Forward Together

Dear friends,

Last month brought great changes for our office with the departure of the Reverend Douglas Fenton after nine years of faithful service at the Episcopal Church Center. Below you will find a farewell note from him. We give thanks for his leadership, his wisdom and his commitment to the work in which we all share. We seek to build on the incredible work he did around leadership development, mission in the world, and discernment for ministry. You will also find an introduction to the newest member of our office, though a longtime colleague, the Rev. Greg Bezilla . Greg will be serving as interim for the coming months even as he continues in his role of Chaplain at Rutgers University in New Jersey and Province II Coordinator for Campus Ministry. We will keep you posted as the search for a second full-time officer for Young Adult and Campus Ministries progresses.

Please remember that Greg and myself are here to support you any way we can. We also invite you to call on the many other resource networks available to you, including:

Formation and Vocation Team at the Episcopal Church Center - Greg and I, together with Bronwyn Skov (Youth Ministries), Ruth-Ann Collins (Lifelong Formation ), and Valerie Harris (Associate), make up the Mission Department team devoted to supporting Christian Educators and Formation Officers across the church.

Provincial Coordinators for Campus Ministry - Appointed by campus ministers and provincial leadership from all eight domestic provinces, the Provincial Coordinators for Campus Ministry have committed to being the go-to people for Campus Ministers in their provinces. Their responsibilities include maintaining various networks of communication and support, including provincial gatherings and welcoming new chaplains as well as advising our office on the needs and gifts of campus ministries across the church.

Committee for Young Adult Ministry - Made up of eight young adult ministry leaders from across the church, this committee serves as one of the primary bodies of counsel and advocacy for the work of our office. Their leadership is integral to maintaining communications, conference planning, and resource development.

Diocesan Coordinators for Young Adult Ministry - Over the last two years we have built a list of contact people for each and every diocese in the Episcopal Church. Gathered in Baltimore last fall, these individuals have agreed to serve as primary points of contact between our office and the dioceses. It is our hope to further develop the network to be a community of support and encouragement for this rapidly evolving ministry area.

And as always, you are each other's greatest resource. We invite you to be in contact with other ministers throughout the church. If we can facilitate those connections, do not hesitate to let us know. You are a blessing to the church and we give thanks for the work you do.

With peace and great hope,

Jason

From Douglas

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It seems somewhat appropriate that I write my ‘farewell note’ from an airport lounge as I wait on yet another flight with hopes that it, too, will not be cancelled. Another winter storm has swept through the Northeast shutting down airports and storm-staying travelers like me. My past nine years working at the Episcopal Church Center have been nothing if not a journey that has required finding new ways to do ministry in our contemporary society.

I found myself having to interpret demographics, understand regional differences across nine provinces in sixteen countries, and make every effort to communicate in three predominant languages. It was important to remember that so-called technological innovation had not reached every part of the church. It was also important for us to gather together to build relationships and trust so that we might better incarnate the faith we share in Jesus Christ.

I have had the wonderful experience of literally traveling across the United States and spending time in almost every diocese and all but two States. I have worked in our dioceses in Taiwan, Central America and Europe and with several of our partners in the Anglican Communion. It’s not all been about the geography—as wonderfully beautiful and diverse that it is. It’s all been about the people. My experience in the Episcopal Church has provided me with a new perspective on the Church we love and the faith we strive to live into. The rich resources of gifted people, finances and facilities have proven how creativity and imagination can produce dynamic opportunities for faith formation, experiential learning and worship all of which aid in our participation in God’s mission of reconciliation and peace-making.

I have been blessed with amazingly talented colleagues in campus and young adult ministry, and with volunteer team members made up of students and young adults. Together we have offered programming and events that have enriched the Church’s ministry to these communities and have educated the wider church on how integral these areas of ministry are to the whole.

I will take all of this into my new work as Director for Ministry and Mission Development in the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of New Westminster (Vancouver). I do hope (expect) that you’ll let me know when you’re coming to visit Vancouver/ski Whistler so that we can stay connected.

May God grant you many blessings on your continuing journey.

Douglas+

From Douglas

From Greg

I grew up in a university town, and my Christian story started in a university chapel as a twenty-something graduate student, who turned to Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit working through the worship, prayers and fellowship of the Church. This was a period of profound transformation – full of wonder and mystery, but also marked by confusion about the purpose of my life and hesitancy about making a commitment. Those years are the story that still informs my ministry as a priest and my passion for ministry with emerging adults on and off campus.

I continue to serve as the Episcopal chaplain to Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, based at Canterbury House on the New Brunswick campus (Exit 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike). I also have served as a parish priest and hospital chaplain (invaluable preparation for the mission field of a secular institution of higher education). And I’ve been active in the Diocese of New Jersey in the recruitment and discernment of new, younger and more diverse people for the priesthood and in the Christian formation of the baptized for ministry and leadership in the Church.

I’m married to Jacqueline Lapsley, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. We have two school-age children. I enjoy cooking and feeding people, and going to matinee movies on my Sabbath days and the serendipity of coffeehouse meetings.

As an Interim, I have several responsibilities, including supporting the talented team preparing for the 2011 Campus Ministries Chaplains’ Conference

I’ll be at The Episcopal Church Center in New York generally two days per week, and also traveling to a few conferences and meetings. I’m here to be a resource to new campus ministries and established ministries seeking a fresh start. And I’m here to advocate for and contribute to the discernment of the future direction of ministries with young people and emerging adults as a vital dimension of the mission of the Church.

I’d like to hear from you: your passion, the challenges you face, the gracious ways that the Spirit is working through your ministries and in the lives of young adults, your testimonies to the power of Jesus Christ to changes lives and give new life to the Church, your ideas about ministry and mission, your outside-the-box thinking and entrepreneurial undertakings, and your hopes and dreams for the future. And I ask for your prayers for us all, as together we seek to respond faithfully and creatively to God’s call to mission. “Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever.” (Ephesians 3:20,21)

Yours in Christ,

Greg+

The Reverend Gregory Bezilla

Interim Officer for Young Adult and Campus Ministries

The Episcopal Church Center

815 Second Avenue

New York, NY 10017-4503

Toll Free: 800.334.7626, ext. 6323

Direct: 212.716.6323

Campus ministry is a visible witness for Christ and the face of the Episcopal Church

From Greg

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