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Living Waters
An Eastertide Message from President Ferlo
I was for 10 years rector of an historic parish in New York City where the baptismal font was placed not in the chancel but in the entryway to the church. It was the first thing you saw when you came in, and you had to negotiate your way around it if you wanted to make your way up the aisle. I liked that traditional placement of the font, and I preached about it often. I saw it as a continuing reminder that entrance into the life of the community -- entrance into the resurrected life of Christ -- was through the living waters of baptism. It was especially effective to have the font in place there during the Easter Vigil, within a few feet of where we ignited the new fire.
But now, on reflection, I realize that I may have oversimplified matters. I regarded that font as our parish's sacred well, like the well where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman in John's gospel. But what signal were we really sending, locating it where we did? How easily the whole thing might be misconstrued by the seeker, the stranger, the uninitiated. Were we trying to bar the entrance, to protect our turf, to create an obstacle that would trip up the undeserving or the uninitiated or the undesirable? What if we encountered Jesus himself standing there at that font? Did the water in our well truly live? What if he asked us for a taste? Would we dare to offer it? How would we explain its bitterness?
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Glancing Back...Moving Forward
JOIN US April 29 for Chicago Convocation 2015
The Bexley Seabury community -- alumni/alumnae, supporters, and friends -- will gather Wednesday, April 29 to consider past as prologue and the challenges of our "click-here" culture. All events take place at St. James Commons, 65 East Huron, home to the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and St. James Cathedral. Spend the day with us or drop in as your schedule permits, and feel free to invite colleagues.
EXHIBIT 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Historic prayer books & Bibles dated 1526-1904 from the Michael Morgan Collection
WORKSHOPS at 2 and 3 p.m.
Michael Morgan will address "The Beauty of Holiness: Word and Worship in the English Church." President Roger Ferlo will stir conversation with "Speaking of Faith: Workshop, Mission and Theological Education Today."
  
KEYNOTE ADDRESS 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
"From Sinai to Cupertino: Technology, Social Media and Evangelism" presented by Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement.
People of faith have always used technology to communicate. From the tablet to the scroll, from the codex to the pamphlet, we have studied and shared the word of God in new ways as our world and available tools have changed. We are in the early years of yet another technology and communication revolution. How will we use social media to share the Good News? What should we make of the dire warnings offered by some critics? Scott argues we must venture to this newest frontier to be, as St. Paul says, all things to all people. While technology might be new, the practice of evangelism with new technologies is as ancient as the written word. In other words, iPads are fit for purpose just as much as the ancient tablets of stone.
Learn more about Chicago Convocation 2015, including transit and parking options, and feel free to contact Conrad Selnick with any questions.
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Time to Fine-Tune Your Leadership Skills?
Bexley Seabury Leadership Institute June 15-17
Congregations...civic organizations...community groups all need strong leaders to make a difference. The Bexley Seabury Leadership Institute helps leaders at all levels become more confident and more effective. In a faith-friendly environment, lay and clergy participants interact and collaborate with faculty from Bexley Seabury and the Center for Nonprofit Management, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Key topics include:
- Leading Change
- Creativity and Innovation
- Values-based Leadership and Organizational Communications
- Team Building
- Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
DIOCESE OF CHICAGO APPLICANTS...Clergy and lay leaders accepted are eligible for scholarship support provided by the Shoemaker Fund, administered by the Bishop of Chicago. Scholarships cover all costs except a non-refundable $250 deposit. There is limited space available. Contact the Rev. Suzann Holding, our DMin director, soon if you're interested.
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Inquire Boldly, Act in Faith
Plan your 2015-2016 studies, invite others
If you read Episcopal Digital Network, you may have come across ads like the one at left, inviting lay and clergy leaders to learn more about our course offerings. To facilitate the process, we've prepared a guide to the
courses available over the next four terms, from June intensives (highlighted below) through Spring 2016.
Do you have your copy yet?
You can use our downloadable brochure to plan your own studies (for credit or for enrichment), and help us invite others. Bexley Seabury courses are open to all who want to deepen their understanding of the Christian journey, and the role they are called to play in community life.
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In Salt Lake City for General Convention?
Help us reach out and offer fellowship and hospitality
General Convention 2015 will meet June 25 through July 3 in Salt Lake City. Bexley Seabury will be on hand to recruit students, connect with alumni, and live into our mission as a seminary beyond walls.
