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Bexley + Seabury 2014
Look for our annual magazine in the mail
Look for the Bexley Seabury Federation's annual magazine in your mailbox soon to learn more about the Rev. Juan Perez ('14) and his ministry in Detroit, our faculty's expertise in exploring Anglicanism through the arts, this summer's community organizing training for our DMin students, and more. For a digital version of the magazine, visit our website. |
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Fall 2014 at Bexley Seabury
Weekend intensives, semester-long courses
Chicago
September 19-20, October 24-25, November 14-15
Tom Ferguson offers an introduction to and overview of history and development of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, with particular attention given to Anglicanism as a diverse, globalized communion. Learn more and register online.
 Anglican Spirituality and Ethos
September 26-27, October 31-November 1, December 5-6
Roger Ferlo will introduce students to Anglican spirituality and the Anglican ethos in theology, liturgy, music, poetry and the visual arts. Students will consider baptismal and Eucharistic theology for spiritual life; the roots of Anglican Christianity in the Benedictine tradition; Anglican social witness and the life of prayer; and new expressions of Anglican community. Learn more and register online.
Columbus
Anglican Liturgy and Music: Development and Theology
Fall semester weekly course
This course with Jason Fout is an introduction to the principles and practices of Anglican worship with particular focus on the Episcopal Church. The course will cover the nature of worship and the history of its evolution; and the theology and use of music in worship. Learn more and register online.
Online
 Episcopal Canon Law and Polity
August 25 - December 13
This online-only course covers the basics of the canon law and polity of The Episcopal Church. This is a not-for-credit course that meets ordination requirements in The Episcopal Church. Learn more and register online.
Learn more on our website. All classes offer graduate credit and are also available, at significantly reduced rates, for continuing education or simply for the love of learning.
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Learning from London: A Travel Course
Study with Professor Jason Fout in January 2015
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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.
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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.
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January 2015 at Bexley Seabury
Weeklong intensives in Chicago
 Development and Theology
January 12-16, 2015
Milner Seifert and Elise Feyerherm offer an introduction to the principles and practices of Anglican worship with particular focus on the Episcopal Church.
Anglican Theology and Ethics
January 5-9, 2015
Ellen Wondra teaches a course on the breadth and variety of theologies and ethics in the world-wide Anglican Communion as well as "classic" Anglican theologians and moral theologians.
Congregational Systems 
January 12-16, 2015
Emlyn Ott of Trinity Lutheran Seminary teaches an introduction to systems and organizational theory in relation to congregations and other church groups. Students will explore issues in organizational and ministry development as well as strategies for systemic change.
 Diversity & Context
Weeklong Intensive: Jan 19-23
Eric Law of the Kaleidoscope Institute will help students increase their intercultural competency for congregational development in a diverse changing world.
Non-profit Management and Community Development: January 5-9, 2015
Suzi Holding and Jody Kretzmann will explore how asset-based community development and greater neighborhood involvement can breathe new life into congregations at a time when many are struggling with shrinking budgets and exploding social needs in their communities.
Learn more on our website or download a flyer. All classes offer graduate credit and are also available, at significantly reduced rates, for continuing education or simply for the love of learning. Registration for January 2015 opens at the end of July.
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At Play in the Streams of the Lord
Trinity Lutheran Seminary profiles Nikki Seger
"Cassock. Check.
Stole. Check.
Waders. Check.
Nikki Seger's first parish might be a trout stream.
Nikki grew up fly fishing on Rapid Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Her grandparents built a cabin there and she was allowed to fish, swim, and hike all day in the summers. Every morning she woke to a granite bluff and a trout stream. "I had a gifted childhood," she says.
Though her father was an Episcopal priest and the family moved often, Nikki returned each summer to the little cabin in South Dakota. Lakota Sioux considered the Black Hills sacred, and Nikki also feels a reverence for the land. To her, the connection between faith and fly fishing is strong."
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2015 Leadership Institute Announced
Save the dates for annual Kellogg School training
Our fifth annual Leadership Institute, a three-day program with the Center for Nonprofit Management, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, will take place June 15-17, 2015. This popular summer course is tailored to meet the distinctive needs of clergy and lay leaders. Save the date and look for more information coming in the fall.
