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Digg"Saints on the Front Lines" Teach Urban Ministry at Berkeley Divinity School
By Nicole Seiferth
On an average day, a Trinity Transformational Fellow might advocate for prisoners, teach a child to read, or march in protest alongside migrant farm workers. This spring, several Fellows will be back in the classroom, teaching urban ministry at a Berkeley Divinity School.
The Trinity Fellows program was established by Trinity Wall Street in 2004 to honor leaders who challenge those systems in society that do not meet basic human needs.
Fellows include such mainstays of New York ministry as the Rev. Bertram Bennett, a leading figure in redevelopment of the South Bronx, and Peter Ng, a prime mover in housing and employment issues in Chinatown.
Explaining the decision to draw guest faculty from the roster of Trinity Fellows, the Rev. Dr. W. Alfred Tisdale, Jr., director of Anglican Studies and Formation at Berkeley observed that, "In the 21st century a threshold has been crossed where the majority of the world's population has moved into the urban context, rather than a rural world."
The Rev. Matthew Heyd, director of Faith in Action for Trinity Wall Street, said that "The program has formed a group of remarkable leaders who are a tremendous resource for the Church."
"Our Fellows do extraordinary work under difficult circumstances," said the Rev. Canon Mallonee, vicar of Trinity Wall Street. "Any seminarian would benefit from exposure to these saints in the front lines."
Heyd taught the first class of the colloquium on January 19, setting the context for the kind of ministry the Trinity Fellows exemplify.
"Urban ministry really rests at the heart of sacramental community," he told the class. "That shows in Trinity Fellows. They're all committed to changing the world beyond church doors, but they do it in very different ways."
The seminarians won't just be hearing the Fellows lecture; groups will visit each Fellow for a day.
"It's important to teach our students to understand the incarnational aspects of our faith – not just theologically but practically," said Dr. Tisdale. With the Fellows, he said, "students will personally experience what's happening on the ground."
When asked what he hopes the students take away from the class, Heyd said, "Practicing our faith out in the world is core to what churches are, and the way in which we practice that faith reflects who we are as a Church."
News image courtesy of Episcopal News Service.
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