Updates on our parish!

We are excited to announce that we have called the Rev. Nelson Mendoza to be the tenth Rector of The Church of St. Luke & The Epiphany! We expect Fr. Nelson to begin his ministry with us on November 1.

We are grateful to everyone who participated in this process – especially the Profile Committee, Prayer Committee, and Search Committee. We are impressed and delighted by Fr. Nelson’s openness, calm demeanor, responsiveness, energy, deep spirituality, and love for his vocation! Everyone who met him felt a contagious and immediate sense of joy and hope for the future of SLATE.

FROM OUR RECTOR  

Hello new friends at St. Luke and The Epiphany!

I'm the Rev. Nelson Lucas Mendoza, and I've been called to serve as SLATE's next Rector! (A quick note on names/titles, since I know not everyone comes from a Roman Catholic or Episcopalian/Anglican background. Father Nelson and/or Padre Nelson both work great. So do Pastor, Reverend, or just Nelson! Use whichever one feels natural to you. I'll answer to all of them the same way, with the same amount of joy.)

Quick download on me: I was born in the Philippines, moved to the US when I was still a baby then grew up in southeastern Virginia, spent five formative years in Phoenix, AZ, and went to seminary in Austin, TX, at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

Before all of that I was a community organizer and a Director of Public Affairs, working on LGBTQIA rights and policy, interfaith relationship-building, and race and reconciliation. That's a polite way of saying I've spent most of my adult life in rooms where people disagreed and tried to find a way through anyway. Most recently I've served as rector in Virginia and before that I was priest-in-charge at a historically Chinese congregation in New York City, focused on the Chinatown and Lower East Side communities.

My ministry runs on a fairly simple conviction. The Gospel points toward justice, and justice, as Cornel West put it, is what love looks like in public. In short, it is all about love! I build ministry around social innovation, intergenerational relationships, leadership empowerment, civic engagement, and authentic servant leadership.

Beyond the church, I'm married to my husband Flavio, a Brazilian immigrant from Rio de Janeiro who is, for the record, a far better cook and dancer than I am. We're adventurous travelers, unapologetic foodies, and committed fragrance hobbyists. I'm also currently locked in a slow, humbling war with Brazilian Portuguese, motivated entirely by the desire to understand what my in-laws are actually saying about me at family meals. Progress is ongoing. Victory is not yet declared.

I also love staying up to date on technology and latest trends, actively go looking for new places to experience, and believe firmly that self-care isn't a betrayal of the work but a requirement for doing it well.

Beloveds, I can't wait to meet you, and I am looking forward to what we're going to build together for the people of God in Philadelphia!

In Hope and Joy,
Nelson+

P.S. Since I will be new to the city, do me a favor. Tell me your favorite restaurants, or the spots where you love spending your time. I'm building a list, and I want it to come from you!