plse
Mentors
PLSE‘s mentor are leaders of the Church who are willing to walk with you in your discernment path. They are open to share their wisdom and life experience with you. They might not have all the answers to your questions but they have a heart and a passion for young people and care deeply for them. They are here to listen carefully and attentively and guide you in your discernment process.
Our mentors are fully committee to maintain confidentiality by not disclosing personal information of the people who contact them.
Feel free to email any of our amazing mentors and start a vibrant conversation about life, discernment and leadership. They are here for you!
Email Angela Helt
Angela Helt is an anthropology graduate from the University of Oklahoma. She spent a year as a volunteer in Panama for the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC). There, she worked with community health programs and underprivileged youth. Since October of 2006 she has been working for Big Brothers Big Sisters as a Match Support Specialist for the MCOP program, which is Mentoring Children of Prisoners. She previously worked for The University of Oklahoma Outreach in the Children of Promise Mentors of Hope program which is partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Angela has been involved with Camp New Hope for seven years; New Hope is a summer camp that also seeks to empower children of incarcerated men and women.
Angela is currently serving her second year on The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. She is the second young adult to be elected to this position. Angela worked as a youth minister for several years while attending college. She is also a graduate of Leadership Duncan, an accelerated program for high school leaders, and the Rotary Youth Leadership program. She was a member of the Lawton City Ballet Company and active in the Duncan Little Theatre. Angela served on the Diocese of Oklahoma Youth Board. She was also on the St. Crispin’s Summer Camp staff in Oklahoma for two years as a counselor and lifeguard. She enjoys travel and culture and has traveled in Europe, Central and South America, and studied Spanish in Mexico. Besides traveling, her interests are photography and backpacking.
Angela seeks to serve the world in ways that will bring diverse people closer together and improve the lives of those who are oppressed and forgotten.
Email Sarah Eagle Heart
My name is Sarah Eagle Heart. I am a member of the Oglala (Lakota) Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge, South Dakota and a life-long member of The Episcopal Church. I was baptized and confirmed at St. Katharine’s Episcopal Church in Martin, South Dakota. I now live in Pensacola, Florida where I am a member of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church of Atmore, Alabama. I also attend Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Pensacola, where I work as a Parish Administrator.
My educational background is Business (M.B.A.), Mass Communication (B.A.), and American Indian Studies (B.A.), which I use to promote communication and am dedicated to assisting in ministry programs of the National Church and Indigenous Ministry. Currently, I am part of an Indigenous Young Adult Task Force set to discuss the MDGs and help strengthen Native communities across the country. I am developing a website for the Indigenous Theological Technical Institute. I was honored to be appointed to the Standing Commission on Lifelong Learning and Christian Education representing the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.
I am encouraged by the church’s position on promotion cultural understanding. I grew up on a small tribal reservation community in South Dakota with my grandmothers. My great-grandmother, Emma Brave Hawk, was a lay leader in the Episcopal mission churches in the 1930’s. I grew up praying with her from the Wowapi Wakan (or Holy Bible), Book of Common Prayer, and singing from the Hymnal (all translated in the Dakota Language). Grandma made sure that all her grandchildren were baptized and confirmed. As an adult I was guided to the Church again and had the revelation that I did not have to choose either the Traditional Religion or Christianity. Often native people feel spiritually conflicted, which I felt. But I am at peace through God’s grace. I am a traditional Lakota and Christian in The Episcopal Church!
