Diocesan Staff & Support
Our staff live all across the length and breadth of our diocese. They work from our Diocesan House in East Grand Rapids, our Financial Office in Saginaw and their homes in addition to parishes, coffee shops and carpool lots across the Mitten as they’re out and about supporting people and ministries. Use our Contact Us page to reach out to staff members for support.
Full Time Staff
Contact AlanThe Rev. Alan C. James has just completed a yearlong call as the Interim Rector at Church of Our Saviour, Chicago. During his 28-year ministry as an Episcopal priest, he has variously served as interim rector, rector, or associate rector of eight congregations in California, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. He has also served as a regional canon missioner on the bishop’s staff in the Diocese of Western Michigan and canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Ohio. He currently serves on the Board of Invite Welcome Connect, a church wide ministry supporting congregations in building an intentional culture of evangelism and church growth. He is a two-time deputy to General Convention and served two terms as President of Province V.
Alan’s passion in ministry is assisting congregations discern who they are as a faith community – how they can best steward their individual and collective gifts. Additionally, he is committed to helping congregations develop collaborative ministries, networks, and opportunities that expand their capacity for mission and ministry, deepen their faith in God, and strengthen their sense of Episcopal identity and relationships with other congregations.
A native of San Diego, California, Alan served as an officer in the US Navy for four years prior to ordination. He is married to the Very Rev. Lisa Hackney-James, Dean of St. James Cathedral, Chicago. Together they have a blended family with six adult children and seven grandchildren.
Contact SunilInitially ordained in the Church of South India in 1992, Sunil was received into The Episcopal Church through the Diocese of Newark in 1998. With a focus on building trust and growth after trauma, Sunil has served five Episcopal congregations ranging from mission to program size.
As Canon for the Central Collaborative, Sunil will coach, encourage, and equip congregations in the middle belt of our two dioceses in areas of congregational development, transitions, and aligning with the mission and vision of our dioceses. His specialty as Coach for Digital Communities focuses on supporting all congregations across both dioceses in establishing or further developing our offerings for worship and belonging through online platforms.
While attending Harvard Divinity School as a Unitarian Universalist, Nurya was baptized as Christian and later ordained as a Christian pastor within the UUA in 1997. After ten years as a Unitarian pastor and church planter, she completed a Certificate in Anglican Studies at Seabury-Western Seminary, and was confirmed in The Episcopal Church and re-ordained as a priest in 2011. Since then, she served as associate rector with St. Andrew’s, Grand Rapids and as priest-in-charge with Holy Spirit, Belmont.
Nurya dedicated nine years of service as the founding Executive Director of Plainsong Farm and Ministry, a new Episcopal community in the Diocese of Western Michigan. Nurya has exercised extensive churchwide leadership for many years, especially in the areas of creation care and its integration into our understanding of the beloved community. This summer, she serves as the chair of the House of Deputies legislative committee on Environmental Stewardship and the Care of Creation for the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church.
Jess Kidder is a scholar-practitioner with a PhD in Sustainability Education from Prescott College bringing over 20 years of experience in the non-profit and education sectors. Serving as the Program Manager for the Thriving Congregations Initiative Holy Ground Whole Communities grant, she is excited and honored to combine her passion for spirituality and sustainability in the important work of cultivating communities of practice with the Diocese.
Jess works out of the Grand Rapids office and remotely from her home in Cheboygan and Bois Blanc Island.
Angela holds responsibility for the bishop’s calendar, visitations, meetings, and travel. She handles the bishop’s reporting and correspondence, coordinates the non-parochial reports, liaises with the disciplinary board, manages the bi-diocesan Cycle of Prayer, and supports the work of various committees. Additionally, Angela coordinates the work of the Commission on Ministry and supports benefits administration. Angela works primarily from the Saginaw office and remotely, from her home in St. Clair Shores.
Sara oversees finance and benefits administration for the diocese, helping the bishop’s office and congregations with financial management, budgeting, and more.
Sara and her family live in Midland, where they are active members of St. John’s, Midland. Sara works primarily from the Finance Office in Saginaw and her home.
Rachel Rose, M.A. served as the remote Communications Director for the Diocese of Central New York before joining the staff in this, her home diocese. It is through that role that she found a love and passion for supporting parishes in diocesan ministry, helping lay and clergy persons alike to live more fully into their callings to be the embodiment of Jesus in our lonely and hurting world. In addition to her diocesan work, she brings more than 15 years of non-profit and higher education communication and strategic planning experience to our diocese.
Viewing her work as being a relationship counselor for organizations, Rachel is responsible for shaping diocesan communications strategy and tactics, working closely with diocesan leadership. She also provides resources and training throughout the dioceses, with specific attention to local congregations.
Rachel works primarily from the Diocesan House in Grand Rapids and her own home in rural Ionia county, although she is happy and eager to travel to parishes around the diocese to offer on-site communication support and training and to celebrate the good work that parishes are engaging in every day!
Mark is a graduate of Wheaton College and New York University School of Law. Before returning to Michigan, Mark worked as an assistant at a talent and literary agency in New York.
Mark holds responsibility for administrative projects on behalf of the diocesan offices.
