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Staff News: Chanta Bhan Appointed New Associate for Mission & Outreach
CHRIS GIRATA, KEN BRANNON & CHANTA BHAN
I’m thrilled to bring you the news that we have called a new Associate for Mission and Outreach. The work that we do together at Saint Michael shines a bright light of hope into the world, and we will be adding a new leader to our team. Chanta Bhan comes to us with deep experience in community and organizational coordination, and I know she will be a gift to our church. I want to thank Ken Brannon, along with the search committee, including George Baldwin (Chair), Adele Broughton, Bob Campbell, Maria D’Antoni, Elizabeth Helfrich, and Ben Leal, for their efforts to identify and call Chanta to Saint Michael. Please join me in a big prayer of thanksgiving!
Chris +
The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata Rector
I am very pleased to announce that Chanta Bhan has accepted our call to serve as Associate for Mission and Outreach. Chanta is a remarkable human being with incredible gifts for ministry and significant experience working in diverse settings.
In terms of educational preparation, Chanta received a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures from Barnard College at Columbia University in 1995. She studied Hindi, Urdu, Modern Standard Arabic, Sanskrit, French, and Biblical Greek. She went on to earn a Master of Theological Studies (1999) and a Master of Divinity (2005) from Harvard Divinity School. Just this spring, she completed the Anglican Studies program at Virginia Theological Seminary. Chanta’s work experience is as fascinating as her educational studies. She worked at Tufts Medical Center as the Interfaith Chaplain (2016-2019) and the Associate University Chaplain for Protestant Ministry (2014-2016). She was also the Chair of the Cambridge Human Rights Commission from 2010-2019. Other formative work experience includes hospice, international missions, and teaching at the college and high school level. In her work, Chanta combines compassion and a commitment to justice in a way that mirrors the “loving kindness” of God often depicted in Hebrew scripture.
Chanta is currently a “postulant for holy orders” in the Diocese of Massachusetts. The next steps in the discernment process are “candidate” and “ordinand.” We will work closely with the Diocese of Massachusetts to ensure that her process continues on track, with the hope that she will be ordained a deacon and priest sometime next year. As many of you know, the Episcopal discernment process takes time and cannot be rushed. In terms of her role at Saint Michael, she will be part of all clergy gatherings, even though there are certain diaconal and priestly functions (like celebrating Eucharist) that will wait until she is ordained.
In her role as Associate for Mission and Outreach, Chanta will be part of the executive team at Saint Michael, providing strategic direction for our local partnerships and international missions. She will work closely with Christi Morrow, the Mission and Outreach Coordinator, and many of you, to put our core focus into action: “building Christian disciples for a transformed community.”
I would like to say a special word of thanks to the search advisory team that helped Chris and me with this decision: George Baldwin (Chair), Adele Broughton, Bob Campbell, Maria D’Antoni, Elizabeth Helfrich, and Ben Leal. This team will also help welcome Chanta in August. In addition, Kristen Burk, Executive Assistant to the Vice Rector, provided valuable assistance keeping everything in order.
In the message below, Chanta offers her own words of greeting. She has made it clear that she has much to learn from us, but I am clear that she has much to teach us about becoming the “Beloved Community” that God intends. Welcome, Chanta!
Ken +
The Rev. Kenneth H. Brannon Vice Rector
Dear Beloved Community at Saint Michael and All Angels,
Thank you for inviting me to serve with you as your Associate for Mission and Outreach! I am excited about what I will learn from all of you as we serve the church, Dallas, and the world. As I discerned the call to Saint Michael and All Angels, I was impressed by how your clergy team and how your congregation thinks and plans ahead for the future. When I speak with other congregations, I find myself referring to “how Saint Michael and All Angels has approached the same issue!” You are doing such amazing service in the name of Christ and I am delighted to join you in fulfilling missio dei as we take the Gospel of Jesus Christ beyond the walls of the church. Thank you for welcoming me and I look forward to meeting you and hearing your stories!
Chanta Bhan
Associate for Mission and Outreach