Many times, the encouragement from the Church comes in small but meaningful messages. In 1994, as a junior in high school, my twin sister and I protested the 57 year old “Homecoming Ceremony” at our school. Our high school was located on a county between two Indian reservations in South Dakota. The community was mostly non-Indian farming community that had little interaction with the tribes. The mascot was the Warriors and the ceremony included five warrior princesses, a Big Chief, and a Medicine Man with complete dress. The ceremony consisted of the Medicine Man dancing around the Warrior Princesses and then stopping to manually weighing them, inspecting their faces/mouths/ears/hair and clothing to finally “choose” one as a gift to the Big Chief. My sister and I felt a deep responsibility to stop this event, not only because of the spiritual degradation but also for the blatantly sexist behavior. We often compared the event to church and if this behavior would be accepted if a priest behaved in the manner of their so-called Medicine Man, and were deeply offended by how they portrayed our sacred Medicine Men and our people. During this very difficult time, my sister and I were ostracized and stigmatized by the community we grew up in. We were labeled as “troublemakers” and lost many friends. Both tribes passed resolutions in support of our endeavor and after four years of protesting, the ceremony was stopped. The meaningful message came during our senior graduation in 1995. The crowd would applaud as each student received their scholarships and diplomas, but we were met with silence. One of the scholarships we received that year was from The Episcopal Church.
I believe The Episcopal Church has the ability to bring spiritual balance between all diverse peoples. I am amazed year after year when I learn of many similarities between the gospel and traditional indigenous religions. I hope to pass this knowledge to others and that they open their hearts to the love of Christ. Through communication and education, we all can encourage reconciliation, spiritual formation, and inspire our youth into leadership for the future of The Episcopal Church.
Email Bryan Krislock
Bryan Krislock is a long time member of the Diocese of Spokane. He grew up at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Spokane Valley where he served as an acolyte, lay reader and Eucharistic minister. After majoring in Economics and Political Science at Western Washington University, he returned to Spokane and serves on the diocesan staff as Operations Director, initially serving as Editor of the Inland Episcopalian, Webmaster, Communications Associate, and Interim Executive Director of Camp Cross.
Always a committed member of the Episcopal Church, he has been selected to serve in a variety of leadership roles including as a member of the Diocesan Bishop Search Committee, member of the 2000 General Convention Official Youth Presence where he was elected to represent the Youth of the Church to the House of Deputies, Program Chair for the 2005 National Episcopal Youth Event, deputy to the 2006 and 2009 General Convention, and Dispatch of Business for two Diocesan Conventions. He has also worked on various startup projects in the diocese including the WaterMark internship program and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
His interests outside of church and work include sailing, skiing, reading, traveling, Earl Grey Tea and long walks on the beach.
Email Cornelia Eaton
My name is Cornelia Eaton and I am Dine’ (Navajo), a member of the Navajo Tribe. I was raised and still reside in a community of Upper Fruitland, New Mexico located on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. I come from a family of five brothers, and two sisters. I am the second to the youngest child in my family. I am married, with two beautiful children. My family and I attend St. Michael’s and All Saints’ Churches located on the reservation. I was named after a respected Navajo elder in my community known for her talent in rug weaving. My mother hoped for me to become a rug weaver like the elder, but that didn’t happen. However, I have come to a conclusion about what God’s vision was for me. I am a rug weaver. I am able to weave my Navajo cultural belief and my Episcopal faith into one rug. I believe that God called me to be that weaver in Navajoland Area Mission, my community, and the in the wider church- to bridge my Navajo tradition along side with the Episcopal tradition and faith with the Gospel as being the essence between both worlds and in my spiritual journey. My Navajo traditions and values are very important to me. My parents both spoke Navajo with limited English. I am very fortunate that I can speak and understand my native language. I am grateful that I can communicate with my Navajo elders and listen to their stories and words of wisdom which spiritually guides me. As a child, I was first taught my clans. My four clans identify who I am among the Navajo. These clans identify kinship- how I am related. Clans tell how I ought to respectfully address my relatives and people in my community. Those teachings were clearly evident in early childhood- being taught my language, clans, and the importance of Navajo values and traditions, and ceremonies.Alongside my Navajo culture, I was also raised in the Navajoland Episcopal Church and I was also taught about the Episcopal faith and traditions. My parents were life time dedicated members of the church