Meet the Episcopal Church’s future leaders.
From the halls of the United Nations to the farms of North Carolina, five young people across the Episcopal Church are applying the gospel to their vocations.
Solveigh Barney
Bismarck, North Dakota
Solveigh Barney is a recent graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a student, Solveigh majored in environmental and religious studies, combining her passion for creation with her involvement in the church.
“I have been involved in the Episcopal Church since I was 12,” she said. “Though I was baptized Lutheran, my father is Indigenous, and there are many Indigenous people who are Episcopalian in the Dakotas.” As a child, she enjoyed serving as an acolyte. In college, Solveigh became an active member of St. Clement’s Church in St. Paul, eventually being elected to the vestry.
A decisive moment in Solveigh’s life of faith occurred in 2021, with her video participation in COP26, the U.N.’s annual meeting on climate change. As a member of the Presiding Bishop’s delegation, Solveigh had the opportunity to describe how climate change threatens her part of the world and to listen to the testimonies of others. “When I began college, I wanted to study psychology, but after hearing testimonies from Indigenous people and people from the Global South, people deemed dispensable, I realized I had to do something.” That something grew into a strong passion for creation, growing to this day.
After COP26, Solveigh began forming a climate care committee in the Diocese of North Dakota. “Our goal is for the state and diocese to divest from fossil fuels, encourage conservation of the land, and to foster relationships between North Dakotans passionate about the future of the climate.” Solveigh said that creation care “encompasses the ideas that we are called to be stewards of the earth, we are supposed to love our neighbors, and that God’s creation is good. But we cannot love our neighbors if we are destroying our neighbors’ food, water, and housing.” For Solveigh, the ministry of the church isn’t just about salvation, but about “being on the ground, taking care of all of God’s creation.”
Solveigh continues her activism as an environmental technician in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Alisson Herrarte
Dunn, North Carolina
Alisson Herrarte is a member of Iglesia Episcopal De La Sagrada Familia in Newton Grove, North Carolina, and an employee of Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. “When my family first moved to the United States, we were not Episcopalian, we were Roman Catholic. That is why we initially started looking for a Roman Catholic church,” Alisson said. “But when my family showed up to the Roman Catholic church, we felt so judged. We also felt excluded for not speaking English. It was not like that when we went to the Episcopal Church. We were so happy to find La Sagrada Familia, which both is a Spanish-speaking congregation and is extremely welcoming.”
It was through La Sagrada Familia that Alisson began working at Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. Founded in 1982, it helps migrant workers in southeastern North Carolina by supplying food, clothing, and assistance with citizenship applications, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and other issues.
Episcopal Farmworker Ministry is supported by the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. As the administrative assistant, Alisson helps clients with legal documentation, communicating with volunteers and donors, and attending informational events. She also helps educate diocesan youth about migrant workers and their needs.
Alisson says her faith is important to her because it links her to those who have gone before her. “Before I came to the United States, my mom and my grandma would take me to church. Now, going to church helps me remember my culture and where I come from. It helps me stay connected.”
Alisson is studying to become a science teacher. “It is difficult for immigrants to become doctors,” she said. “It is my hope that by being the best science teacher I can be, I will help teach future doctors.”
Nicholas Gordon
New York, New York
Nicholas Gordon works for the Episcopal Diocese of New York as special projects coordinator and serves on the transition staff for Bishop Matthew Heyd. Growing up in Central New Jersey, Nicholas was raised Roman Catholic, but found the Episcopal Church through the music ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton, New Jersey. “Although I first came for the music, I shortly realized that the gospel is cool, that Jesus is cool.”
Nicholas said that as he matured in his faith, he fell deeper in love with the Episcopal Church for witnessing to Jesus’ command to love one another. “When Bishop Curry was elected, that was a turning point for me, not only because his preaching deepened my faith, but because seeing a Black man occupy the office of Presiding Bishop demonstrated to me the church is truly for everybody. It demonstrated the broad expansiveness I think our church is so good at.”
