2015 Bowen Conference

February 22, 2015 – February 24, 2015

Modern Voices Answering Ancient Calls

Inspiring actions and remarkable results will be the focus of the 2015 Bowen Conference as the Rev. Dan Matthews, former rector of Trinity Wall Street, and the Rt. Rev. Charles Duvall, retired Bishop of the Central Gulf Coast, join forces to present five guest speakers, both clergy and lay, whose congregations are bucking the trend of declining membership and shrinking budgets. Each speaker will share his or her vision for a new and revitalized Episcopal Church, one that flourishes despite controversy and welcomes the broad spectrum of believers.

Click here to register.

Watch the FULL INTERVIEW

Keynoters

The Rev. Dan Matthews:

The Rev. Dr. Daniel Paul Matthews, rector emeritus of historic Trinity Church, Wall Street, was born in Chicago. He spent the first 20 years of his ministry as a priest in parishes in Tennessee.

Since 1972, the hallmark of Dr. Matthews’ work has been concentrated in larger, inner city parishes. This phase of his service began when he moved to St. John’s in Knoxville, TN. The work of the parish there focused on the broad needs of the city both within and without the church. In 1980 he was called to St. Luke’s in downtown Atlanta with its mammoth homeless ministry and in 1987 he received a call to 300-year-old Trinity Church, Wall Street where he served for 17 years.

On September 11, 2001, Dr. Matthews saw the second plane fly into the south tower of the World Trade Center from his Parish’s offices, and he was forced to evacuate lower Manhattan with his staff and the children of the Parish pre-school. Trinity’s historic chapel, St. Paul’s—across the street from the World Trade Center—served as a 24-hour center of refuge and relief to the emergency workers for eight months after the attack.

An apostle of hope and healing for lower Manhattan as the district sought to rebuild itself, Dr. Matthews has made appearances on all three major network television evening news shows, and many others both overseas and locally, as an advocate for and commentator on the church’s post-September 11 mission. On March 3, 2006, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his leadership at this time.

The Rt. Rev. Charles Duvall:

Featured speakers

Canon Roger Hutchison, a Kanuga mainstay, is Canon for Children’s Ministries at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC. An artist, his first book, The Painting Table: A Journal of Loss and Joy has been used by people of all ages in schools, churches, and community groups across the United States. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the world and he regularly offers workshops nationally for children, youth and adults on how to express their thoughts and relationship with God through the art of painting with one’s hands, making it accessible to all. Awarded in 2014 with the “Governor’s Order of the Silver Crescent,” South Carolina’s highest civilian honor for volunteer or community service, Roger lives in Elgin, South Carolina with his wife and daughter.

The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead: Kate Moorehead grew up in Connecticut. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar and received her M Div. cum laude from VTS. She served St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Boiling Springs, SC for five years before being called to Wichita, Kansas where she remained until 2010 when she became the tenth dean of the Cathedral in Jacksonville, FL. She is a much sought-after speaker and retreat leader, and is the author of four books: Organic God: Lenten Meditations on the Words of Jesus; Between Two Worlds: Daily Readings for Advent; Get Over Yourself; God’s Here!: A Forty-Day Journey of Repentance; and Resurrecting Easter: Meditations for the Great 50 Days. Coming to St. John’s during an extremely challenging economic time, she has overseen the growth not only of the parish, but its five stellar outreach programs.

The Right Rev. Robert Christopher Wright was elected June 2, 2012, by lay delegates and priests of the Diocese of Atlanta to become the 10th bishop in the diocese’s 105-year history. He was ordained and consecrated a bishop on Saturday, Oct. 13, in a special worship service at Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College. He is the first African American to become an Episcopal bishop in Georgia. At the time of his election as bishop he was rector of historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA, where he had served 10 years, a period that saw dramatic growth. St. Paul’s is now the largest predominately African-American congregation in the Episcopal Church. Also during the past decade, Wright has served the Atlanta community as a member of Leadership Atlanta, on the boards of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School and St. Laurence School. In the Diocese of Atlanta, in addition to serving as the dean of the Mid-Atlanta Convocation, he has chaired the Commission on Ministry, the deputation to the General Convention, and served as youth dean at Camp Mikell. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Virginia Theological Seminary.

The Rev. Marek Zabriskie is the rector of St. Thomas in Whitemarsh, PA, a position he has held since 1995.  During that time, the church has expanded from 30 to 85 ministries and membership increased to 1,350.  He was instrumental in getting the church involved with international mission and developed a strong spiritual formation program for both adults and children.  He attended Emory and Yale and serves on Diocesan Council, the Church Foundation and Compass Rose Society.  In 2012, he began the Bible Challenge, a program which now has over 2000 churches in 28 countries participating.
Randall Curtis is the ministry developer for Young Adults and Youth in the Diocese of Arkansas. Currently, he serves as the president of Forma, a network of Christian Formation Leaders in the Episcopal Church. He is a regular on the Easter People podcast and one of the lead teachers for the Certificate in Family and Youth Ministry of the FaithFormationAcademy.org. His blog is theholygeek.com.

Additional conference staff

MUSICIAN: TBA

Register Now! – See more at: http://www.kanuga.org/conference-calendar/conference-calendar-details/bowen-conference#sthash.JnaPqKGP.dpuf