and so I feel part of that has kept me connected and serve God and the people in Navajoland Area Mission. I participated in church activities as a child and youth. I was a lesson reader, an acolyte, and often assisted my parents at Sunday services at St. Michael’s. In the same way as my Navajo traditions and values, I understand my Christian traditions and values in the same sense. They both parallel. They both connect to the Creator only in different ways In 1997, I started traveling with my mother to Episcopal Church Native Gatherings. I discovered the work my mother did in a much broader sense. I discovered the Episcopal Native Ministry and the uniqueness of its ministry to the Native Peoples throughout the lands. It was then that I became aware and more involved in Native American Ministries and in Navajoland Area Mission. One Sunday in 2001, I attended a morning church service at St. Michael’s, and afterwards I was confronted by my vicar and she asked me if I was interested serving as a youth minister for San Juan Mission. Without taking the time to say, “I’ll think about it” I replied “Okay.” I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I felt at that moment God called me by name and I answered. I really didn’t know what was in store for me and I was afraid, but with prayer and by faith, I let God be in control of my destiny, and I allow God to do just that in my life today. At the moment I am the youth director and lay reader at San Juan Mission Episcopal Church in Navajoland located in the New Mexico Region. I serve as a board member on the Navajoland Area Mission Council (NAMC), the Indigenous Theological Training Institute (ITTI), and the Episcopal Church Committee on Indigenous Ministries (ECCIM). I am a student at a local community college, San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico working toward an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts. I hope to become a teacher, a leader in my community and in the Episcopal Church in Navajoland. I believe that God has a place for me in the Episcopal Church and be of value to “all people” of this land.
Email The Rev. William S. Blackerby, Jr.
Chaplain Bill Blackerby, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, is in his 15th year as Episcopal Campus Chaplain for Birmingham. He received degrees from Birmingham-Southern College (BA-Political Science), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (MA-Counseling), and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (MDiv). His Louisville Institute funded 2004 sabbatical project was entitled “Mentoring Young Adults in the Episcopal Church. In addition to serving as the Episcopal campus chaplain on three campuses , Father Bill is actively involved with the Sawyerville Work Project and serves on the Vocare steering committee in the Diocese of Alabama. He is married to Anne Thiele Blackerby, who is pediatrician, and has two children, William, a junior at Sewanee, and Margaret, a 6th at Advent Episcopal Day School.
Email Ted Mollegen
Although my father was an Episcopal priest and my wife is an Episcopal priest, my calling is to be an active layperson in the Church. I like to go where I can make a difference. Currently, I am active at the congregational, diocesan, and national levels. I am a member of my congregation’s evangelism committee, which focuses on recruiting people into becoming Christians. In my Diocese, I am a member of the Diocesan Stewardship Committee, which deals with the responsible use of what God has placed in the care of us humans. On the national level, I am a member of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council, where my main area of interest is evangelism. (The Executive Council can be thought of as the Presiding Bishop’s vestry.) The 2009 General Convention (GC), which is the triennial legislative body of our Church, will be the tenth I have attended as a representative of Connecticut, three times as an Alternate Deputy, and seven times as a (full) Deputy. In the past, I have served on GC committees on evangelism, stewardship, and environmental stewardship. Also, I enjoy helping new Deputies catch on as to how the 1000+ person General Convention works. Earlier, I helped my Diocese adopt a program to increase its outreach to socially and financially needy people.
I find that my faith and my Church involvement lend meaning and balance to my life. I am drawn toward subjects where something important needs to be done, and where I have some skills which can help get the right things done. My wife once humorously said that perhaps I have a touch of Don Quixote in me. She was joking, but I took it as a compliment. One description of how to recognize a call is that, with a call, you are drawn toward working in an area, and you have (or can develop) productive skills that are needed in that area.
One Sunday when I was to be assisting in the main service, we were in the vesting area putting on our robes. Suddenly in a loud-ish deep voice I proclaimed, “Today, in the Prayers of the People, I’m going to say, ‘We also pray for our enemies … especially Joe, Frank, Mary, Ed…’” Now I would never actually do that in a service, but I would think of it, and then use the idea to tease those with whom I was serving that morning. Working for God can be a lot of fun, especially if we don’t get unnecessarily somber about it! For more info, see my personal webpage at http://members.aol.com/tmollegen, which also includes info on my for-pay job.