If you plan to participate in Salt Lake City -- or if you are able to add General Convention to your schedule -- please consider these opportunities to reconnect and strengthen our presence:
- SIGN UP to serve as a booth representative
- BE A GREETER at our Tuesday, June 30 reception, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
- MIX & MINGLE at the June 30 reception ($25 per person)
To say "yes" to any of the above, contact Lynn Bowers by email
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Seeking MDiv Candidates
Help us connect with the next generation of priests
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Bexley Seabury MDiv class of 2014
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Do you know someone who is considering a call to the priesthood ... entering the discernment process ... or actively considering options for seminary? Bexley Seabury is seeking current and future candidates for our residential MDiv program based in Columbus.
Offered in partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary, our MDiv program combines in-depth academic studies in a close-knit ecumenical community with bold inquiry and nuanced spiritual and pastoral formation.
To refer a potential student or for more information, contact Tom Ferguson. |
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Spend a Week with Us This June in Chicago
Register by May 11 for credit or enrichment
Bexley Seabury week-long intensives continue to get high marks from lay and clergy leaders who need to plan advanced studies and continuing education around ongoing responsibilities. Classes meet Monday through Friday 10 minutes from O'Hare Airport and close to public transit to downtown Chicago. JOIN US!
 Congregations in the 21st Century
June 1-5 -- for clergy, vestry, membership and
stewardship teams
Author, parish priest and associate professor at Luther Seminary, Dwight Zscheile will lead an exploration of inherited assumptions, structures, and patterns of Christian congregational life in light of today's new apostolic environment. Students will critically engage insights from organizational, leadership and innovation theory. Learn more and register
Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for  the Household of God
June 8-12 -- for lay and ordained preachers
John Dally will relocate "missional preaching" in its original context, the New Testament's link between proclamation and healing. How do we preach the kingdom of God in 2015? What needs to change, in us and in our listeners, in order for the kingdom of God to be proclaimed and received?
 Community Organizing for Missional Living
June 15-19 -- for lay and ordained church leaders, social justice teams, and community-minded business leaders
This course helps participants develop relational leadership skills and learn how to engage others in community change. Attention is paid to biblical grounds and practical applications for congregational renewal. Presenters are leaders from the Industrial Areas Foundation, a nonprofit agency that facilitates collaborative work among faith and community based organizations. Suzann Holding will facilitate discussions for reflection and practical application. Course meets in downtown Chicago. Learn more and register
Non-Profit Management and Leadership
June 15-19 -- for lay and ordained church leaders and community-minded business leaders
Business savvy and theology dovetail in this innovative course led by faculty from Northwestern University's Kellogg School and by Roger Ferlo and Suzann Holding. Explore values-based leadership and ways to effect positive change. Take home practical tools for team building, conflict resolution and communications. Offered in conjunction with the three-day Bexley Seabury Leadership Institute. Course meets in downtown Chicago. Learn more and register
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More fruit from our strategic planning process
As reported last month, Bexley Seabury is going through a strategic planning process. The prior one was several years ago. Part of doing this includes contacting individual board members, alumnae/i, and trustees associates for their thoughts. We have a wealth of input that is thoughtful and useful -- and encouraging. Here is just a small sampling of verbatim comments.
We are committed to solid and deep engagement with the Christian theological tradition, with an emphasis on Anglicanism (which in my view includes a commitment to ecumenism).
Transparent and forward-thinking.
Small class size, individual attention, possibilities for collaboration.
Make our unique and innovative mission known.
Good stewardship of time, talent and other resources -- $$$.
As a former Bexley student, I appreciated the experience I received for several reasons:
- located in a place that was convenient,
- ecumenical in nature,
- excellent professors from both the Episcopal and Lutheran faculty,
- communal learning environment,
- emphasis on worship and liturgy was strong,
- personalized attention and flexibility in my course of study
There seems to be energy around the changes and needs the Federation wishes to achieve. It all is exciting, challenging, and creative.
We value the support of all of our alumnae/i and other friends. We also welcome any thoughts and suggestions you would like to offer. Please feel free to e-mail your comments or give me a call at 773.380.6787.
Thank you for your contributions. Thank you for your ministry in Christ Jesus.
