Farewell

The parish says farewell to two staff members

Budget decisions touch every area of our community’s life

As first announced in the fall, the leadership of St. Stephen’s Church made several difficult staffing decisions in the face of financial challenges, including the elimination of two positions. We will say goodbye to Allison Seay and Liz Bartenstein in the coming weeks and months.

Allison Seay, associate for religion and the arts, joined St. Stephen’s staff in 2016. The award-winning poet and essayist has taught English literature in college and secondary school. She was poet-in-residence at the University of Mary Washington and taught English at Collegiate School in Richmond. In addition to writing the weekly poetry guide Wellspring and bringing renowned poets to St. Stephen’s Church, Allison has been a frequent reflector in the Celtic service and lay preacher in our morning services, and has been involved in planning the liturgy for the evening service. She presented in the Sunday Forum, and led retreats and classes, such as an Advent retreat and a year-long survey class of the Hebrew Bible. She designed and guided the Confirmation preparation program for youth which we began using in 2018, as well as an in-town mission trip for young people interested in learning about the complex issues in their own city.

Allison has been deeply involved in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. Not only is she herself a catechist, she has coordinated the program here and has served as the primary liaison with Anna Hurdle, who has trained our catechists for many years. During the pandemic “lockdown,” Allison provided a series of videotaped Catechesis lessons for children and families at home. She is a published poet and has been a prolific writer for Seasons of the Spirit and other St. Stephen’s communications. Allison has been an important presence in pastoral care, tending to parishioners of all ages from baptism to death.

Her work in formation for children and youth has attracted attention to St. Stephen’s, and she is scheduled to lead the clergy/spouse conference for the Diocese of Wyoming this year after their bishop took notice of her writing, sermons, and reflections on our Web site.

You can read about the inclusion of two of Allison’s poems in Image, a renowned journal, on page 8.

Liz Bartenstein has provided hospitality as well as administrative and communications support during her most recent time at St. Stephen’s, and worked closely with the clergy on pastoral care. This is Liz’s second time on our staff, the first coming in 2012 as interim farmers market manager, leading eventually to her working full time in the front office.

When she left St. Stephen’s, it was to become communications director at St. Paul’s Church downtown, where she revamped their communications and launched a new Web site. Seattle. Her work there included producing materials for a successful capital campaign and designing and building a new Web site.

When Liz returned to Richmond in 2019 to be closer to family and friends, Gary Jones asked her to join the staff— again as interim market manager and later full time in the front office. Liz has assisted with social media and web site maintenance for St. Stephen’s in addition to her front office duties, written Advent reflections and Seasons of the Spirit articles, and launched and maintained the online ordering site for the Café @ St. Stephen’s. Liz has written reflections for Forward Day by Day, and served two terms on the board of Forward Movement (the publisher of Forward Day by Day), including a term on their executive committee. The Polly Bond Award winner has continued to do freelance communications work for churches and non-profit organizations.

A graduate of Hollins University with a degree in art and a certificate in arts management, Liz is now working on her certification to teach art.

The people of St. Stephen’s are deeply grateful for the contributions of these members of our staff.

Allison Seay Liz Bartenstein