Such respect for the expansiveness of the church shapes his involvement at St. John’s in the Village, where he is part of young adult ministry, the altar guild, and the vestry. “St. John’s is really unique for the history is has played regarding ministering to the LGBT community,” he said. “It was a meeting place after Stonewall, it pioneered a ministry to those suffering from AIDS, among many other things. This place reminds me how blessed I am that the church was the last place I was worried about receiving judgment from when I came out as gay — a testament to genuine love.”
As a student at New York University, Nicholas was involved in Canterbury Downtown, the Episcopal Campus Ministry to students of New York colleges below 59th Street. “Campus ministry was the center of my life,” he said. “Every Sunday night, worship and community dinner occupied center stage.” Nicholas also served on a multifaith advisory council at NYU.
As a diocesan employee, Nicholas has been involved in events, clergy retreats, city and state advocacy, prison ministry, feeding ministry, and the work of General Convention. Nicholas is also an aspirant in the Diocese of New York, feeling called to the priesthood.
“In the future the church isn’t going to be the little vicar sitting behind his nice little desk. The church is going to be on the ground, dynamic, and preaching the gospel to those who may never have heard it before. That is the future of this church. That is the church I am excited for.”
Luke Netto
Milton, Georgia
Luke Netto, a recent high school graduate, joined the Episcopal Church while in middle school. “At the time, my family was looking for something different. Other churches view faith as something one is either born with, or not. The Episcopal Church knows that faith is a question continually in need of nurturing through reason, tradition, and Scripture. That realization was very important to me.” Luke hasn’t looked back.
Luke’s ministry is active in both his parish and diocese. At St. David’s in Roswell, Georgia, Luke serves as a lector, teaches Sunday school, and is a lively member of the music ministry and worship band.
As a member of the Diocese of Atlanta, Luke has been involved in numerous forms of ministry. For the last year, Luke has led the Diocesan Youth Commission. “As chairperson, it was my job to represent and advocate on behalf of the youth of our diocese,” he said.
One way Luke advocates for youth has been through establishing a mental wellness task force. “Everyone knows mental health is an important issue for the church, especially today’s youth, but until now we have been unsure how to express that.” After successfully advocating for the creation of the task force at his diocesan convention, Luke hopes the church will better address things like suicide, mental health, and depression.
Another aspect of Luke’s ministry involves joining parochial visits with Bishop Robert Wright, encouraging fellow young people to join youth ministry across the diocese. “The biggest thing about youth ministry is making people belong — to create a constant in people’s lives is a tough job, but it’s also a rewarding one.”
This fall, Luke will attend the University of Georgia. He plans to study political science, international affairs, and religion. “Going into government, I am constantly thinking about the Beatitudes. It is not easy work to invite Christ’s message of love into space where it is not welcome, but it is necessary work.”
Gaige Tittle
Florence, Alabama
Gaige Tittle is a student at the University of North Alabama and a postulant in the Diocese of Alabama. Raised in a nondenominational church, Gaige felt called to the Episcopal Church when he was 16. “Although the reason the Spirit led me to this place is known only to God,” Gaige said, “I have found great strength in the liturgy and theology of the Anglican tradition.”
As a student at UNA, Gaige helped found All Saints College Ministry. The ministry, headquartered at Trinity Episcopal Church in Florence, brings young people together for weekly fellowship, food, and discussion. The ministry involves more than 10 partner churches, ranging from mainline to evangelical. “It is interesting to see denominational variety and the unity forged therein — to really see God bless this ecumenical vision,” he said. Gaige is also engaged in the Episcopal Campus Ministry of the University of North Alabama.
Gaige credits the important work of mentors for helping him hear his call to ministry. “From my ecology professor to my high school biology teacher, so many unforeseen saints have helped me discern my call to the priesthood.” One person Gaige credits with helping him hear his call is the Rev. Robin Hinkle: “One day Rev. Robin called me into her office, sat me down, and said, ‘I see a special light in you. I do not how it will manifest, but I will pray for you.’”
Speaking to the future of the church, Gaige said, “God is not the product of the human religious imagination. God is the active agent in this world, constantly speaking to us through his living and active word.” Thus, Gaige’s advice is that we keep the main thing the main thing, and that main thing is God.
After graduation, Gaige plans on some travel, and then he intends to seek theological education in pursuit of holy orders.