Conrad Selnick
Vice President for Advancement and Church Relations
Contribute online
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On Campus & Beyond
Students and Alumni
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| | Shawn Dickerson will be ordained May 15 by Bishop Mark Hollingsworth who serves on the Bexley Seabury board. |
SAVE THE DATE Saturday, May 23 for 2015 Commencement. The commencement eucharist preacher will be the Rev. Dr. Lisa Dahill, associate professor of Worship and Christian Spirituality at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. The commencement speaker will be Dr. Diane L. Jacobson, director of the ELCA Book of Faith Initiative.
Mark Hollingsworth, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio and Bexley Seabury board member will ordain Shawn Dickerson (MDiv 2014) to the Sacred Order of Priests on May 15 at St. James Episcopal Church, Boardman, Ohio.
Gawain de Leeuw, Rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in White Plains, NY and a 2010 DMin graduate of Seabury-Western, visited the Chicago campus on April 13. He was impressed with the facility, and commented on his optimism for the future of Bexley Seabury.
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Grace Episcopal Church, Willoughby, Ohio
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Grace Episcopal Church, Willoughby, Ohio, has called Rose Anne Lonsway (MDiv 2013) as rector. She will begin her ministry at Grace on May 15.
Brian Wilbert (Bexley MDiv 1985, Seabury-Western DMin 2002), who lives in Oberlin, Ohio, was featured in an
Associated Press article in the Chicago Tribune on April 14 about the accounting "nightmare" thousands of gay and lesbian couples face as they file taxes. As noted in the story, Wilbert married his husband, Yorki Encalada, in 2012 at a ceremony in upstate New York. He is filing a joint federal tax return for the second time this year. Ohio does not recognize same-sex marriages, so they need to file their state tax returns as if they were single. As noted by Wilbert, "It may not be the most burning thing, but as we think about equality and marriage equality, this is an important thing because it's part of what couples do.
The Rev. John A. Holmen (Seabury-Western 1965), died on March 17 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was 77 years old. His funeral was March 23 at St. John's Anglican Cathedral in Winnipeg.
Faculty
Academic Dean Tom Ferguson spoke at the March 31 meeting of the Bexley City Council to speak in favor of a non-discrimination ordinance that includes LBGT protections.President Ferlo has joined the ministry team at his home parish, St. Paul and the Redeemer, as Priest Associate.Board of Directors |
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Bishop Catherine Waynick greets Archbishop Joseph Tobin at an ecumenical gathering in Indianapolis. (Archdiocese of Indianapolis photo)
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Catherine Waynick, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis made a joint presentation on March 24, 2015 with Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CScR to the Malines Conversation Group, an international forum of prominent Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians and church leaders who are committed to dialogue and unity. The group gathered March 22-26 at Boston College for its 3rd annual meeting, its first in the United States. Begun in the 1920s, the group reconstituted in Belgium in 2013, and met again in England in 2014. The group's name reflects the see of its very first host in the 1920s, Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mechelen (Malines), Brussels. John Denson, rector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, responded to an opinion piece about Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act written by Indianpolis Star columnist Erika D. Smith and publised by the paper on March 27. In part, he wrote: "I lead a congregation that accepts as its mission the offering of a broad invitation to all people to enter into a renewed relationship with Jesus Christ. When we say all, we mean all." Read the entire letter
Tom Breidenthal, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, shown at left, was photographed while assisting at the Sole Clinic in the narthex of Cincinnati's Christ Church Cathedral on Maundy Thursday, April 2. The clinic is a joint ministry offered by the Cathedral, Cincinnati Medical Volunteers and the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Clinic volunteers offered neighbors foot washings and massages, foot exams and treatment, and new socks and athletic shoes. Staff News Lynn Bowers, manager of accounting/human resources and event coordinator, is with a group of volunteers from All Saints' Chicago on their 14th trip to Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. The first half of the week they are working in New Orleans with Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative, clearing and revitalizing blighted properties. They will be in the bayou the second half of the week working for BTNEP (Barataria Terrebone National Estuary Project) on two wetland restoration projects. Ron Fox, assistant to President Ferlo, will be in Cincinnati at the Convent of the Transfiguration the week of April 27 for a leaders meeting of Conference of Anglican Religious Orders (CAROA) in the Americas and the National Association of Episcopal Christian Communities (NAECC). The religious groups, one traditional and one contemporary, have been meeting jointly for the past two years. Ron is a life professed brother of the Brotherhood of St. Gregory.
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