Title: New vice president appointed at CBP
Date: July 10, 2000
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
00b-35
ST. LOUIS (DNS) -- An Episcopal priest has been named vice president for congregational ministries with Christian Board of Publication. The Rev. Kamila Blessing also will serve as director of CBP's new Incubation Center for Congregational Resources.
The center is a three-year pilot project that "intends to combine the genius of congregationally based resource developers, the publishing skills and capacities of CBP, and the expertise of invited consultants in an array of disciplines," according to Cyrus N. White, president of the publishing house.
"The resulting resources," he said, "will help congregations to bring the unchurched to awareness, seekers to belief, and believers to deeper faithfulness and service to God. The center is funded, in part, by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
White praised Blessing's writing and consulting experience, and her background in congregational revitalization, multicultural worship and community, and spiritual development. He also acknowledged her gifts for seeing congregations' strengths and weaknesses and her relational skills for engaging and equipping others.
Blessing was ordained in 1984 and has been active in parish ministry, interdenominational work and evangelism. In her most recent parish in Rocky Mount, N.C., Blessing and the priest of a predominantly African American congregation merged the resources of both churches into a single, multiethnic parish.
She has written numerous pastoral and academic works, including It Was a Miracle: Stories of Ordinary People and Extraordinary Healing (Augsburg Fortress 1999), an article in the Women's Bible Commentary to be published next year by InterVarsity Press.
Blessing earned a bachelor's degree in technical writing from Carnegie- Mellon University, Pittsburgh, a master's degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a doctor of philosophy degree from Duke University, Durham, N.C.
-- end --