The Episcopal Parish Network (EPN) invites you to join friends and colleagues from near and far for inspiration, learning, and networking at EPN’s 39^th Annual Conference — the largest and most anticipated annual gathering in the Episcopal Church.

Join EPN as we gather over 700 clergy, lay leaders, educators, sponsors, and exhibitors to develop, support, and inspire local leaders like you. You will learn from the church’s emerging, tenured, and legacy leaders in keynote conversations and workshops designed to equip you for thriving ministry in your community.

In the words of the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, Vicar, St. Martin-in-the-Fields (London) and 2023 conference keynote speaker:

Keynote Conversation: Thursday, March 7 at 1:30 p.m.

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church. At the church’s 78^th General Convention in June 2015, he was elected to a nine-year term in this role and installed in November of that year; he serves as The Episcopal Church’s chief pastor, spokesperson, as well as president and chief executive officer.

Throughout his ministry, Bishop Curry has been a prophetic leader, particularly in the areas of racial reconciliation, creation care, and evangelism. The animating vision and message of his ministry is Jesus of Nazareth and his way of radical, sacrificial love. He regularly reminds Episcopalians they are “the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.”

Bishop Curry was ordained a priest in 1978 and served parishes in North Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland until his 2000 election as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He graduated with high honors from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and earned his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University. Bishop Curry is the author of five books and a regular guest on national and international media  outlets.

John Burnett, a working journalist for 43 years, retired from daily reporting in January 2023. He is currently executive producer of World Music Encounters, a monthly concert series at St. David’s Episcopal Church in downtown Austin. The rest of his time is spent freelancing stories for NPR, bicycling, playing the harmonica in two local bands, and discovering new Texas BBQ joints.

For 36 years, he was a roving national correspondent for NPR based in Austin. In his last year, 2022, he covered Polarized America to explore all facets of our politically and culturally divided nation. Prior to this assignment, Burnett covered immigration, Southwest border affairs, Texas news, and produced frequent music features and audio postcards from his sprawling beat. In 2018, 2019 and again in 2020, he won national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for continuing coverage of the immigration beat. In 2020, Burnett along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for a duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration’s Remain in Mexico program.

While working for NPR, he filed stories from more than 30 countries, including Haiti, Japan, Iraq, Pakistan, Albania, Kosovo, Somalia, Tanzania, Guatemala and Honduras. In 2012, he spent five months in Nairobi as NPR’s East Africa Correspondent, followed by a stint during 2013 as the network’s religion reporter. His long-term reporting projects included covering New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, embedding with the First Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and extensive coverage of the U.S. drug war in the Americas. His reports were heard regularly on NPR’s award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

Burnett graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has three children. He is married to Margaret Justus, former journalist and deputy press secretary to Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Confirmed Episcopalian 60+ years
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Wilson, NC
Diocese of North Carolina
Currently serving on Executive Council of The Episcopal Church

Diocesan and Churchwise:
Currently on Standing Committee
Past – Diocesan Council
Commission on Ministry
Active with Episcopal Relief and Development
Episcopal Church Women
Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer, Clerk….

Other Committees:
Past Chair – Wilson Community College Board of Trustees
University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC — Bachelor of Arts
East Carolina University — Masters, Public Administration

Husband: Charles
Son: Charles, III
Daughter: Lossie Marie
Two Grandchildren: Neil and Nathan

Since his consecration as bishop coadjutor, Bishop Heyd has worked towards expanding the Episcopal Diocese’s commitment to reparations for slavery, launching its diocesan credit union, and greening its buildings. He has also been a leading voice among a group of religious leaders and housing advocates proposing housing more asylum seekers in their churches.

Among Bishop Heyd’s previous roles are rector of Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan, director of Faith in Action at Trinity Church Wall Street, and founding board chair of the Community Learning School initiative in New York City. He is vice-chair of the Board of Trustees for Episcopal Divinity School.

Bishop Heyd helped launch Episcopal Charities in the Diocese of New York in 1995. He worked with the family of Martin Luther King Jr. on a program to help students celebrate the King National Holiday with service.

Bishop Heyd was a Morehead Scholar and student body president at the University of North Carolina. He holds a Master of Arts in religion summa cum laude from Yale University and a Master of Sacred Theology from The General Theological Seminary.