Email Kelsey Kemp
I am a Political Science and Religious Studies Senior at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. I was born and raised in Lubbock, TX– the Diocese of Northwest Texas. After graduation from OU, I plan on attending law school. I am a cradle Episcopalian and very active in the Episcopal Church. I have attended two General Conventions, one as an Official Youth Presence in 2003 and the last as a deputy from Northwest Texas. Additionally, I currently serve on the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development, which has been quite a learning curve. I developed close ties with The Episcopal Church during high school through working with my church camp, the Bishop Quarterman Conference Center. There is no doubt that I have developed most of my best friends from working with the church.
I am not sure if my stories are “amusing,” but as far as my ministry with the Church is concerned, I have devoted so much time to the Church that it seems reasonable that I would want to work for the Episcopal Church throughout my life time. At present, I have found the largest challenge to be incorporating all I want to do with the Church with all I want to do in undergrad. Seminary was and still is an option, but not until after I accomplish my goal of earning my law degree, which I have wanted to do since I was eleven. Probably the funniest thing about me being so involved in leadership roles within the Church is that– as my beloved home parish priest Mother Jo Roberts Mann can tell you–when she tried to get me involved when I was in junior high, I told her that I most definitely was NOT interested in attending EYC! Luckily, she did not give up and finally talked me into attending a weekend event at the Bishop Quarterman Conference Center. As they say, the rest is history, as I have been involved with the Episcopal Church ever since. I cannot stress the opportunities that I discovered through the Church; it helped me become the person I am today. The Church also helped me discover that working within the church, in whatever capacity, is one of my main passions. Looking back, perhaps the best thing I have learned thus far is to not resist the path in which you are supposed to take—take chances and listen to those around you who know you better than you know yourself.
Email Kaileen Alston
I am honored to serve on the Pastoral Leadership Search Effort’s Advisory Council. My spiritual, professional and personal backgrounds indeed make me qualified for this opportunity. I look forward to sharing the gifts that I have gained through the totality of my experience. With my parents’ blessings I became an Episcopalian on my own at age 10 and asked to be baptized soon thereafter. (My mother was Baptist and my father a lapsed Roman Catholic.) At St. Paul’s Episcopal Church I found the spiritual, emotional and intellectual nurturing and stimulation that I had not found elsewhere. I soon became active in the congregation as a lector, acolyte and youth group member. I have remained active at St. Paul’s since then and have served as a vestry member, congregational deputy to our diocesan convention and youth group leader.
As one can imagine, my faith journey has brought me down different – and more fascinating – paths than I intended. I received my bachelor of arts in communications and Afro-American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania at age 20 and my juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center at age 23. After practicing commercial and class and mass action employment litigation for several years, however, I realized that I was not being fed by my work. I opened myself to the possibilities that the Lord might have for me and was led back home to the Diocese of Newark. I currently serve as the Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese – a ministry that is more fulfilling than my legal practice ever was. In my position I am able to combine my love for youth with my legal expertise to ensure that proper boundaries, safety, fiscal responsibility and overall wellness of our teens are promoted. I know how important it is to be ever mindful of the proper nurturing, education and encouragement of our people. I would not be where I am today if people had not done these things for me. Thanks be to God, I am now able to pass share my gifts with others.
