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A Note from our Executive Director
Dear Friends,
This new year has brought so much change already, both goodbyes and hellos. We are excited to look ahead!
First of all, 2024 brings an evolution in the ranks of our senior staff. Our Founder, Ardelle Walters, who has worn many hats at TPP since 2018, is “declaring victory” and stepping back from management. Thanks to a private donor, we are thrilled to announce her position as TPP’s Writer-In-Residence this spring, chronicling our origin story and mission! She is also stepping in as Convener of the growing TPP Chapter in the Diocese of West Tennessee. Her announcement isherewith more detail. Ardelle, your vision and faithfulness brought this enterprise from an idea to a growing national nonprofit, and we are excited to continue cultivating that seed.
The new year also marks an end to our 2023 experiment of having a dedicated position of Community Liaison. Jay Lacy finished out her tenure with some fabulous events at the first National Conveners’ Conference . We are so grateful for her early work in mapping existing and potential diocesan chapters. With chapters and points-of-contact planted in over a dozen dioceses, we turn this spring to building out more online resources for our network.
We also welcome a new member of the community: Molly O’Brien, our Online Events Coordinator. Molly comes to us with a lot of experience in supporting virtual communities and we are thrilled to have her managing tech this spring for both Small Groups and Conversations.
Small Groups are returning this Spring! Be sure to register below for Spring events, including tonight’s episode of Conversations and two new Small Groups, for parents of small children and BIPOC Spouses.
June 2024 may seem far away now, but our plans for General Convention are already underway! If there’s any chance you might attend (June 23-28, Louisville KY) please drop us a line, and watch this space for TPP events and opportunities.
Join us in welcoming our newest board members!
Cathy Tyndall Boyd
Cathy Boyd has served in the Episcopal church as a layperson, clergy spouse, and priest. Having retired from full-time ministry, she writes and leads retreats, particularly in support of partners and spouses of Episcopal clergy.
Josiah (Si) Harris-Adam
Josiah (Si) Harris-Adam is the child of Episcopal theologians and a second-generation PK who was raised and homeschooled on seminary campuses. Teenage years spent studying Attic Greek and designing his own curricula prepared him for undergraduate study in poetry at a hippie commune in Vermont, where he honed his skills as a parliamentarian of Robert’s Rules of Order. He proceeded to work in colleges and universities for the better part of a decade, receiving his Master’s degree in counseling psychology while working in academic advising, new student orientation, leadership and DEI training, and student organization management. After the better part of a decade, he left higher education to work as a product manager in tech startups. His days are largely spent researching ways to make software and processes more practical and efficient, and then convincing other people that his ideas are worthwhile. He is married to his an American Baptist pastor, and is father to two infuriatingly cute children. In the copious free time he has outside work and co-parenting with a pastor, he provides consulting services in organizational psychology and leadership development.
Lindsay Barrett-Adler
Lindsay Barrett-Adler serves as Forward Movement’s Director of Development, overseeing their fundraising efforts and frequently writing for resources like AdventWord. She is a graduate of Capital University and Princeton Theological Seminary, which is where she met her husband (and Episcopal priest) Paul. Lindsay and Paul live in Chicagoland with their three small children.
The Partner's Path goes to General Convention!
Are you a Clergy Spouse going to GC2024? Stop by the booth! Until then, stay tuned for information on Clergy Spouse events & activities we are planning for June 23-28!
Are you a Bishop’s Spouse going to GC2024? Keep an ear out for a special invitation to breakfast, hosted by our Board Secretary, JoAnne Doyle.
Meet Molly, our online events coordinator!
Molly O'Brien is a clergy spouse who lives with her wife and two dogs in northern New Hampshire. She has professional expertise in higher education and nonprofit administration, foreign language teaching, environmental policy, and the cooperative business model. In other words, she is a generalist and a lifelong learner. In addition to serving as the tech host for The Partner's Path, Molly is an academic advisor at Eastern University. Molly holds a master's degree in Public Policy from George Mason University and a BA in Spanish and Anthropology from Smith College. She is on the board of the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN).
