The Rev. Suzanne Elizabeth Watson
5 Rainey Lane
Westport, Connecticut 06880
203.227.8396 (home) 203.451.0568 (cell)
RevSuzanneWatson@gmail.com
MINIISTRY OBJECTIVE
Servant leader in a mission oriented diocese seeking a priest committed to both Jesus’ Great Commissioning to go forth and make disciples and to the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor in both word and action.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
- Passionate and heartfelt understanding of and motivation for evangelism.
- Strong management and organizational skills acquired from 13 years as a small business owner and manager in both secular and non-profit settings.
- Congregational vitality/development knowledge and experience in all sizes of congregations gained from 7+ years of parish and church wide service.
- Multi-cultural sensitivities gained from supervision of multi-racial/ethnic/cultural ministries staff at the Church Center, serving with Maori priest in multi-cultural parish in New Zealand plus reconciliation and graduate level cross-cultural counseling training.
- Strategic planning and organizational development.
- Leadership development at a diocesan and church wide level, including working collaboratively to develop both virtual and in-person connections, networks, and trainings. Work includes commitment to and experience in creative forms of leadership—from shared Episcopacy (New Zealand) to emerging models of leadership (including Living Stones and the Domestic Missionary Partnership).
- Commitment to ecumenical collaboration from joint projects across denominations at the Church Center plus service in a multi-denominational congregation.
- Deep appreciation of Episcopal/Anglican Communion relationship from service in both the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.
- Record of bringing together diverse groups at both parish and church wide level.
- Grant revision and administration.
- Presentation skills (keynoter, national trainings, diocesan conventions, etc.)
EDUCATION
Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, CA
(First year completed at The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont)
M.Div., May 2003
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
M.A. Education, Specialization Counseling, 1991.
University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA
B.S. Animal Science, Minor Business Economics, 1985.
CHURCH-WIDE AND DIOCESAN INVOLVEMENT
- Appointed member and elected secretary to the Strategic Planning Committee of the Episcopal Church by the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies, 2009-present
- Staff Liaison to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, Congregations in Ministry, 2008-present
- Staff Liaison to Rural Ministry Network, Rural Church Network, Domestic Missionary Partnership, Lay Pension Feasibility Study and the Standing Commission for Small Congregations, 2006-present
- Staff Liaison to Church in Small Communities, General Convention, 2006
- Awarded Seal of the Anglican Diocese of the Waikato, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a priest, 2005
- Diocesan Council, Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real 2004-2006
- Founding member, Family Life Committee, Church Divinity School of the Pacific
- Award by vote of faculty of the Episcopal School of Theology at Claremont for excellence in the fields of Philosophy and Theology
- Member, Liturgy and Music Committee, Claremont School of Theology
PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS
- Anglican Theological Review, Contributor, Winter 2010 edition.
- Where Two or Three are Gathered: Reaching out With a New Style Gathering ,2007 (Pilot project, conference, and print/on-line resource)
- Small Church Growth Strategy Handbook, 2007 (print and on line resource)
- Your Congregation as Part of God’s Unfolding Mission, 2007 (DVD and on line resource)
- Creative Models of Leadership in the Small Church, 2007 (DVD resource)
- A New Generation of Gathered Community: Exploring the Emergent Church in Minneapolis, 2007 (DVD resource)
- Small Membership Church Blog (Creator, author and administrator, 1000 hits per month, www.smallepiscopalchurch.blogspot.com )
ECCLESIASTICAL EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Episcopal Church Center, New York, New York
2006-present
Strategic Planning and Collaborative Efforts
- Coordinate church wide strategic planning initiative
- Coordinate and plan church wide training events (Start Up Start Over, Upward Bound, etc.)
- Work to build bridges and increase collaboration between individual ministries with in Church Center
- Work to increase effective communication between various church wide bodies (CCABs, Executive Council, Church Center ministry areas)
Center Director, Evangelism and Congregational Life
- Programmatic oversight for Christian Formation, Congregational Research, Congregational Vitality, Ethnic Congregational Development and Evangelism, Evangelism and Church Planting, Worship and Spirituality, and Episcopal Migration Ministries at church-wide (national and international) level
- Direct and supervise staff of 35+
- Budgetary responsibility for $7,402,396 for 2009
Staff Officer for Congregational Development—Small Membership Congregation Focus
Christ and Holy Trinity
(Corporate Size)
Westport, Connecticut
Priest Associate, 2006-Present
St. Francis Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian Co-operating Parish
(Program Size)
Hamilton, New Zealand
Interim Priest, 2004-2005
St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church and Episcopal Day School
(Program Size congregation and Infant-K Day School)
Carmel Valley, California
Curate and Chaplain to School, 2003-2004
Diocese of El Camino Real: St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Morro Bay and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, San Luis Obispo, California
(Family and Pastoral Size)
Field Education Intern and Seminarian, 2000-2002
MANAGEMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Neurology Associates, Templeton, California
Manager and Owner, 1991-2000
Health Clinic, San Diego, California
Manager, 1987-1989
Ocean Pines Properties, San Diego, California
Manager and Owner, 1983-1987
CANONICAL INFORMATION
Ordination: Deacon: June 22, 2002, Priest: March 29, 2003
Ordaining Diocese
and Bishop: Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, California, USA
The Rt. Rev. Richard L. Shimpfky
Canonical Residence: Episcopal Dioceses El Camino Real, California, USA
Licensures: Episcopal Dioceses of El Camino Real, Connecticut, and
San Diego, Anglican Diocese of the Waikato, New Zealand
PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Married sixteen years to David P. Watson, MD. Widowed, 12-27-2002.
- Four children: D. Blaisdel Watson, Lilianna M. Watson, Isabella E. Watson, Strowbridge F. Watson
- Avocational activities: hiking, skiing, 10K road races/short course triathlons, encouraging/enjoying my children’s varied social service, academic, artistic and athletic pursuits, and raising Bernese Mountain dogs.
