We believe the Church is alive, and we're keeping our finger on the pulse. Priest Pulse hosted by Father Benjamin Gildas and Fr. Colin Chapman looks at relevant issues in the Episcopal Church and around the world with prayer, humor, and thoughtfulness.

Melissa Rau joins us for the fourth part of our coronavirus pandemic miniseries to discuss faith formation. We discuss rethinking faith formation now and beyond the pandemic. 

Melissa Rau is Director of Partnerships and New Initiatives for Episcopal Church Foundation.

Melissa joined the ECF staff in April 2018. Prior to joining ECF, she served churches as a consultant doing strategic visioning, assessments, facilitation, training, and coaching. She has studied with Princeton Theological Seminary, the General Theological Seminary, and Candler School of Theology. She has written and published curriculum and numerous articles for online and printed publications, and more recently co-authored a book—Ten Solutions for Small Churches. She has extensive ecumenical experience in parishes throughout the country.

Melissa is married to the Rev. Mike Rau, Rector at Holy Nativity in Rockledge, PA. They have two daughters and a son. Melissa loves to read and is particularly fond of giraffes and the color orange.

Direct download: a_church_in_exile_part_4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:43am EDT
Comments[0]

In part three of our coronavirus pandemic miniseries we're joined by Kyle Oliver to discuss incarnational perspectives on online church.

Kyle Matthew Oliver is an educational media producer and researcher, a fellow of the Episcopal Church Foundation, and a priest of the Diocese of California. He currently serves as communications and marketing manager and adjunct instructor in Christian education at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. Kyle is a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, working on a multimedia dissertation focused on making meaning through making media in faith and faith-adjacent settings. His most recent publication, with Stacy Williams-Duncan and Lisa Kimball, is "Digital Literacies for Ministry: A Qualitative Study of Theological Educators Preparing Students for New Media Engagement," which can be read for free in the journal Ecclesial Practices. Kyle lives in San Francisco with his wife, Kristin Saylor, who serves as director of formation at Grace Cathedral.

Direct download: A_Church_in_Exile_Part_3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:46pm EDT
Comments[0]

Wondering whether to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with your congregation online during the coronavirus pandemic? Dr. Joshua Wise joins us to discuss sacramental theology and an orthodox, Trinitarian, Incarnational perspective on online worship for our congregations. 

Joshua Wise is the author of No Avatars Allowed: Theological Reflections on Video Games from Church Publishing. He's also cofounder of the All Ports Open Network where he writes and produces several podcasts including Weeping Cedars, a horror audio drama. Listen now at www.allportsopen.com

Direct download: A_Church_in_Exile_Part_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am EDT
Comments[0]

Priest Pulse is back with a coronavirus pandemic miniseries looking at pastoral care, communications, sacramental theology, formation, and justice and reconciliation ministry while we're experience church in exile.

Part one features the Rev. Dr. Storm Swain author of Trauma and Transformation at Ground Zero: A Pastoral Theology from Fortress Press. Storm discusses pastoral care in times of crisis, the ongoing trauma of the coronavirus pandemic, clergy resiliency, self-care, and more.

Direct download: A_Church_in_Exile_Part_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am EDT
Comments[0]

1