The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers serves as Canon to Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry and spearheads Episcopal efforts around evangelism, racial reconciliation and creation care. Her newest books are The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline and New Hope for Beloved Community and an updated 15^th anniversary edition Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other and the Spirit of Transformation featuring new reflections by Spellers and other leaders (released November 2021). She has served as Chaplain to the Episcopal House of Bishops, directed and taught mission and evangelism at General Theological Seminary, and served as a canon in the Diocese of Long Island. Before that, she founded The Crossing, a ground-breaking church within St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston, and led numerous church-wide renewal and justice efforts. A native of Frankfort, Kentucky, and a graduate of both Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, she and her husband Albert deGrasse make their home today in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. Learn more about her recent works at www.churchcrackedopen.com.

James Williams has been a confirmed member of The Episcopal Church for nearly 15 years. In that time, he’s been a member of three parishes—St. Stephen’s in Durham; Trinity in New Orleans; and, St. Martin’s in Houston. He has served as a Eucharist Minister and Lay Reader, Vestry member, and Alternate Lay Deputy to the General Convention.

A North Carolina native, James and his wife, Ebonie, moved to Houston, TX in 2015. James works in investment banking as an Associate at Lazard Freres & Co.

James and his wife were confirmed by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (then Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina), on April 28, 2009, five days before their wedding.

Keynote Conversation: Thursday, March 7 at 4:30 p.m.

The Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, CD, MBE was consecrated in November of 2019 as a Bishop in the Church of England and installed in Canterbury Cathedral as the Bishop of Dover with responsibility overseeing the Diocese of Canterbury on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Following her ordination to the priesthood in 1994, Bishop Rose served as an assistant curate in Lichfield Diocese and a parish priest for 16 years in Hackney, North East London. She has served as a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen and is the first female to serve as the Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

She is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and is one of its Panel Chairs. Bishop Rose has represented the Church of England at the World Council of Churches twice; served as priest representative on the Anglican Consultative Council and was a Selection Secretary for the Church of England.

In the summer of 2019, she was given the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican Government (in the Rank of Commander) and was awarded in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list with an MBE.

Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows was elected bishop in 2016 and is the first Black woman to be elected a diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church. She has earned numerous degrees including M.A. in historic preservation from Cornell University and an M.Div. degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, among others.

Bishop Jennifer holds many board and leadership positions including with Partners for Sacred Places, Indiana Landmarks, Bexley-Seabury Seminary, and the House of Bishop’s Theology Committee. She is often a coach to new bishops and serves on the faculty of the Episcopal College for Bishops. She and her husband, Harrison Burrow, are parents to Timothy.

Keynote Conversation: Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m.

Dr. Samuel L. Perry is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. An award-winning scholar and teacher, he is among the nation’s leading experts on religion and race in American politics. Along with over one hundred peer-reviewed journal articles, Dr. Perry is also the author or co-author of five books, including the award-winning Taking America Back for God and The Flag and the Cross. His fifth book, to be published in Summer 2024, is called Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion — Now More Than Ever.

Sam is also a frequent commentator on religion and American politics, contributing op-eds to The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, The Dallas Morning News, and other media outlets.

Russell Levenson has served as rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church for over 16 years. During that time, the church has experienced 20% growth in baptized membership, and is nearing 10,000 members. The annual budget has doubled in size while giving approximately 25% of  it to initiatives in outreach, mission, and diocesan support. He has completed two successful capital campaigns raising $92 million.

Russell Levenson is a 1992 graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and received a Doctor of Ministry from Beeson Divinity School in 1994. He has received numerous awards, serves on many boards including the Presiding Bishop’s Development Advisory Committee, and is the author of several books including Witness to Dignity: The Life and Faith of George H.W. and Barbara Bush.

The Very Rev. Owen C. Thompson grew up in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2003 at Christ Church Cathedral and has spent the last 22 years in parish ministry in the Diocese of Long Island, and Southern Ohio. Currently, he serves as the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Cincinnati.

Dean Thompson attributes much of his passion for ministry and his understanding of the role of the church in the world to his time as a seminarian intern at Trinity Church Wall Street during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2002, where he pastored to first responders and volunteers at ground zero at St. Paul’s Chapel.

Beyond the church, Dean Thompson is a community activist dedicated to reconciliation, peace, justice, equality, equity, and creation care, among others. He received his Master of Divinity degree from The General Seminary and is married to his wife of 22 years, Jonna Morales-Thompson. They have two sons and two rescue dogs.

