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Let's Say "Yes to the Mess"
A reflection on leadership from President Ferlo
As I write, Suzi Holding, our director lifelong theological education and doctor of ministry program, and I are preparing to welcome 35 participants to our three-day intensive Leadership Institute, in collaboration with our colleagues at the Kellogg School of Nonprofit Management at Northwestern. Several of those participants are also students in our DMin program, and will stay on for an additional two days to unpack  theologically what they have learned. One of the books Suzi assigned, Frank Barrett's Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz,* was new to me. I read it with mounting excitement, as it in so many ways reflects the work we have been doing here since we rebooted Bexley Seabury as a "seminary beyond walls."
Frank Barrett is a distinguished organizational theorist, but he is also an accomplished jazz pianist. Yes to the Mess connects the task of leading post-modern, post-hierarchical organizations to the practice of disciplined improvisation that every jazz player spends a lifetime mastering.
Jazz bands are chaordic systems, he writes (great new word, chaordic),
"... a combination of chaos and order ... [with an] aesthetic that values surrender and wonderment over certainty, appreciation over problem solving, listening and attunement over individual isolation." (p. 68)
Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Benny Goodman, and brilliant sidemen like John Coltrane and Ken Peplowski who became solo artists in their own right -- who would have thought that their style of leadership (and followership) could be a model for institutions like the church as it struggles to shed itself of top-down and self-protective leadership styles? Read the entire reflection
*Frank J. Barrett. Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012. Kindle Edition
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Watch Your Mailbox...
Bexley Seabury 2015 Magazine coming your way
Our annual magazine is currently on press and will soon be mailed to our alumnae, alumni, donors, and friends.
In addition to an armchair tour of our April 29 Chicago Convocation 2015, the magazine offers updates on academic life, partnerships, student journeys, an opportunity to eavesdrop on theologians in conversation about how humanity glorifies God, and much more.
We look forward to your feedback!
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Thank You, June Term Students
Reconnecting and get acquainted with so many fine leaders
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Who in Your Circle Is Considering a Call?
Seeking DAS, MDiv, DMin candidates -- perhaps someone you know
CAN YOU HELP US? We're looking for entrepreneurial leaders who are called to lay or ordained ministry and theological
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AJ Stack (Bexley Seabury '15) admires stickers that two of his guests have affixed to his stole as he prepares to be ordained by Bishop Breidenthal on June 6.
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education in a generous spiritual and intellectual tradition. If you know someone who is considering a call, in the discernment process, or actively weighing options for seminary, we'd appreciate an introduction toward arranging an exploratory conversation.
Help us connect with the next generation of church leaders and see if their goals mesh with our robust, yet flexible programs:
> Our Diploma in Anglican Studies program offers a firm foundation for lay leadership, a rich resource for continuing education, and bridging coursework for seminarians at non-Episcopal seminaries.
> Our Master of Divinity program, based in Columbus, prepares people to minister in both Episcopal and Lutheran congregations.
> Our Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Development program helps experienced priests sharpen analytic and leadership skills and equips them to revitalize and transform congregations. Coursework is concentrated in three-week summer residencies interspersed with distance learning.
> Our Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program is offered in partnership with the Association of Chicago Theological Schools in an ecumenical environment. The schedule is built around summer residencies over three years which are supplemented by distance learning.
To refer a potential student or for more information, contact Tom Ferguson |
Help Us Reach Out at General Convention
Join our hospitality team at booth 322 & at our June 30 reception
THANK YOU to everyone who has already signed on to assist staff and faculty in representing  Bexley Seabury at General Convention in Salt Lake City, June 25 through July 3. There is still time to join the team!