Email Emily Anna Perow
Emily Anna Perow holds a BA with a concentration in Nutrition and Child Development from Hampshire College. Prior to her current position as Diocesan Youth Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut for the past 11 years, she spent two years as the youth director at Grace Church, Amherst Massachusetts and one year as Christian Education Director and Youth group director at Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown, Connecticut. Emily obtained her Youth Ministry Certificate from a two year practicum program with the National Episcopal Church and Province I in 1994. She was a consultant for the National Church Youth Ministry office for 5 years in cultural awareness training. She has been teaching cultural awareness to teenagers for the past 11 years. She served on the LECC (Lutheran-Episcopal coordinating committee) for 6 years, a committee formed after the full communion agreement with the ELCA(Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). She served as a representative from that committee to a similar committee in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Emily is currently interim Provincial youth coordinator for the Province of New England.
Email Luke Fodor
Raised in Northeast Ohio, Luke Fodor left home prematurely at 17 after skipping the last year of high school to attend a Bible College in Chicago where he studied theology and missions. After graduating he found a home in the Episcopal Church. After completing a M.A. in Theology from Durham University in England and a M.A. in Critical Theory from New York University, he came to work at the Episcopal Church Center as the Program Assistant for Young Adult and Higher Education Ministries. After serving in this capacity for nearly 3 years, Luke began working for Episcopal Relief and Development as the Network Coordinator in May 2007.
Currently, he and his wife, Willow, serve as part-time youth ministers at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay, NY. Impassioned by environmental issues, Luke co-founded the Episcopal Church Center’s 815 Green Team which works to raise awareness and green corporate church practices. Luke lives in Brooklyn with his wife, their cat and several hundred composting worms, cycling 20+ miles daily through the streets of New York to get to work and back. Luke and Willow will be first time parents in April.
Email The Rev Brian Prior
The Rev Brian Prior is a multiple generation Episcopalian having served the Church his entire life. His ministry and experience spans the depth and diversity of the Church from a small rural congregation to cathedral ministry, from youth minister to President of the Standing Committee, from camp counselor to the Executive Council.
Presently Brian serves the Diocese of Spokane as the Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in the Spokane Valley, a church he helped start in 1996. Previously, he served on the diocesan staff as the Director of Education and Development and as the Executive Director of Camp Cross, and as the Associate Rector of St. Stephen’s in Spokane. He is in a third term on the Standing Committee, the last two as President, is a member of Mission and Budget, Mission and Structure, and serves on the Cabinet of the Diocesan Capital Campaign.
On a provincial level Brian has served for over ten years as the Province VIII Youth Ministry Network Coordinator. He is also on the Province VIII Program Committee; and has served on the Re-Structuring Task Force, Convocation Design Team and has been a Synod Deputy since 1987.
Brian’s initial exposure to the national church was at the first EYE. Since then, Brian has had a role in designing and providing leadership for this youth event. Brian serves as a consultant for the Ministry with Young People cluster and is a frequent retreat leader at Kanuga Camp and Conference Center of North Carolina.
Participating in General Convention since 1985 Brian has served as a multiple time Deputy, as the Chair of the House of Deputies Committee on Communication, and as the Chaplain to the 74th Convention. As well Brian served on the President of the House of Deputies Council of Advice, on the Executive Council and its Executive Standing Committee and National Concerns Standing Committee and as the Council liaison to the Standing Commission on Ministry Development.
Brian is married with two school-age children and has a passion for basketball including coaching a consistently state ranked girls’ high school varsity team.
Email The Rev Deacon Alejandra Diaz
I work in Isabel Villas Golf and Country Club, as the president’s assistant. Here we work among Dominicans and Chinese people. The Company administrates the Golf Club, that is located in the capital City of the Dominican Republic.
I love to sing and I am a member of an ecumenical choral ministry named “Arpa Evangélica”, singing Mezzo Soprano. This chorus does classical and folkloric Christian music.
I also represent the Episcopal Church in an ecumenical fund loan program providing credit to the poor and the excluded around the world called “Ecumenical Church Loan Fund- Eclof Dominicana”. You can follow more of its work in the world in its webpage. This year I became a member of the Board of Directors as Vocal.
I play the guitar and study French, as my third language. I’ m serving as a Vocational Deacon in the Episcopal Church of the Dominican Republic. I am assigned to work
in Santísima Trinidad and Santa Ana churches.
