Ms. Ayda Patricia Martin of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic was elected president of the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN) at the meeting of the GEMN Board on June 7. Patricia previously served as vice president.
Patricia has worked in the missionary teams coordination office of the Dominican Episcopal Church and has contributed to the growth and strengthening of the mission of the church at the congregational, diocesan and international levels through ecumenical work, planning, and development of youth and adult programs. With administrative experience working in multinational companies, she is a member of the Iglesia San Andrés de Santo Domingo. She completed secondary studies at the San Andrés Episcopal College and studied business administration at La Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña in Santo Domingo. She serves in licensed lay ministry and is a cursillista.
Elected vice president was Ms. Molly O’Brien, a member of the Global Mission Commission of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, where she is a member of Christ Church, Ithan, and St. Martin’s Church, Radnor. After visits with Cristosal in La Iglesia Anglicana de El Salvador, Molly helped found the Vermont-based Cristosal Base Community. She served as administrative coordinator for the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at Virginia Theological Seminary. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and anthropology from Smith College and is working on a master’s degree in public policy at George Mason University. Molly served as GEMN’s interim coordinator in 2021.Elected to a second term as secretary was the Rev. Dr. Grace Burton-Edwards,
a member of the Global Mission Commission of the Diocese of Atlanta and rector of St. Thomas’ Church in Columbus, Georgia. A member of the Standing Commission on World Mission (SCWM), she co-edited the SCWM publication, Becoming a World where Love is the Way: Guiding Principles for World Mission, and is the originator and co-author of the GEMN study guide, Questing: The Way of Love in Global Mission. Grace holds a B.A. from Mississippi College, M.Div. from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, and D.Min. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.
a member of the Global Mission Commission of the Diocese of Atlanta and rector of St. Thomas’ Church in Columbus, Georgia. A member of the Standing Commission on World Mission (SCWM), she co-edited the SCWM publication, Becoming a World where Love is the Way: Guiding Principles for World Mission, and is the originator and co-author of the GEMN study guide, Questing: The Way of Love in Global Mission. Grace holds a B.A. from Mississippi College, M.Div. from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, and D.Min. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.
Appointed treasurer was Mr. Bill Kunkle, executive director of the Province IX Development Group and former executive director of the Dominican Development Group. Bill served as an appointed missionary to the Diocese of the Dominican Republic through DFMS and then as an Episcopal Volunteer in Mission. A former GEMN Board member, he serves on the Companion Diocese Committee of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Bill is the founder and president of Kunkle Contracting in Tampa.
Appointed assistant treasurer was the Rev. David Kendall-Sperry, rector of St. Peter’s Church in Delaware, Ohio, a member of the National and World Mission Commission of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, and secretary of the diocese’s Standing Committee. David is a former GEMN Board member.
GEMN officers serve one-year terms and are elected internally by the Board. See here for profiles of officers and other Board members.