If you will be in Salt Lake City, please consider these opportunities to strengthen our presence:
- SIGN UP to serve as a booth representative -- booth 322
- 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 -- reserve online now)
To say "yes" to items 1 or 2, contact Lynn Bowers by email
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Register Now for Fall 2015 Courses
STUDY WITH US for credit or for enrichment
 What separates Christians -- and why? What if the gospels express what each author/community believed Jesus was sent to be and do, and therefore what they themselves (we ourselves?) are sent to be and do? Why is music so prominent in Episcopal liturgy and what does it say about God? What does it mean to be part of the worldwide Anglican Communion? Our Fall 2015 term offers a chance to explore these and other intriguing questions of faith and practice. Courses are available in a range of formats to accommodate students with busy lives -- perhaps you. Hybrid, weekly, and monthly courses in Columbus: > Anglican and Episcopal History with Tom Ferguson > Ecclesiology and Ecumenism with Ellen Wondra > Forming Gospel-Shaped Mission with John Dally > Field Education Seminar with KJ Oh > Liturgy & Music: Development and Theology with Jason Fout > Anglican Formation with KJ Oh Hybrid course in Chicago > Pastoral Offices with Valerie Bailey Fischer Online only, beginning August 31 > Canon Law with Ellen Wondra To learn more and to register, follow the links above. Each of these courses is available for academic credit ($1,620), continuing education units ($400), and enrichment/no credit ($375), except for Canon Law ($540) which is offered exclusively online and not-for-credit. For information about more 2015-2016 course offerings, download our brochure
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Getting a head start on a good harvest
You who have experienced Seabury-Western, Bexley Hall, or Bexley Seabury, know first-hand the faithful and rigorous education we enjoy here. You alumnae and alumni are leaders in the Church and in your communities. You know personally the ongoing heritage, the community values you are supporting when you give to Bexley Seabury.
Some of us were brought up in a time when it was normal to serve the family canned peas. They are no challenge to teeth, and their color is more khaki than green. For  convenience and taste most of us have stepped up to frozen peas (which, in the bag, double as a cold compress). But both canned and frozen peas are faint mimics of fresh-shucked English peas -- just picked from the garden and freed from the pod. The savory sweetness, emerald color, and nutty texture are wonderful. My description can't replace the experience for you.
It is the same with theological education. Nothing can replace the collegiality, fellowship, scholarship, and rich education you find here. That is true whether served in the traditional forms of days gone by, or in the responsive and creative forms learning takes on these days. To stay with the metaphor, those of you who support Bexley Seabury are supporting a "farm-to-table" community. June is the end point for the 2015 Annual Fund. While the Episcopal Church gathers for General Convention in Salt Lake City, we will quietly begin the 2016 Annual Fund -- forming more leaders to carry out God's mission. If you are one of the people, alums and others, who have contributed to the 2015 Annual Fund, THANK YOU -- we cherish you. Each of us can help the 2016 Annual Fund get a head start. We will more formally invite gifts in September, but any contributions offered this summer will put us that much further ahead. As always, your support will be spread on fertile ground. Let's contribute to a good harvest. Conrad Selnick Vice President for Advancement and Church Relations HELP US GET A HEAD START...contribute online
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On Campus & Beyond
Students & Graduates
Congratulations to 2015 Episcopal Church Foundation Fellows Audra Abt (Bexley Hall '10), Reed Carlson, Bob Leopold, and Colleen Swan. The ECF Fellows program supports emerging scholars and ministry leaders. As reported on the ECF website, as an ECF Fellow, Audra will nurture a base community movement started by Latino immigrants in Greensboro, N.C.
Faculty In her role as president of the Diocese of Southern Ohio's Episcopal Community Services Foundation, KJ Oh is winding up oversight of a three-year initiative to reorganize the foundation's administrative operation. The foundation awards unrestricted grants to local congregations for missional projects. In 2014, the foundation awarded nearly $165,000 in grants to support local churches in their neighborhood ministries. 
Ellen Wondra and her colleague commissioners on the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order are meeting this week. They have been charged with finding ways for participating churches to "call one another to visible unity" while responding to impediments to "Christian unity, justice and peace in today's world." The Commission on Faith and Order is a global think tank of ecumenical theologians representing 33 countries, five continents, and many Christian traditions. Ellen is serving a seven-year term, through 2021.
The WCC Commission on Faith and Order
near Busteni, Romania.
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