The Living Church Foundation honored outgoing executive director Dr. Christopher Wells and elected new members to the board of directors and foundation at meetings in San Antonio on October 19 and 20. Longtime partners Christ Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas hosted the gatherings.
The Rt. Rev. John Bauerschmidt, president of the board, gave thanks for Wells and his 13 years of leadership, noting the great progress made in helping TLC shift from a struggling publication on the verge of financial collapse to “a movement that also happens to publish a magazine.” Wells will become the Anglican Communion’s director of unity, faith, and order on November 1.
The Rev. Canon Jody Howard, the Rev. Nathan Humphrey, and Richard Kennelly are new members of the foundation.
Howard is the Diocese of Tennessee’s canon to the ordinary. A longtime contributor to TLC’s weblog, Covenant, Howard has led several churches in the Diocese of Tennessee, and has served twice as a deputy to General Convention.
Humphrey, the rector of St. Thomas’s Church in Toronto, also writes for Covenant, and contributed to a TLC book project, Pro Communione: Theological Essays on the Anglican Covenant (2012). Before moving to Canada, he was rector of St. John the Evangelist in Newport, Rhode Island.
Kennelly is chief teambuilding officer at Team Concepts Inc., a leadership development and executive team coaching company. He was a founder of BigBelly Solar, a cleantech startup, practiced environmental law in Boston, and is an Olympic silver medalist in rowing. He has served on numerous vestries and church committees and is a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, which his wife, the Rev. Margery Kennelly, serves as an associate rector.
Three current foundation members — the Rev. Dr. Kristine Blaess, Canon Carrie Boren Headington, and the Rev. Dr. Canon Justin Holcomb — were elected to three-year terms on TLC’s board of directors. Blaess is rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Headington is canon for evangelism in the Diocese of Dallas; and Holcomb is the canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Central Florida.
Three board members — Marie Howard, the Rt. Rev. Daniel Martins, and Dr. Grace Sears — have reached the end of their terms. Martins, the board’s secretary, and Sears, its vice president, will continue as members of the foundation.
The Rev. Mark Michael is editor-in-chief of The Living Church. An Episcopal priest, he has reported widely on global Anglicanism, and also writes about church history, liturgy, and pastoral ministry.