We are teachers of a radical sort, and we teach congregations and clusters of congregations, the precepts and strategies of full inclusion in our worship communities. We are priests, musicians, artists, preachers, laborers, architects, administrators, and dreamers. We are those who know the grievous price of a single voice lost. We are those who know the value of the voices and perspectives of our children and youth. We are those whose hearts beat with the urgent need to transform our traditional and often exclusive forms of worship into structures which engage whole communities. We are committed to the enfranchisement and empowerment and full participation of everyone, particularly the children and those who have remained at the edges of our churches, or even further outside.

With a focus on the full inclusion of children and youth in our worship communities, Children At Worship ~ Congregations in Bloom individuals asks the questions: Who is among us? Who is missing? What does exclusion cost us? And how do we create vital communities of full participation?

Caroline Fairless

Caroline is the Director of Children at Worship-Congregations in Bloom, and has served on liturgical design teams for national and diocesan conferences for ten years. She is the former Vicar of Holy Family Church, Half Moon Bay, California. During her seven years of service, she created a worshiping community which is fully inclusive of its children and youth, and watched that sense of inclusion spill over to all the decision making bodies of the church. Caroline and her husband Jim now live in Southern Maryland and consult with the congregations of the Diocese of Washington D.C. See the "What's New" page for published resources.

Jim Sims

Jim is a musician and song writer, artist and conference presenter. He also has extensive experience as a music therapist and group facilitator with adolescents and adults in residential and outpatient settings. Jim has recorded Lovestar: Songs from the Heart, 1985; Metanoia: Time for Change, 1992; and Miles Tone; to be released in 2005. He has ten years experience as a scenic artist and signwriter for film and television, served on the Liturgical Commission for the Diocese of East Carolina for fifteen years, and can build anything from the materials he finds within a six foot radius. Jim co-directs Children at Worship - Congregations in Bloom.

Lin Bowie

Lin serves "Children at Worship - Congregations in Bloom" as the Administrative Coordinator. She is a biologist and environmental scientist. Lin first became interested and committed to the environment on Earth Day in 1970. This commitment led to her career of 25 years in the environmental field. As a professional, she has started and managed projects and programs in a variety of scientific fields, ranging from livestock grazing issues in streams, to endangered plants, to working with Native American groups on cultural issues. A mother of two teenagers, she pioneered job-sharing for parents at one of her former companies. Along the way, Lin has acquired considerable administrative skills. A life-long Episcopalian and daughter of not one, but two parents who graduated from Episcopal Seminary (one a priest, one not), she has been active in her home church, Holy Family in Half Moon Bay, California. There she serves as the chair of the Youth Advocacy Team, Directress of Altar Guild, office manager, plus a few more hats. Lin will serve as the Center's administrator and will coordinate membership, communications, publicity, and consult on environmental curriculum.

Kathleen Bozzuti-Jones
 
Kathleen teaches religious education and English as a Second Language in the Boston area. A doctoral candidate in social ethics, Kathleen’s work involves Christian formation in the virtue of mercy to meet the challenges of social justice. Her reflections on meeting the poor in Honduras, Ten Lessons in Ten Days, are scheduled for publication this year in the Sewanee Theological Review. Kathleen is a liturgical musician and a mentor for the Youth Leadership Academy in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
 
Mark Bozzuti-Jones

“One hand can’t clap”, a Jamaican proverb, is how Mark Bozzuti-Jones describes the need for inclusive liturgy. Mark is a Jamaican and a former Jesuit Priest. He advises clergy and religious educators in the Diocese of Massachusetts on Children’s Ministries. He has worked with base communities in Brazil, Guyana and Belize. Mark has written articles and liturgical pieces on the roles of children in the church community. He teaches English as a Second Language and Expressive Spiritualities with his wife, Kathleen.

Betty Bordner and The Rev. Ken Bordner

Ken is currently the rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Rochester, NY. Ken’s checkered career has included being a football player, a biker, a boater, a fly fisherperson; a college theatre professor, a door and window maker, a professional actor and a substitute teacher. His affinity for liturgy is a logical extension of his career in the theatre. He became a priest a little over 4 years ago after attending Virginia Theological Seminary. He brings to the altar 26 years of college teaching and a lifetime of creating and recreating himself. His interest in children is a logical extension of a 38-year marriage to his wife, Betty, “one of the finest early childhood specialists around.” They have been blessed with 3 extraordinary children. “They have taught me much.”

Devon Anderson

Devon Anderson serves as Associate Rector of St. John's parish in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She served on the design team for the 1998 National Episcopal Conference, Charting a Course for Children in the Church. She has developed curriculum for young people on the topic of racism, and has worked with legislative initiatives in the areas of health and nutrition, public assistance, national child care, disability benefits, and violence prevention. Devon now serves on the National Episcopal Church's Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music.