Santísima Trinidad (Holy Trinity) and Santa Ana (Saint Ann) are located in the east of the Capital City. Holy Trinity has a small school that shares the building the Church. Saint Ann is located in a very poor neighborhood and doesn’t have a church building yet. In Saint Ann’s community, t\here are some parishioner who does not know how to read. In both congregations people are very joyful and nice.
Biografía
Trabajo en Isabel Villas Golf y Country Club, como Asistente del presidente. Aquí trabajamos entre chinos y dominicanos el área de los negocios, además de administrar el Club de Golf que se encuentra en la Capital de la República Dominicana.
Me encanta cantar y soy parte de un coro ministerial ecuménico llamado “Arpa Evangélica”, cantando Mezzo Soprano. Este coro canta música cristiana clásica y folklórica.
Represento la Iglesia Episcopal en un fondo ecuménico de préstamos que provee crédito a pobres y excluidos en todo el mundo llamado “Ecumenical Church Loan Fund- Eclof Dominicana”. Puedes encontrar más de su trabajo en el mundo en su página Web. Este año, soy parte de la Junta Directiva como Vocal.
Toco la guitarra y estudio francés, como tercer idioma. Estoy trabajando como Diacono Vocacional de la Iglesia Episcopal de la República Dominicana, asignada en las iglesias Santísima Trinidad y Santa Ana.
Santísima Trinidad y Santa Ana están en la parte este de la ciudad capital. Santísima Trinidad tiene un pequeño colegio que comparte el espacio con la Iglesia. Santa Ana está localizada en un lugar muy pobre y no tiene templo aún; penosamente allí, algunos adultos no saben leer. En ambas, la gente es alegre y agradable.
Email The Rev Joseph Pae
Joseph was born in South Korea and came to the States when he was fourteen. He finished high school in Fullerton, California. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and worked in Seattle as a tutor before he went to Yale-Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven. After graduating from the seminary, he went to Seabury-Western in Evanston where he received a certificate of advanced theological studies. Before he moved to New York, he was serving as a clergy resident participating in the Foundations of Spiritual Leadership at the Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. As a cradle Episcopalian, he has served in various ministry settings. He served at Saint Martin’s Korean Episcopal Church in Philadelphia as a director of faith formation and as a youth director at St. Joseph/Trinity in Flushing. He also served as a port chaplain at Seamen’s Church in Newark and completed his field education at St. Augustine’s in Wilmette, Illinois and his Clinical Pastoral Education requirement as a hospital chaplain in Olympia, Washington. He is interested in young adults and multicultural ministry. He works with the Diocesan Youth Council in the Diocese of Long Island and with the Episcopal Asian-American Ministry Council and has been on the Design Team for Episcopal Youth Event 2006. He currently serves as a Canon Pastor at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York. He is recently married and is expecting his first child in May. Joseph was born in South Korea and came to the States when he was fourteen. He finished high school in Fullerton, California. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and worked in Seattle as a tutor before he went to Yale-Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven. After graduating from the seminary, he went to Seabury-Western in Evanston where he received a certificate of advanced theological studies. Before he moved to New York, he was serving as a clergy resident participating in the Foundations of Spiritual Leadership at the Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. As a cradle Episcopalian, he has served in various ministry settings. He served at Saint Martin’s Korean Episcopal Church in Philadelphia as a director of faith formation and as a youth director at St. Joseph/Trinity in Flushing. He also served as a port chaplain at Seamen’s Church in Newark and completed his field education at St. Augustine’s in Wilmette, Illinois and his Clinical Pastoral Education requirement as a hospital chaplain in Olympia, Washington. He is interested in young adults and multicultural ministry. He works with the Diocesan Youth Council in the Diocese of Long Island and with the Episcopal Asian-American Ministry Council and has been on the Design Team for Episcopal Youth Event 2006. He currently serves as a Canon Pastor at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York. He is recently married and is expecting his first child in May.
