More information on the content of this program will be made available soon.
Innovating Beloved Communities
This public webinar is part of a series of trainings accompanying EDS's ongoing Innovating Beloved Communities Cohort - an ongoing, year-long learning experience for innovators creating God’s new thing for the sake of love, led by the Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers '04. This cohort is convening, equipping, and catalyzing a circle faithful innovators advancing God’s dream of just, compassionate, multicultural, beloved community. The public is invited to witness and participate in this learning experience alongside our cohort leaders.
Trainers
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The Rev. Matthew R. Rasure, Ph.D.
The Rev. Matthew R. Rasure, Ph.D. is Transitional Director of the Allston Brighton Food Pantry in Boston, Massachusetts, where, as an embedded consultant, he is leading the organization through an 18-month strategic restructuring and leadership transition.
He specializes in building sustainable financial and fundraising infrastructures while guiding the difficult work of organizational restructuring. His consulting practice helps nonprofits and congregations to reimagine long-standing systems, to strengthen governance, and to develop resilient models for ministry and mission. Throughout this work, he seeks to help organizations adapt to changing realities without losing sight of their core values or the flourishing of the people they serve.
Previously, Dr. Rasure served for eleven years as Senior Minister of the First Baptist Church of Medford, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Board of Managers of the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB), a financial services ministry serving a variety of free-church traditions, and he is President of the Board for the Center for Career Development and Ministry, a multi-denominational vocational and psychological services provider specializing in clergy needs.
Dr. Rasure holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of Holy Brothers: Geography, Kinship, and Priesthood in Ancient Israel. His teaching brings together theology, adaptive leadership, organizational theory, and fiduciary responsibility, equipping leaders to build resilient institutions that embody beloved community.
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The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers ’04
The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers is one of The Episcopal Church’s leading thinkers around 21st-century ministry and mission. The author of several books, she was canon to former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and serves as Priest-in-Charge of St. Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.
Spellers previously served as chaplain to the Episcopal House of Bishops, directed evangelism and reconciliation at General Theological Seminary, and led church vitality efforts in the Diocese of Long Island. Her professional ministry began in 2005 at St. Paul's Cathedral-Boston, where she founded The Crossing, a ground-breaking church that weaves Episcopal tradition together with voices from the margins. Before that, she was an award-winning religion journalist.
Spellers earned master’s degrees from both Harvard Divinity School and Episcopal Divinity School. She received an honorary doctorate from the General Theological Seminary. A native of Kentucky, she is passionate about helping people to fall in love with God and get free.