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:

Make your plans today to join us in Houston for a joyful and hopeful experience together!

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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.

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.

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 ¾ 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.

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.

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.

The Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Th.D. is the eighth dean and president of Seminary of Southwest after serving on the faculty as the Ernest J. Villavaso, Jr. Professor of New Testament, and as academic dean.

The focus of Dean Kittredge’s leadership is the formation of Christian leaders in community for the vitality of the church and to advance God’s mission of reconciliation. She believes critical engagement with scripture, tradition, and context, energized by imagination, and grounded in prayer is the center of formation for mission.

Dean Kittredge earned multiple advanced degrees from Harvard Divinity School. Prior to joining the seminary faculty in 1999, Dean Kittredge taught at Harvard University and the College of the Holy Cross. She serves as assisting priest at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard in Austin.

She is married and has three grown children.

The Very Rev. Lisa Hackney-James joined the staff of St. James Cathedral, Chicago as Sub-Dean in October 2015, and was elected Provost in October 2022.

Following a first career as a professional harpist, Lisa was ordained at St. James Cathedral in 2003 and returned to the Diocese of Chicago in 2014 after nearly a decade of ministry in Cleveland Heights, an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. There, she served on the staffs of two Episcopal congregations, and as a founding member of the executive team of Greater Cleveland Congregations, an Industrial Areas Foundation affiliate made up of 50+ interfaith congregations, schools, and unions whose work included advocacy in public education, health care access, and criminal sanctions reform. [With her two Episcopal parishes and the local public school between them, she pioneered a collaborative partnership supporting academic excellence among students and bridge-building among their families.]

As Provost of a vibrant downtown Cathedral in a global city, Lisa’s passion for the Gospel, and her love for God’s diverse people find a home in an historic and growing community focused on compassionate engagement across lines of difference, and encountering the Divine in the beauty of holiness.

The Very Rev. Dr. David Monteith was installed in December 2022 as the 40^th Dean of Canterbury (post Reformation) leading a staff of 250 and over 500 volunteers; leading the mother church of the Anglican Communion. He chairs the College of Deans for the Church of England.

Prior to this, David was Dean of Leicester in East Midlands where he was responsible for the re-interment of King Richard III after he was found in a “car park” and the redevelopment  of the cathedral in one of Britain’s most diverse cities.

His interests focus on faith in the public realm, change, culture, and the arts. David grew up in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland and shares his life in a Civil Partnership with David Hamilton and their dog.

The Rev. Dr. Luigi Gioia is the Theologian in Residence at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Research Associate at the Von Hiigel Institute at the University of Cambridge (UK). His is the author of Say It to God. In Search of Prayer. The Archbishop of Canterbury Lent Book 2028 (Bloomsbury 2017), and The Wisdom of St. Benedict. Monastic Spirituality and The Life of The Church (Canterbury Press 2021; Winner of the first prize in the spirituality category from the Catholic Media Association Award in 2021). His books have been translated in six languages.

The Rev. Canon Carl F. Turner became the rector of Saint Thomas Church in July 2014. Prior to coming to Saint Thomas, he was the Canon Precentor of Exeter Cathedral for 13 years. He led the Department of Liturgy and Music working with the 850-year-old Cathedral School.

As a seminarian, he spent two years in the United States before serving two curacies in Essex at Leigh-on-Sea and Brentwood. He also became rector of the Parish of the Divine Compassion, a large urban parish in Plaistow and Canning Town in the East End of London. All his parishes have been Anglo-Catholic in tradition with a strong love of music and Liturgy as well as a strong commitment to the communities they serve.

He was born in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. Carl is married to Alison, and they have three adopted children who are now young adults.

The Rev. Manoj Mathew Zacharia, Ph.D. serves as the rector of the historic St. Anne’s parish in Annapolis, Maryland. Along with his rectorship, he serves as vice chair of The Standing Commission on World Mission of The Episcopal Church.

Prior to his current ministry, Manoj served as sub-dean of Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati, rector of St. Paul’s and Resurrection (Diocese of Newark) and in various parishes as licensed by various churches in communion with the See of Canterbury – the Anglican Church of Canada, Church of South India, and the Mar Thoma Church.

Among his life experiences are working in politics, congressional constituent affairs, business-economic development, and on a venture capital fund. Manoj completed a fellowship at the prestigious Hartman Institute through the Christian Leadership Initiative sponsored jointly by Hartman and the American Jewish Committee.

The Rev. Nathan Kirkpatrick is the principal consultant at Saison Consulting. He has worked with a number of nonprofit institutions, principally faith-based, designing and facilitating their planning processes. His clients include The Episcopal Parish Network (EPN), Church of the Heavenly Rest (New York City), Epiphany Episcopal Church (Seattle), St. Philip’s Episcopal Church (Durham), Trinity Episcopal Church (Indianapolis), University United Methodist Church (Chapel Hill), and Washington National Cathedral.

Nathan serves as an adjunct faculty member for the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, and the Texas Methodist Foundation. He was previously the Director of Alban at Duke University (formerly the Alban Institute), a globally recognized congregational consulting company.

Bill Reynolds began his 20-year career in Brand Management after graduating with his MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University. He worked at Nestle, L’Oreal, and Unilever with profit and loss responsibility for divisions with $300 million in sales. Critical success factors in building brand sales and profits in highly competitive markets require superior consumer insight, defining brand assets to “own” them, extend them into new markets, and leverage them in advertising and promotion.

Bill spent 17 years at Georgetown University as the Associate Vice President for the Annual Fund & Alumni Relations as well as the Executive Director of the Alumni Association. He is the Co-Founder and partner at HRG consulting and serves on several not-for-profit boards. Bill is married with two children, two grandchildren, and a Norwich Terrier. He loves a good story.

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.

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.