Conversations on the Partner's Path with Diana Frade and Poet & Episcopal Priest Spencer Reece
Monday, February 5th 2024
6:00 PM CT
Our Little Roses, a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to rescuing the girl child in Honduras from situations of risk, empowering and transforming them in a loving atmosphere, was founded in 1988 by Diana Frade, visionary extraordinaire. Click here to read more of that story - it is extraordinary indeed! In 2010, Spencer Reece spent two months at Our Little Roses, on assignment from his Bishop following Spencer’s expressed desire to learn Spanish. Those two months changed everything for Spencer. Read more about that here, and join us in February for a conversation with Diana and Spencer about their shared work and their friendship. The Founding and Ministry of Our LIttle Roses, San Pedro Sula, Honduras with Clergy Spouse Diana Frade and Poet & Episcopal Priest Spencer Reece
Bonus resource: For serious inspiration and a deep dive into the lives of the amazing girls at Our Little Roses, make time to watch the award-winning documentary, Voices Beyond the Wall.
Conversations on the Partner's Path: Living Into Vocational Call with Rev. Dr. Kathy Bozzuti-Jones
Monday, March 4th 2024
7:00 PM CT
Dr. Bozzuti-Jones is Trinity Church Wall Street’s Associate Director for Spiritual Practices, Retreats and Pilgrimages. An interfaith clergy person and the spouse of an Episcopal priest, Kathy is no stranger to the issues that often surface when responding to a nontraditional vocational call, and working through those issues alongside someone following a vocational call within an established church structure. If you know Kathy, you know you’ll want to be here. And if you don’t know Kathy, you should! Take advantage of this opportunity to hear her story and to join the conversation about vocational call.
Conversations on the Partner's Path: My Work To Do with Suzanne Edwards-Acton
Monday, May 6th 2024
7:00 PM CT
Founded in 2018 by Suzanne Edwards-Acton, My Work To Do is an online accountability group designed to help white people build stamina for discussing race, racism, systemic injustice, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in their everyday lives. With more than 20 years of experience as both an educator and a diversity consultant, as well as a lifetime of experience as a black woman, Suzanne’s mission is to support others in deeply understanding the complexity of multiculturalism. She is currently the Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Officer for the non-profit The People Concern and the co-chair of the Program Group on Black Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Suzanne is also a clergy spouse as well as mother to two young adult sons.
Come for inspiration to pursue your own call and to join more fully into our communal call to anti-racism. We are pretty sure you won’t want to miss this grand finale of our 2023-2024 season!
Led by Lanie Flanagan, MAT, Certified 500hr Kripalu Yoga Teacher, these classes are filled with gentle mindful movements infused with breath practices designed to bring ease into one’s body and mind. They are designed for all body types. Those with little or no yoga experience will find the classes accessible.
Lanie has been a clergy partner for almost 20 years, and a practitioner of yoga for 15 years.
“My personal yoga practice has not only strengthened my body, but it has brought a peace to my mind that has deepened my spiritual life.”
It's not too late to join one of these small groups for this spring! Check out the options and register for a group that might align with your current spot and story.
"Not Coffee Hour"
2nd and 4th Sunday @ 4PM PST (7pmEST)
Feb 25-June 9; 8 occurrences
Getting to know yourself better by getting to know others With a simple prompt or meditation, we will reflect individually and together. In so doing we can hear ourselves and others, gaining awareness which comes from being in community. Room for light-hearted and heavy-burden, serious thought and humor, plus anything in between.
Sundays 3pm CT (every other Sunday except Palm Sunday and Easter)
8 occurrences (Feb 11, Feb 25, Mar 10 and 17, April 7 and 21, May 5 and 19)
Raising children in the church is hard work, it is even harder when your spouse is the priest! Join us on Sunday afternoons for a time of support, comfort, problem-solving, and maybe even some venting! We are stronger together.
Developed in Spring 2023, The Partner's Path Covenant encapsulates our foundational values as an organization and our commitment to this community. The Covenant is a distilled directive with which to measure each program, project, and personal interaction. In it, we commit to holding your identity, your talents, and your story as sacred and worth sharing only as you see fit. Our only way forward is to create an honest, affirming, and empowering environment... together.
Want to take our work Churchwide? Help us grow and get to GC 2024! Together, we are making a difference for this group of extraordinary people.
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