We are pleased to welcome Jason von Ehrenkrook. Jason will spend the year at All Saints working with children, youth, and families and gaining experience with the wide range of worship opportunities the parish offers. Following is a note of introduction from Jason. You may learn more about his background HERE.
Dear All Saints Family,
I’m so thankful for this opportunity to be your seminarian this year. I’m a bit of an unusual seminarian in that I’m not actually in seminary right now—although I did earn a seminary degree about 25 years ago. But the “classroom” of field experience is also vital to my formation and I’m eager to learn and grow during my time at All Saints.
I must confess that my call to the priesthood was entirely unexpected. I’m a professor of religious studies at UMass Boston and I love my work at the university. As I write this letter, we are only four weeks from the start of another semester, and while I’m still scrambling to revise my syllabus and figure out how to navigate ChatGPT, I’m excited to return to the classroom and once again explore with students the endlessly fascinating world of human religiosity (on our intellectual menu this semester: Apocalypse and the End of the World). But the Episcopal Church—especially her beautiful liturgy and her pursuit of love and human flourishing—has also revitalized my faith and strengthened my commitment to follow Jesus. And I now sense God nudging me to explore how I might bring my academic life into partnership with my ecclesiastical life. So here I am on this unexpected path toward bi-vocational ministry.
I anticipate being shaped and transformed by the rich liturgical tradition at All Saints, and I look forward to meeting you and ministering with you. And when you see me around, please don’t hesitate to stop me for conversation.
With gratitude,
Jason