Julia Huttar Bailey

Julia has been the Director of Music at St. Clare's of Assisi Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 1983. She holds a Master of Music from the University in organ and church music. Julia has been a member of ADLMC (Association of Diocesan Liturgy and Music Commissions) since 1990, serving on its Executive Committee from 1995 to 1998. Most recently, Julia served on the design team for the 1998 National Children's Ministries Conference, Charting a Course for Children in the Church, co-chairing the liturgy committee. She currently directs one adult and two youth choirs at St. Clare's, assists in planning diocesan liturgies, and conducts workshops on music, liturgy and children throughout the country. Julia serves on the National Episcopal Church's Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music.

Susan Bock

Susan serves as the Rector of St. Gabriel's Church in the Detroit area. She is a poet and story teller, dramatist and liturgist. She was baptized on April Fool's Day, and joined an intentional community sponsored by a Detroit congregation, a community in which leadership was broadly shared. Susan is passionate about the full enfranchisement of children in the life of the Church. In her own words, "I take seriously Jesus' call to childlikeness as the entryway to matters of truth and life. I am eager for the Church to find ways to keep adults and children together as they learn and worship. Liturgy and formation which make greater use of intuitive and imaginative styles will be more hospitable to the whole church family, and will deepen the faith of us all.

Michael Cunningham

Michael is the Missioner for Administration in the Diocese of Los Angeles, and serves on the board of Children at Worship: Congregations in Bloom. He brings to the field of liturgy design and dramatic representation, fifteen years experience of acting on stage, screen and television. Michael has been an EFM (Education for Ministry) mentor for thirteen years and an EFM trainer for the past four and a half years. He is an experienced retreat planner and facilitator, has served on the design team of Charting a Course for Children in the Church, October 1998, Camp Allen, Texas, and the Children's Advocacy Conference, April, 1998, Los Angeles, April 1999, Houston, Texas. Michael coordinates Journey to Adulthood, Rite 13 in his own parish, is married to a priest and father of two children.

Stacy Thorpe

Stacy is Diocesan Coordinator of Children's Ministries for the Diocese of Alaska. She is also a current correspondent writer for Episcopal Teacher's Magazine. Stacy was a Task Force member of the National Treasure Kids! pilot program, responsible for the creation of the Children's Charter for the Church. She enjoys sharing innovative children's ministry ideas throughout the country. Most recently,she served on the design team for the 1998 Episcopal Children's Ministry Conference, Charting a Course for Children in the Church, in Camp Allen, Texas.

Philip is the Board Chair and owner of Top Producer, a training/publishing firm which specializes in the publication of materials and training for N. Y. Stock Exchange member firms. He serves as Board Chair of the San Rafael Canal Ministry, an institution of the Diocese of California which provides services such as medical and job referrals, tutoring, and interfaith religious services for immigrants and their children. In the homeless dining room in Marin County, he has claimed the title "concierge", making referrals to the homeless of the county for housing and health and job services. Phil is a volunteer to Bank Fonkoze, the bank for the very poor in Haiti, and travels to Haiti two or three times a year, now serving as a trip guide for others. He currently serves as Board member of Children at Worship - Congregations in Bloom.

Clif and Chris Collins

Clif Collins is the music director at St. Elizabeth's Church in Roanoke, Virginia. His commitment is to the exploration of intergenerational events and non-traditional worship and the ministries of children in the church. Before his current position, Clif was a college administrator responsible for Continuing and Community Education. Many of his programs involved children in music, dance, theater, athletics and academics.

Chris is the Coordinator of Children and Youth Ministries at Christ Church in Roanoke, Virginia. She always has been involved with children and the Church from her childhood experiences in Liberia through years of Church School teaching and camp counseling. Chris has 19 years of experience teaching elementary school, specializing in working with disadvantaged six and seven year old children.

Clif and Chris are both trainers/consultants for the Episcopal Children's Curriculum and the Children's Charter. Each are involved in their individual activities, Chris with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and Clif with the Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations. Together they write and direct intergeneration talent shows and are parents and grandparents as well.

The Rev. Sally Heiligman

The Rev. Sally Heiligman is the Rector of a congregation in upstate New York. Sally attended the National Children's Conference at Camp Allen in 1998 and was a member of the design team for the Episcopal Children's Ministries Conference 2000 held in Syracuse in March 2000. She was part of the liturgy team which designed liturgies that were intended to be intergenerational friendly. Sally has a background in working with children on the parish level and she worked closely with the several children who took part in the liturgies.