Trainers

Brother Robert is the director of Shaping the Parish. He and Sister Michelle will be with you in all the sessions. Brother Poulson, Brother Scott and Sister Susan will each join the training team for one module each year.

Sister Michelle Heyne, OA brings empathy, humor, and a solid grounding in ecclesiology and effective organizational dynamics to her work as a trainer and consultant.  She is committed to helping parish leaders bring about effective change by developing the skills they need to make the most of the gifts they already have.  She has worked as a financial services executive for over 25 years and served as a parish lay leader for 15. Michelle lives in Seattle.

Michelle served as part of the training team with the Diocese of Washington and national Shaping the Parish.  She has also done training with and received a certificate from the Church Development Institute. Michelle also has completed NTL’s Organization Development Certificate program. She is a consultant in the financial services industry for organization development and compliance issues. Michelle has extensive experience with financial management, interpersonal communications and team dynamics, and developing and implementing organizational change initiatives. She has non-profit experience in the areas of team building, strategic planning, and conflict management. She attends St. Clements, Seattle.  Michelle is a Professed Member of the Order of the Ascension and the 8th Presiding Officer of the Order.

Writing: In Your Holy Spirit: Traditional Spiritual Practices in Today’s Christian Life, Understanding from Within: Working with Religious Systems, OD Practitioner, with Robert Gallagher, January 2015;  “Quality & Empowerment: Organization Development at WomenRising 1992 – 2016.”, OD Practitioner, with Robert Gallagher, Spring 2016. Saint Paul’s, Seattle: Growth & Decline, with Robert Gallagher (a related web page), A Wonderful and Sacred Mystery: A Practical Theology of the Parish Church, with Robert Gallagher

 

Brother Poulson Reed, OA  serves as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, which includes 68 congregations, 5 Episcopal schools, 2 college chaplaincies, 2 senior care centers, and a camp and conference center. Previously, he served as Rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Day School in Phoenix, and before that as a Canon and eventually Sub-Dean at Saint John’s Cathedral, Denver. He is passionate about fostering congregational vitality, and curious about how we form, equip, and sustain Christ-shaped faith communities that love God and their neighbor amidst the cultural challenges of the 21st century. Poulson is an avid, life-long learner. In addition to his formal degrees, he has studied congregational and organization development and leadership over many years.

Sister Susan Latimer, OA brings keen intuition, strong analytical skills, and advanced work in emotional intelligence to her work as a trainer.  She has served 30 years as a parish priest in congregations of various sizes, and as a congregational consultant in the Diocese of Maine. Passionate about healthy congregations and healthy leaders, she enjoys creating a safe space in which people may be enabled to make needed changes.  

Susan grew up in Southern California, immersed in music, liturgy and the wonders of God’s Creation. Piano, piano accompanying, and singing filled her early years, along with a BA in Music from Yale and a Master’s of Music in performance from the School of Music, USC, Los Angeles. She graduated with an MDiv , Magna Cum Laude, from Candler School of Theology, Emory University and did an Internship and Residency in CPE at Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta before marriage to John Roberts in May of 1992 and ordination in June and December of 1992.  

She served in three large parishes in the Diocese of Atlanta as Assistant/Associate Rector, ending with a position at St. Bartholomew’s. During this time she had two children, Franklin, born in 1994, and Hugh, born in 1997. She also immersed herself in the contemplative tradition, learning and teaching Centering Prayer, the Labyrinth as a way of prayer, Lectio Divina, and leading retreats and quiet days.  In 2001 she took her first call as Rector of St. Mark’s Waterville Maine. During her time in Maine she completed CDI and all the LTI lab training, and became a co-trainer in LTI, as well as assisting Bob and Michelle in the beginnings of Shaping the Parish.    Since 2008, she has been Rector of St. John’s, Charleston, WV; St. Catherine of Alexandria, Temple Terrace, Florida; and The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Hemet, CA ( starting July 1, 2019 ). 
     