Keynote Conversation: Saturday, March 9 at 9:00 a.m.

Dr. Rob Garris is the Executive Director of the Trinity Leadership Fellows program and Managing Director of the Leadership Development initiative on the philanthropies team at Trinity Church Wall Street. These programs support the creation of educational programming that develops the  leadership capacities of people of faith, empowering them to better serve their congregations and communities. 

Rob has built innovative international education and research  programs at universities and foundations for more than 20 years, working for Schwarzman Scholars in China, the Rockefeller Foundation, Columbia University, and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Rob received his Ph.D. in European history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he specialized in immigration and urban policy.

Rev. Lisa Greenwood is the president and chief executive officer of Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF). She joined the staff of TMF in 2012 serving as vice president for learning and innovation before taking her current roles in 2022.

For over 30 years, Lisa has been a change-maker within ministry and faith communities, empowering leaders through learning and innovation and promoting congregational growth. She regularly speaks and facilitates national conversations creating cultures of purpose, generosity, and courage in the church.

Lisa is an ordained elder in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, where she has served several congregations including Highland Park United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church in Commerce, among others. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School.

Jessica Field, MPS, is a Spiritual Wellness Coach for individuals, groups, and Spiritual Leaders.  Jessica’s diverse experience in case management, youth ministry, hospice, addiction, trauma, spiritual care, domestic violence, & mental health, combined with her deep drive for healing & resiliency, have placed her in the unique position to guide people from all walks of life toward healing, purpose, and joy.  Jessica focuses on grief, forgiveness, purpose, and meaning, and her specialties for Spiritual Leaders include supporting leaders and their communities through crisis, forming/re-imagining children/youth/family ministries, and ministries for the unhoused.  Jessica is a member of the Trinity Leadership Fellows First Cohort.  Find out more at YourSpiritualWellnessCoach.com.

De’Amon Harges is a “Roving Listener,” a role defined by his posture of curiosity and his passion for discovering the gifts and talents of the people in his community. He is also the founder of The Learning Tree, a non-profit that uses an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach with city governments and organizations to improve the quality of lives of people, communities, schools and businesses.

His approach has greatly influenced how congregations, non-profits, and local governments view their work. Instead of seeing people and communities as lacking in resources, De’Amon sees their wealth of “intangible currencies” such as imagination, relationships, and stories as the way to bring people together in a fellowship of “mutual delight.” Sometimes referred to as a “Social Banker”, De’Amon believes that when you invest in the intangible currencies in your neighborhood, you will find the riches of love, hope, and joy in abundance.

De’Amon Harges is a 2021 recipient of the Locke Innovative Leader Award from Wesleyan Impact Partners, an award that lifts up the work of spiritual entrepreneurs who envision new ways to serve their mission field and inspire others to join them in growing the impact of the church and nourishing their communities.

Shannon Hopkins is a connector and a catalyst. A native Texan, she is a former church planter and social entrepreneur in East London. Her passion for community and individual transformation has launched or influenced the formation of sixteen campaigns, projects, and organizations – and trained over 200 social entrepreneurs. In 2008, Shannon was awarded the Women of the UN and UK’s Annual Woman of Peace Award for the Truth Isn’t Sexy, a campaign that addressed the demand side of human trafficking.

Shannon is the co-founder of Rooted Good, an organization that is working with congregations to align money and mission in powerful new ways and to transition assets for greater community impact. Shannon’s mission-centered focus on bridging the gap between partners, funders, and cause-related champions in a post-Christian secular world is rooted in one powerful concept: inspiration. In her words, “I think we undervalue what inspires us and moves us to act… but once someone is inspired, it can really set a whole host of things in motion.”

Carey Wallace is the author of The Blind Contessa’s New Machine (Penguin), The Ghost In The Glass House (Clarion), Stories of the Saints (Workman), Psalms of Wonder (Flyaway), and The Discipline of Inspiration (Eerdmans). She works to help people from all walks of life find inspiration and build strong creative habits to sustain a lifetime of creation. She performs as a songwriter, exhibits her own fine art, and has spoken on art, faith, and justice with students at Princeton, Julliard, Emory, Pratt, and Yale. Her articles and poems have appeared in Time, Detroit’s Metro Times, and America. She is the founder of a retreat for artists in Michigan, and the Discipline of Inspiration creative habit formation program, which has been in operation for over a decade across the US and internationally. She grew up in small towns in Michigan, and lives and works in Brooklyn.