"The Seabury-Kellogg Leadership Institute was a profoundly stimulating offering. The faculty were engaging leaders who brought years of experience to bear, and it was clear that they were also passionate about sharing their knowledge with church leaders because they have personal commitments to serve Christ and his Church. The chance to meet new colleagues enriched the experience further. I'm hoping to be able to attend again, since the program changes each year."
The Rev. David Hedges (Seabury '05)
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Adult Formation Online
Bexley Seabury Book of Common Prayer video course
 Bexley Seabury's eight-part video course on the Book of Common Prayer is now online at ChurchNext.tv.
Ideal for adult formation groups as well as learning at home, the course includes videos, discussion questions and resources for personal study developed by Bexley Seabury faculty members:
An American Prayer Book, A Global Prayer Book with Tom Ferguson The Spirituality of the Book of Common Prayer with Karl Ruttan English Origins of the Book of Common Prayer with John Dally Creeds and Commitments of the Prayer Book with Jason Fout Praying the Collects with Ellen Wondra Crossing Thresholds with Roger Ferlo and Suzann Holding Scripture and the Prayer Book with Roger Ferlo
ChurchNext courses cost $10/class or $15/month unlimited for individuals and $59/month unlimited for congregations. Learn more at ChurchNext.tv.
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The Leader as Potter: Shaping Congregational Culture
Coming to Elmhurst in October
 This fall course will offer participants the opportunity to engage in a hands-on pottery workshop, and use that experience to reflect on leadership principles regarding congregational culture.
Participants will meet for four 3-hour sessions at Salt Creek Pottery in Elmhurst, Illinois. Three sessions will involve directly working with clay and periodic reflection and one will be a facilitated conversation to integrate and connect the dots between congregational leadership and the art of the potter.
Learn more and register online. |
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Annual Fund 2015
A message from the Rev. Conrad Selnick
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
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Society of Catholic Priests Annual Conference
October 8-11 in Toronto, Canada
The focus of this year's gathering is "Catholic Ministry in the 21st Century Anglican Tradition." Speakers include Dean Tom Ferguson who will present a session on Structuring for Catholic Ministry--From the Parish to the Churchwide Office. Learn more.
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Community News
Class of 2014
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.
Diploma of Anglican Studies
In May, the Bexley Seabury board of directors awarded the Diploma of Anglican Studies to Ann Kathleen Reeder Goraczko, Lily Esther Marx and Jana Troutman-Miller.
Alumni
The Rev. Kristofer Lindh-Payne (Seabury '09) has been awarded a $10,000 Beatitudes Fellowship from The Beatitudes Society. He is one of eight emerging faith leaders from across the United States selected for the annual award.
"We are delighted that Kristofer is one of our game-changing new leaders," said the Rev. Anne Howard, executive director of The Beatitudes Society. "We are working toward the day when we will see a thriving nationwide web of courageous, authentic, innovative faith leaders and their communities who are engaged in the public square on behalf of inclusion, compassion, and the common good, and Kristofer will be a vital part of that network."
The Very Rev. Dr. William Lupfer (DMin '03) has been named rector of Trinity Wall Street.
The Rev. Robert Skirving (Seabury CATS '98), rector of St. John's Church in Midland, Michigan, was elected bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina on May 17. Skirving, who received his MDiv from Huron University College in London, Ontario, earned a Certificate of Advanced Theological Studies in Congregational Development from Seabury.
In Memoriam
Joan Schall Sholten, 82, of Northbrook, IL died peacefully at home on July 23, 2014. She served as the president of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary's Woman's Board and was also active with the National Cathedral Association. Joan was a founding member of The Episcopal Church of St. James the Less in Northfield and took great joy in her many church and charitable endeavors. She was recognized in May 2014 with the Diocese of Chicago's Bishop's Associates Award as having made an outstanding achievement in service to the church. Joan also supported Brent House, Meals at Home and Deborah's Place in Chicago. A memorial service was held on Saturday, July 26 at The Episcopal Church of St. James the Less in Northfield, IL. Read the entire obituary online.
The Rev. George Plattenburg (Bexley '62) died on July 2, 2014 in Missouri, where he lived at the Villages of St. Peters. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force and had served congregations in the Diocese of Missouri since 1976. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and six children. "George loved fireworks and it is fitting that he has the best seat in the house this 4th of July," wrote his family in his obituary. Read it online.
Faculty
President Roger Ferlo gave a workshop titled, "Rites in Crisis: Rethinking Rites of Passage in a post-Christendom Church," at the National Worship Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, July 20-23.
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