Wendy Claire Barrie Called as New Canon for Intergenerational Ministries

with 5 Comments

A Message from Dean Thomason

Dear friends,

It is my great delight to announce that Wendy Claire Barrie has accepted the call to serve as Canon for Intergenerational Ministries at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. She will begin her work November 1, 2021. Her visionary leadership and vast experience in lifelong spiritual formation and her passion for intergenerational ministry will complement the many gifts our formation team already brings into these areas, and as a lay person herself, she has a keen commitment to the ministry of all the baptized.

Wendy has served more than 25 years in parish-based formation ministry in California, New York and Connecticut, and she has a wealth of experience with many curricula, including Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Since March 2020, she has served as Acquisitions Editor and Christian Formation Specialist for Church Publishing, and recently guided the revision of the highly-regarded Journey to Adulthood curriculum. Wendy is a nationally-renowned speaker and teacher in the field of lifelong spiritual formation, and her latest book, The Church Post-Sunday School: How to be Intergenerational and Why It Matters, is due out next summer. She is no stranger to Saint Mark’s, having spoken here in 2017 about home-based faith practices, drawing on her earlier book, Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents. The topic is as timely as ever as we lean into new ways of being Church in the post-pandemic world. She and her husband Phil will move from Brooklyn, New York, to Seattle in the coming weeks while their son Peter continues his education at Bard College.

Ms. Barrie’s call is the culmination of a robust search process in which an extraordinary committee of gifted leaders of Saint Mark’s diligently worked with an excellent pool of applicants, prayerfully discerning unanimous support for Wendy’s call. I am very grateful to committee members Carmen Brady, Maria Coldwell, Cadence Cole, Sonjia Gavin, Emily Meeks, and Peter Snyder. Please join me in thanking them for their good work, and please join me in welcoming Wendy and Phil to the Saint Mark’s community. I am,

Gratefully,

The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason
Dean and Rector

 


A Message from Wendy Claire Barrie

When I read the position description for this new role, I took immediate notice because, truly, it sounds like my dream job! I was formed by growing up in an intergenerational church—St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach, California—and I’ve brought that experience into my Christian formation work wherever I’ve gone. My family and I are eager for this new adventure. One thing I have missed about parish ministry is holding other people’s babies during Sunday sermons, and one thing Phil and I are hopeful about finding in Seattle is a larger kitchen than we’ve had in Brooklyn. (I have been doing a lot of anxiety baking the last 18 months!) I’m so happy to be coming to Saint Mark’s. I can’t wait to see what we will dream and build here together, as followers of Jesus from all ages and stages of faith.

Thanks—

Wendy


Learn more about Wendy here.

5 Responses

  1. Dee Dee Rose
    | Reply

    Congratulations!!! I am so pleased for you and Phil and the great adventure you are heading out for. Seattle and St. Mark’s Cathedral will be blessed for your leadership and loving support of wonderful gifted and talented Phil.
    My best wishes to you both, Dee Dee

    • Saint Mark's Cathedral
      |

      Thank you for you comment, Dee Dee!

  2. Henriette Renaud
    | Reply

    Congratulations, Wendy. Wishing you tons of luck in your new adventure. Your Mom is so proud of you and she should be. Congratulations to her, too.

  3. Joyce
    | Reply

    Your mom is so happy you will now both be in the same Time Zone and along the same Coast! Congratulations!!!

  4. Linda Clapp
    | Reply

    Wendy and Phil! Many blessings on your move and discovery of all the blessings you will give and receive in Seattle !!!
    Love, Linda (now in Lakewood CO)

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