Keynote Conversation on Lay Leadership:
Saturday, March 9 at 10:30 a.m.

Julia Edwards Ainsley is a parishioner and former vestry member of Christ Church Georgetown in Washington, D.C. She came to the Episcopal Church through her husband after growing up in the Presbyterian church in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has attended Christ Church Georgetown since 2012 where she as filled various leadership roles including teaching High School Sunday School, leading two youth mission trips, and forming two discussion groups for parishioners in their 20s and 30s. Most recently, she formed a Lenten Bible Study for parents.

Julia is homeland security correspondent for NBC News and covers the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department for the NBC News Investigative Unit. Recently, she has investigated and reported numerous immigration stories particularly focusing on immigrant families and children, among others.  She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.

Richard Ammons is a Senior Consultant and Principal at Marts&Lundy, a strategic fundraising firm. He has more than 30 years of experience as a higher education advancement professional. Prior to his consultancy, Richard was Associate Dean for Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

He is a member of the board of trustees of the University of the South (Sewanee), a member of the vestry and past senior warden at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Durham, and former trustee of the General Theological Seminary. Richard also have served on the vestry and was a member of a Rector Search Committee at St. Luke’s, Atlanta. He completed his undergraduate degree at Amherst College and earned an MBA at Stanford University.

The Honorable Linnet F. Deily served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2001 – 2005.  Prior to that role, she served as the Vice Chair of Charles Schwab Corporation (1996 – 2001) and previously was Chair and CEO of First Interstate Bank of Texas.

She recently completed service on the boards of Honeywell International and Chevron. She also is a member of the Board of Visitors at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and she chairs the Advisory Board of the Baker Institute at Rice.

Linnet graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and received her M.A. in International Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.  She has served as a Regent on the University of Texas System Board.  Deily has been honored as a “Distinguished Alumna” of the University of Texas and was also named to the Hall of Fame of the McCombs Business School at UT.

Kelli Martin is a parishioner at Epiphany Parish in Seattle. She is a member of the Vestry Class of 2024, serving as Senior Warden for two consecutive years. At Epiphany, Kelli is active in various ministries, including serving as a Eucharistic minister, lay preacher, Evensong presider, member of the Sermon Review team, and the Pastoral Care team. Kelli serves on the board of directors of Forward Movement, a discipleship ministry of the Episcopal Church.

Kelli is a book editor and considers her publishing career God’s calling for her and a love of her life. She has edited and published fiction and nonfiction at several publishing houses Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, among others. Kelli was raised in Detroit, Michigan, graduated from Williams College, has been married for 17 years and has a teenage daughter.

Greg Zaffiro has been a parishioner at Saint Thomas Church since 2011. He is Assistant Treasurer of the vestry and is a Trustee for the Saint Thomas Choir School. On the vestry, Greg is a member of the standing, audit, and investment committees. He serves as a high altar acolyte and lector.

In addition to his work at Saint Thomas Church, Greg is a member of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He has been a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art representing the City of New York and was the board president for the LGBT Community Center in New York.

Greg, a graduate of Fordham University, is a partner in the investment firm, Electron Capital, where he leads business development and investor relations. He was married in 2019 and lives between Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.

Preachers, get ready for Sunday! This workshop with the Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman and the Rev. Meredith Crigler of Backstory Preaching will help you generate sermon ideas based on this Sunday’s gospel. You will be guided through the Backstory Preaching process to discern a sermon message – and you’ll put it to use for this Sunday’s sermon. We know it’s hard to prepare a sermon while you’re attending the conference this week. Let this workshop send you home with a message for Sunday!

Dr. Freida Herron is a Licensed Lay Preacher in the Diocese of East Tennessee and has recently completed the Episcopal Preaching Foundation’s two-year Lay Preacher Training Initiative training program. She is a member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville, Tennessee, and regularly preaches there at the invitation of the Rector, the Rev. Amy Bradley. Freida has just completed a term on the Vestry and currently co-leads a Youth Formation Group.

Freida recently retired from the faculty at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s College of Social Work. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she served as Chair of the College’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Freida is a Licensed Social Worker and was a psychotherapist in private practice for many years.

She and her partner, Susan, live in the mountain community of Townsend, Tennessee at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.