COLLABORATION & NEW COMMUNITIES
The diocese’s mission priority for collaboration & new communities is to seek collaborative partners and cultivate mutual relationships that deepen our connection to God through worship, formation and outreach. In a spirit of unity and cooperation, foster the development of innovative and inclusive expressions of worship that engage new generations and diverse demographics.
COLLABORATION LEADERSHIP
Canon Catherine Massey
Canon to the Bishop
Canon Catherine Massey
Canon to the Bishop
919-600-5307
EMAIL
Canon Massey graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Mass Communications and has over 15 years of experience in sales, marketing and association management. Prior to working at Diocesan House, she served as parish life coordinator for St. John’s, Wake Forest.
Canon Massey works with the congregational development team and the office of transition ministry, and she supports congregations and clergy in transition. She also helps support our diocesan staff, the Safe Church program, and the work of the Commission on Ministry, the Pastoral Response Team and the Disciplinary Board.
Canon Massey enjoys learning how people and organizations work together and says it is an honor and a privilege to serve the clergy and churches in our diocese.
Canon Massey is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and has lived in North Carolina with her family for 20 years. She and her husband, Robert, have three young adult daughters and two Scottish terriers. The Masseys live in Wake Forest and are members of Christ Church, Raleigh.
Joy Shillingsburg
Mission Strategy Coordinator
Joy Shillingsburg
Mission Strategy Coordinator
919-521-5927
EMAIL
Joy Shillingsburg is a lifelong educator who served as the director of youth and outreach at St. John’s, Wake Forest, for more than a decade before joining diocesan staff. Prior to serving at St. John’s, Joy spent 15 years as a classroom history teacher outside of Philadelphia and in the Wake County Public School System. Her commitment to teaching historical truths and how these truths have the power to liberate and transform our lives and society has been a through line of her work. At St. John’s, Joy led vibrant intergenerational programs that linked formation rooted in Becoming Beloved Community to vibrant outreach ministries. As an extension of her work as director of youth and outreach, Joy founded Wake Forest Community Table. This thriving nonprofit served more than 25,000 meals from 2020 through 2022 while connecting diverse members of the community to each other through quarterly gatherings that explore the history, laws, personal stories, and systems that necessitate the twice-weekly meal distribution.
Joy lives her faith by serving her neighbors and is deeply committed to leading diverse stakeholders to do the work of Becoming Beloved Community. Joy earned her M.S. in History Education at Villanova University. She lives with her family in Wake Forest. Joy loves biking, hiking, traveling, and podcasts almost as much as reading!
The Rev. Canon Lindsey Ardrey
Canon Missioner Diocesan Restitution & Reparations Ministry
The Rev. Canon Lindsey Ardrey
Canon Missioner for Diocesan Restitution and Reparations Ministry
919-600-5303
EMAIL
The Rev. Lindsey Ardrey lives in Durham, but before landing in North Carolina, Lindsey served as a children’s and youth minister, school chaplain, and co-chair for the Racial Reconciliation Commission in the Diocese of Louisiana. A deep believer in healing as a vital medium for issues stemming from race, Lindsey brings this perspective into every conversation and space she occupies, whether it’s on the parish or The Episcopal Church level. Creativity, artistic expressions, and practices of embodiment infuse her approach to this work.
Lindsey is a lover of books, plants, hot tea, and manifesting dreams her ancestors didn’t know they had. She is a writer, an auntie, a serious seeker of rest, a godparent, and a human in deep need of laughter and silence in equal measure.
Lynn Buggage
Lynn Buggage
Canon Missioner for Congregational Vitality, East Region
984-263-5422
EMAIL
Lynn previously served as the canon for administration at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. After years of active lay service in Louisiana and professional work in the nonprofit, public health and human services sectors, she brought her skills to the church as a full-time employee and servant leader.
Lynn partners with the congregations of this diocese to build the Beloved Community. She brings an advanced toolkit and a caring heart to this work. She enjoys traveling, listening to good music, discovering new restaurants and curling up with a good book in her leisure time.
The Rev. Canon Marion Sprott
The Rev. Canon Marion Scott
Transition Ministry Officer
919-600-5319
EMAIL
A native of South Carolina, Marion earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degree from the University of South Carolina. She worked as a collaborative pianist with regional opera and theater companies prior to pursuing a call to ordained ministry.
She answered that call, graduating from The School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee, in 2019. Following her ordination that same year, she served as associate rector at St. Martin’s, Charlotte. From there, Marion became the second vicar of Church of the Advocate, Chapel Hill, before becoming its first rector when the Advocate moved from mission to parish status at the diocese’s 208th Annual Convention in November 2023.
Marion is married to the Rev. Sara Arnette, who is the associate rector at Emmanuel Church in Southern Pines, where the two make their home with a boisterous Labrador named Abraham.
The Rev. Kathy Walker
The Rev. Kathy Walker
Canon Missioner for Black Ministries
919-600-5317
EMAIL
The Rev. Kathy Walker previously served as the associate rector for pastoral care and parish life at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, Florida, though her call to church leadership and ministry is one she has answered her entire life. Prior to becoming a member of the clergy, over her lifetime she has served as a licensed lay reader, a lay Eucharistic minister, vestry member and church officer. She was instrumental in the founding of the David Henry Brooks chapter of Union of Black Episcopalians in the Diocese of Florida, and while serving as its president organized multiple forums about the future of Black churches.
Kathy believes strongly in the honoring and continuity of Black churches and hopes in her new role to help as many as possible not only survive, but flourish. She also wants to work with congregations to deepen their churches’ roots in the communities they already serve so well, and build leadership opportunities in the Church for future generations.
DIOCESAN LEADERSHIP COMMITMENTS
- Promote a culture of collaboration within and between congregations, diocese and the broader church as well as nonprofit networks.
- Establish communication channels that facilitate dialogue, information sharing, connections to resources and best practices related to our missional priorities.
- Continue to strengthen and deepen the work of our Global Mission Committee, our ties with our two companion dioceses, Botswana and Costa Rica, and celebrate varied historic engagement of congregations in global partnerships.
- Envision and define alternative worshiping communities and work with the chancellor and diocesan leadership to revise Canons 20 and 21 to allow for emerging worshiping communities.
- Nourish and equip historic and emerging Black and Latino congregations, worship communities and missional initiatives.
CONGREGATION & INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENTS
- Create new and strengthen existing collaborations with other Episcopal congregations, ecumenical and multifaith partners, community organizations, and global missions.
- Cross boundaries to seek out diverse partners who will broaden our understanding of God’s mission in the world and deepen our relationships with our neighbors near and far.
- Continuously assess the needs and demographics of the community and discern ways to engage with the evolving local and global challenges and opportunities through partnerships, shared resources, networks.
- Look for opportunities for new worshiping communities and missional initiatives or innovative worship experiences that engage and include diverse populations.
Collaborative Diocesan Ministries
New Hope Collaborative
- A space where we listen to the community and lift up our collective strengths
- A homebase to amplify minority-led non-profits
- A place for community groups to host events
- A celebration of our neighborhood
Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte
Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte works with community partners to provide direct services at the Galilee Center. Together they serve 700+ people per month who are leveraging Galilee as a springboard for a new and better life through education, food resources, new skills and empowerment.
Comunidad Amada de Cristo/Christ’s Beloved Community
Christ’s Beloved Community is a bilingual, bi-denominational, intercultural church plant of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
COMPANION DIOCESES
RELATED GRANTS
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