Andrew and Martina Kwapong do community mission work on the Tottenham Hale and Ferry Lane Estates in Haringay, London through The Engine Room community centre, part of a new church plant called St. Francis' Church of England. Learning from London course participants will meet them and learn from their work.

Ask most people in the know, and you'll hear that the church in North America and Europe is in steady decline. Attendance and giving are in freefall, cosmopolitan young people are fleeing, and hidebound old people refuse to change.

But this isn't the whole story, says Bexley Seabury Professor Jason Fout, especially in London.

Since 1990, the Diocese of London in the Church of England has grown by 70%, in terms of average weekly attendance. Since 2000, giving has increased by 50%. And last year, the diocese issued "Capital Vision 2020," an ambitious plan to plant 100 worshipping communities, double the number of young people involved in Christian communities, and "equip and commission 100,000 ambassadors representing Jesus Christ in daily life."

Fout thinks that the Episcopal Church can learn from London, and the church agrees. In May, the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Ministry Development awarded him a Conant Grant to study the Diocese of London's growth. This award and another from the Evangelical Education Society made it possible for Fout to spend three weeks in London this summer developing a new study course, working on a manuscript for a book to be published by Forward Movement, and developing a workshop for the 2015 meeting of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes.

The study course will take place from January 16-24, 2015, and is open to MDiv and DMin students, as well as "anyone charged with leadership in the church," Fout says.

Learn more on the website, and look for the article about Learning from London in our annual magazine arriving in the mail in early August. Questions? Please talk with Professor Fout via email.

Our fiscal year closed June 30, and so did our Annual Fund. We greatly appreciate everyone who has invested in Bexley Seabury with a financial contribution this last year. Our annual magazine is coming out. Among other things it recognizes, by name, everyone who donated to the 2014 Annual Fund. 

In September we will send out material for the 2015 Fund. However, the 2015 Annual Fund quietly started on July 1. You can--if you want to plan your charitable budget already, want to get a head start, or want to give even during these summer months--start contributing to the 2015 Annual Fund right away. 

Simply donate online; contact us by phone or mail or email; or just send in your contribution to 8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, Illinois 60631.

Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill.--Proverbs 1:5

Doctor of Ministry

The Very Rev. John Paul Downey, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in Erie, Pennsylvania, was awarded the Doctor of Ministry in May. His thesis is titled, "Restore the Ruins? Cathedral Preaching on the Other Side of Christendom."

The Rev. Patricia Janette Stansfield, rector, Church of the Transfiguration in St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada was awarded the Doctor of Ministry in May. Her thesis is titled "Beyond the Book of Alternative Services: The Role of Alternative Texts and Ordos in Transformative Worship."

Master of Divinity

The Rev. Juan Perez ('14) will continue his work in Latino ministry with La Iglesia Detroit, profiled in our upcoming magazine, and is also currently interviewing for a curate position in metro Detroit.

Benjamin Garren is chaplain to the Episcopal Campus Ministry at the University of Arizona in July.

Christopher Beasley has been called to become the vicar at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lebanon, Indiana beginning August 1.

Nikki Seger will lead fly fishing spirituality retreats this summer in Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia. She anticipates returning to the Diocese of Michigan for her first call.

Peter Kang will do a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) summer internship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. In the fall, he plans to return to work as a full-time staff chaplain at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where he also will assist the prison ministry program of the Diocese of Louisiana.

Shawn Dickerson will complete CPE at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus this summer. He will return to the Diocese of Ohio for congregational work.

The Very Rev. Dr. William Lupfer (DMin '03) has been named rector of Trinity Wall Street.