Tradition: The Necessity of Monasticism in the Church of England” at St Antony’s Priory, Durham, UK. This lecture was co-sponsored by the Michael Ramsey Centre for Anglican Studies at the University of Durham

» Delivered a breakout session, “To Be the Church: A Praying People,” at the ACNA’s Provincial Assembly in June

» Led church retreats at St. Benedict’s Anglican Church, Rockwall, TX (March), and St. John Lutheran Church, Wheaton, IL (April)

» Served as keynote speaker, on the topics of Anglican spirituality and mission, at the Reformed Episcopal Church Diocese of MidAmerica’s clericus for western clergy, February 21-23, 2024

» Participated in Nashotah House’s Forming Future Leaders Conference in April

WHEATLEY:

» Led the “Footsteps of St. Paul” pilgrimage trip with the Rev. Clint Wilson, rector of St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, through Greece and Turkey in late May and early June

» Attended the Annual Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association in Washington, D.C., in August. Beginning a multi-year task force on baptism in Paul’s Letters with Timothy Millinovich from Dominican University; Fr. Isaac Morales, O.P. of Providence College; and Michael Barber of The Augustine Institute

» Gave a paper on Origen of Alexandria’s use of Pauline Pneumatology in his concept of “Spiritual Reading” at the International Congress on Patristic Studies in Oxford

» Began research on a project with the Rev. Dr. Matthew Olver on the development of the Western One-Year Mass Lectionary. The project is partially funded by the Conant Foundation. Wheatley and Olver plan to produce an introductory volume from their research, designed for seminarians, pastors, and scholars of liturgy and the Bible, focused on the Mass lectionary used in the Western Church from the time of Ambrose and Augustine until the Second Vatican Council and the introduction of the 1979 BCP and Revised Common Lectionary.

WILLIAMS:

» Williams concluded the 2023-2024 academic year in June directing the Amherst Early Music Festival’s Ensemble Singing Intensive.

» Williams undertook three tours overseas to Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands with his ensemble, New York Polyphony. The group also performed in Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee in January. In January 2025, the twice GRAMMY-nominated ensemble will release its 10th album on BIS Records (Sweden), entitled “The Sky of my Heart,” which celebrates sacred and secular works commissioned by the ensemble from composers Nico Muhly, Paul Moravec, Akemi Naito, Becky McGlade, and Andrew Smith.

Dr. Williams’ European tour

Celebrating Fr. Holtzen’s book release

This spring, the campus community celebrated the release of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Holtzen’s new book, Newman and Justification (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2024), with a toast in Adams Hall. The book examines John Henry Newman’s via media “doctrine of the justifying presence” in his lectures on justification. Holtzen contends that Newman put forth his via media doctrine of the justifying presence by employing a trinitarian grammar of divine inhabitation in which the Holy Spirit is the formal cause of justification as a solution to the Reformation debate over justification.

Dr. Geoffrey Williams performed with his vocal ensemble, New York Polyphony, at St. Johannes Evangelist Stiftskirche in Schloss, Cappenberg (Selm, Germany), as part of the group’s European tour over the summer.

Fr. Wheatley and Fr. Olver begin research project

In August, the Rev. Dr. Paul Wheatley and the Rev. Dr. Matthew Olver spent time looking at early manuscripts of the Latin Bible at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the British Library in London. They consulted more than 10 manuscripts, including several that were among the earliest copies of the New Testament in the Western Church.

A pilgrimage in the footsteps of Paul

The Rev. Dr. Paul Wheatley led a pilgrimage trip with the Rev. Clint Wilson (‘14), rector of St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, in the “Footsteps of St. Paul” through Greece and Turkey in late May and June.