Susan loves working with groups and teaching spiritual practices of the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, Benedictine spirituality, and the contemplative tradition. Music continues to be an important part of her spiritual life and practice.  She has begun to compose sacred chants.  Susan is a student of Cynthia Bourgeault who teaches the Wisdom tradition of Christianity which emphasizes the importance  of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, for spiritual transformation. Susan is a Professed Member of the Order of the Ascension.

 

Brother Scott Benhase, OA, has been ordained in The Episcopal Church for 40 years. He has served urban parishes in Indianapolis, IN, East Cleveland, OH, Charlottesville, VA, Durham, NC, and Washington, DC. He was elected the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia in 2009. He earned his MDiv from Virginia Theological Seminary, a MS in Organizational Leadership from the Levin College of Urban Affairs, and a DMin in Parish Ministry also from Virginia Seminary. He has been a Senior Trainer with the Church Development Institute since the 1990s in Southwest Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, DC, and Georgia. He is also a trained Clergy Coach. His book, Done and Left Undone: Grace in the Meantime of Ministry was published by Church Publishing Company in 2018. The book is a practical guide to applying a Benedictine stance and ethos to parish leadership. Scott semi-retired in 2020 to return part-time to his first love, parish ministry. He is the Vicar of St Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in North Carolina, an historic African-American mission that is growing in the Hispanic community while respecting its deep roots in the Black church. Scott is a Professed Member and was the 2nd and 6th superior, Presiding Brother of the Order.

 

Brother Robert Gallagher, OA, brings 50+ years of experience in leadership training and parish development. Fr. Robert offers exceptional skills in facilitating shifts and changes in people and organizations. He provides practical methods and vision for a transformed parish. He has a masters degree in Organization Development from Goddard College. He lives in Seattle.

 He’s been a consultant and trainer in religious systems, non-profit organizations and small businesses since 1970. Bob has been a parish priest; on the staff of or consultant to ecumenical training organizations, an industrial mission and metropolitan and state councils of churches. He served as the congregational development officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut from 1981 - 88. He has consulted with hundreds of congregations. He has served as adjunct faculty in parish development at Hartford Seminary and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and in Anglican Studies at Bangor Theological Seminary. He was Director of the Church Development Institute at the General Theological Seminary from 1985 - 2000 and continued as the Director of the Church Development Institute - Seattle until in 2011 when that changed to Shaping the Parish. In recent years Bob served as the Associate Priest for Ascetical and Practical Theology at Trinity Church, Seattle and as a priest associate at Saint Paul’s Church and Saint Clement’s Church, Seattle. He attends Saint Clements, Seattle.  An article in the Washington Post on Bob’s work.  Fr. Robert is a Professed Member of the Order of the Ascension.

Writing: Fill All Things: The Dynamics of Spirituality in the Parish Church, Ascension Press, 2008. Parish Assessment Workbook, Coauthor, a manual for conducting a self-study, Ascension Press, 1988; Faith Sharing, Coauthor, exercises for groups exploring life histories and spirituality. Ascension Press, 1989; Conformed to Christ: Structures and Standards for Parish Life, Coauthor, guidelines and samples of job descriptions for staff and committees. Ascension Press, 1983, revised 1988 and 2004 as a CD; Power from on High: A Model for Parish Life and Development, Ascension Press, 1982; Stay in the City, A strategy for dioceses in regard to urban parishes. Forward Movement, 1981; The Ministry of the Laity as Agents of Institutional Change, Audenshaw Documents, 1972 and a shorter version in Asian Focus, East Asian Christian Conference, 1971. In Your Holy Spirit: Shaping the Parish Through Spiritual Practices, 2011. Understanding from Within: Working with Religious Systems, OD Practitioner, with Michelle Heyne, January 2015.  “Quality & Empowerment: Organization Development at WomenRising 1992 – 2016.”, with Michelle Heyne, Spring 2016 OD Practitioner. Saint Paul’s, Seattle: Growth & Decline, with Michelle Heyne (a related web page), A Wonderful and Sacred Mystery: A Practical Theology of the Parish Church, with Michelle Heyne.  An Energy Not Its Own: Three cycles of parish life and the purposes of the parish church, with Michelle Heyne, OA, and  Finding God in All Things: Contemplation, Intercession, and Intervention, with Michelle Heyne, OA