Dear Parish Family,
Many of you are likely aware that there is an ancient health care tradition of “teaching hospitals.” A teaching hospital is a hospital that partners with medical schools to help train future health care professionals during their formal education–especially during their internship years. It’s typical for these hospitals to be large and thriving places, capable of both supporting the formation of young doctors and nurses, and serving as examples for the work they will one day do elsewhere. Thus, it’s a sign of health (pardon the pun) when a hospital is capable of serving as a teaching hospital. Teaching hospitals are also often “research institutes”–places where new horizons of medicine are being explored and innovative approaches to care are being tested.
While you may have known this, you may not know that there’s a similarly ancient tradition in the church of vibrant parishes being places where future priests are trained for ministry, and innovative approaches to mission are tested. By the grace of God, All Angels’ Church appears to be in a season of health where we are being called to this work. At a moment when we’re exploring new avenues for church planting and revitalization, God has also begun to stir the hearts of several young women and men in our parish to consider ordination in the Episcopal Church. Of particular excitement to me personally is that some among those discerning a call to ordination (i.e. Michelle Howard) are also among those who will go with Christine to help revitalize St. Peter’s Chelsea–offering a deeper sense of confirmation that the season of vibrancy we’re experiencing as a parish is intricately intertwined with the calling we’ve felt toward broader church renewal.
This August, we are giving six of these “discerners” a chance to explore and hone their craft as preachers by offering them a chance to give the sermon at our two services. I’m so excited for the chance to hear from these burgeoning young voices, and to support their callings as a parish. A full schedule of preachers can be found below, along with pictures and bios. Please join me in giving your support to these dear sisters and brothers as the offer their gifts to God and to our church!
In Christ,
Nate+
August 4, 5pm
Ariana Miller is currently discerning a call to the vocational diaconate. She is a member of the Vestry and has attended All Angels’ for three years. Ariana is also involved in Community Ministries and the Music Ministry at All Angels’. Outside of church, she works in community development finance.
August 4, 10am
Gregory Conarroe is the Area Director of FOCUS (Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools) New York City, a para-church youth ministry. Gregory is a graduate of Wheaton College (IL) where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Christian Education.
Gregory has a MTh in World Christianity from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland where he studied the contextualization of Christianity across cultures. He and his wife, Jenna, have been in New York City since their marriage in September 2017 and have attended All Angels’ since then.
August 11, 5pm
Joe Dewey and his wife, Becca, and their two boys, Denton and Louis, started attending the evening service at All Angels’ in February of 2018. Their attendance is somewhat sporadic due to Joe’s work as an assistant pastor in Brooklyn and as a student at Princeton Seminary.
Joe is originally from Columbus, Ohio. After graduating high school, he went to UVA where he met Becca. The two got married in 2010, served in campus ministry together at UVA, then moved to St. Louis to study at Covenant Seminary. Joe and Becca moved to New York in 2016 and live in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
August 11, 10am
Michelle Howard has been a member of All Angels’ for the past five years. Among the many AAC ministries she has participated in, she has loved serving as a Sunday School teacher for the 2nd and 3rd graders alongside her husband, Hyatt.
Michelle works as the Director of Operations at the Osborne Association, a nonprofit organization working with families impacted by the criminal justice system. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University with a certificate in Anglican-Episcopal Studies and a BA in Religious Studies from Yale University. Running in Central Park, reading a good book, and photographing city landscapes are among her favorite past times.
August 18, 5pm
Jordan Wesley has been a member of the All Angels’ community since 2011, serving on the Vestry for the last 4 years. Through weekly liturgy, her house church, parish retreat dance parties and many tears of joy and sorrow, this sacred place has become her home away from her Texas family.
Jordan holds an MA in Christian Ministry and an MS in Social Work from Abilene Christian University and has worked for churches and youth development organizations over the past 12 years. Jordan is a wannabe yogi, a devoted herb gardener and a resident of Harlem.
August 18, 10am
Seth Little is the Director of Worship Arts at All Angels’. Seth grew up in Georgia and then left the South to study music production and guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and later, to earn his MAT in theology and art from Fuller Theological Seminary in SoCal.
As a church leader, Seth’s passion is to connect the riches of the Christian faith to all of life and he believes the arts are essential to this task. Seth and his wife Emily live in Harlem with their three young children, Lydia, Thaddaeus, and Gus.
August 25, 5pm & 10am
Joanna Thomas brings a diverse set of skills to All Angels’ as the Interim Pastoral Associate. A parishioner since 2010, Joanna has served on the Healing Prayer Team, the Vestry, the Worship Team, and the Women’s Retreat Team. Joanna and her husband, David, live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with their Rhodesian Ridgeback, Taco. One day, Joanna hopes to complete a triathlon.
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