Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast - Coffee with Melanie Mullen

Mar 26 2018 21 mins

Rev. Melanie Mullen lives her life in professional service to God and others as the Director of Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care at the Office of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. So this episode holds stories that connect her North Carolina roots, her time in Richmond, and certainly her time now in D.C., New York City, and everywhere Bishop Curry's staff goes!

My original lead for the show notes was, "If you're wondering what a "drag show for the saints" is then this could be your favorite episode of the Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast," but I went another way. That statement, however, still holds true. This is another great story of an Episcopal priest truly asking herself (and letting congregants ask) what a gathering time together can and should look like, how it can be most fulfilling for participants? (I cannot help recall a future podcast guest, Rev. Megan Anderson, in California and several guests from the past. Keep your eyes open for Megan in the future.)

We interviewed Melanie especially because I kept crossing paths with her in Richmond every time I showed up for a justice event! Often she would be one of the coordinating leaders. Clearly we were colleagues who cared about many of the same things in the world and it can feel lonely out there as clergy doing justice work. I'm sure, at least I hope(!), that Melanie wished I had been more present, more supportive at more justice advocacy events! And she would not be surprised that I also wish I was able to be present for more advocacy ministry.

The first place I met Melanie was requesting special assistance from an Episcopal priest as a Baptist seminary student. My final year of seminary I was fulfilling an internship and one of my personal objectives was to learn to offer Eucharist in the tradition of the Catholic Church. But no Catholic priest was allowed to teach a non-Catholic minister that holy sacrament. So my Sr. Pastor (past guest, Jim Somerville) reached out to to the Rector at St. Paul's and poor Melanie got asked if she would help me out. I met her in her office, we talked, she lent me some of her personal books on the matter and I kept them entirely too long! (But I did eventually return them.) It was after I graduated and engaged Richmond more widely as clergy that I began happily seeing her out and about.

Melanie is also my second Episcopal priest friend who has worked closely with Bishop Curry. The Rev. Canon Catherine A. Caimano served as canon for regional ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina before launching her Free Range Priest ministry. Father Cathie speaks very well of Bishop Curry so I was frustrated when he came to Richmond recently and he was preaching at the same time as my wife.

With so many Episcopal connections in Upstart Ministry, Free Range Priest, United Faith Leaders, the Coffeepot Fellowship, and social justice in general, it is no surprise that I keep crossing paths with Melanie Mullen. For Mellanie's time at Virginia Theological Seminary I checked her connections with our past podcast guests: Tricia Lyons, Kyle Oliver, Alex Moreschi, Sarah Stonesifer, and Taylor Devine.

Another mutual friend was revealed because of ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) rather than being Episcopalian. That connection is with our common colleague Wendy McCaig. Wendy and I both went to Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. My wife, Kelli, also did her first year master of social work internship at Embrace Richmond, the ministry Wendy founded. Embrace Richmond has been implementing ABCD for over a dozen years. Now Wendy and Melanie have both taken this model of ministry to the national scene, Melanie with Called to Transformation and Wendy with View from the Bridge. I know Wendy and Melanie both want to spread this model as widely as possible so that the greatest benefit can be affected for the most people. So please review all of their resources and contact them both. The work is plenty and the laborers are few so this is an "all hands on deck" endeavor.

There may be more, in hindsight, but I have only just realized before publication that past guest Stephanie Spellers is also an Episcopal priest and currently on the Presiding Bishop's staff! Maybe with all of these connections, we'll get to have the Bishop himself on the show! Would he be the first bishop on the Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast? Indeed, he would not. Let the record show Coffee with Will Willimon Part 1 and Coffee with Will Willimon Part 2.

Thought we had to be done? As we had photos to the show notes, more connections become apparent! Coffee with Phoebe Roaf and Coffee with Winnie Varghese! I may need to convert if this keeps up.