Among other projects that arise, he coordinates with the Commissions on Ministry, supports clergy that are newly ordained and new to the dioceses, manages the clergy supply lists, administers clergy and lay licensing processes, responds to service requests from outside the dioceses, processes letters dimissory, and serves as ordination officer for churchwide records.
Mark works primarily from the Grand Rapids office and remotely, from his home in Grand Rapids.
Part Time Staff and Additional Support
Anne Elliott Hodges-Copple was elected the Diocese of North Carolina’s sixth Bishop Suffragan and the first female bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on January 26, 2013, at the 197th Annual Convention. She was consecrated on June 15, 2013, in Duke Chapel on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Bishop Hodges-Copple grew up in Dallas, Texas, and attended Duke University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1979 with a major in public policy. She earned her Master of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, in 1984.
In the years between college and seminary and then seminary and ordination, Hodges-Copple worked as a community organizer in Massachusetts and Appalachia and as a shelter director for victims of domestic violence in North Carolina. She was ordained a deacon in 1987 and a priest in 1988.
To this point, Bishop Hodges-Copple had served her entire ordained life in the Diocese of North Carolina, working 13 years in parish ministry and 13 years as a campus minister. She served as the rector of St. Luke’s, Durham, until she was elected to the episcopate. Bishop Hodges-Copple has a particular passion for shaping mission and ministry to be attuned to the voices, needs and wisdom of disempowered communities.
Bishop Anne serves our diocese as a quarter-time Assisting Bishop primarily in roles of pastoral care and teaching. Although she and her family still reside in North Carolina, she will make regular visits to our diocese for episcopal services such as confirmation and ordination.
As Archdeacon of the Diocese, Linda convenes the community of deacons and others involved in ministries of justice, reconciliation, and service.
Beth was ordained in 2008. She serves as the Bishop’s representative to the Board of the Dominican Development Group. She coordinates the Companion Diocese Program and Mission Team efforts in the Dominican Republic. Beth is also part of the Diocesan Thriving in Ministry team. She travels the diocese to call forth, empower, and inspire the baptized to look for their own role in fulfilling their call to servant ministry.
Congregations should contact Beth to speak at your Sunday services, vestry, or group meetings, or to inquire about upcoming mission trip information to the Dominican Republic.
BJ was ordained to the priesthood in 2016 after completing her M.Div. at Sewanee School of Theology. After her ordination, she served as priest-in-charge with St. John’s, Fremont and St. Mark’s, Newaygo, where she was called in 2019 as rector and director of their connected health and wellness center, Vera’s House. Prior to her ordained ministry, BJ worked for more than twenty years in religious book publishing, most recently as cofounder of Brazos Press and senior marketing director at Brazos and Baker Academic. She is a contributor to Common Prayer: Reflections on Episcopal Worship, edited by Joseph S. Pagano and Amy E. Richter. She and her “episcopup,” George Frederick, live in Newaygo.
As Coordinator of CCD, BJ will organize our training weeks, recruit and equip trainers, and recruit and support our participants in the implementation of their new skills and tools within their communities.
Working half-time, Devin holds responsibilities for accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliations, assisting with financial reporting, and other projects.
Beckett serves as the planter and Ministry Developer of the AuSable Inclusion Center in Mio, seeking to launch in June 2024. As part of this role, Deacon Beck is available to consult with communities around education and engagement with their LGBTQ+ neighbors.
Beckett also serves as the Facilitator of Holy Hikes Great Lakes.
He attended University of Mississippi, and graduated in 2019 from the Academy for Vocational Leadership, the local formation program of the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan. He serve on the Building Bridges Steering Committee and the Bi-Diocesan Evangelism Task Force and is a member of Grace, Port Huron. Beckett lives in Port Huron with his spouse, Kay, his daughter, Audrey, and his cat, Razzle.
Phone: 231-420-8467
Title IV of the Episcopal Church Canons concern areas of clergy discipline, encouraging accountability, justice, reconciliation, restoration, and pastoral care. To submit a complaint or talk to someone about a potential Title IV offense, please contact our Intake Officer, Bill McClure.
Radha joined the Diocese of Western Michigan as a Hope College student in 2008 after growing up in North Central Florida, spending time with the communities of Grace, Holland and St. John’s, Grand Haven, where she was the youth coordinator. She was ordained to the priesthood in January 2021 after receiving her M.Div. from Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX.
She serves as the rector of the Central Michigan Episcopal Covenant (St. Andrew’s, Big Rapids and St. Mary’s, Cadillac). She lives in Cadillac with her two dogs, Mara Joy and Tilly, and three cats. She enjoys knitting, board games, baking, and exploring the great outdoors.
As the part-time Communications Assistant for our diocese, Phillip works primarily with online communication outputs from the diocesan office including The Feast, traditional social media, our website, and Circle. Phillip is an avid sailor and photographer and works primarily remotely out of his home in Grand Rapids.
Mary, who works part-time, supports vital administrative work in the diocesan office and is primarily responsible for database maintenance and data entry.
Fr. Joel Turmo has served as the Rector of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church since 2012. His ministry is characterized by a deep love of fostering spiritual growth and creating a caring community. Fr. Joel is particularly passionate about nurturing the faith of young people and guiding Christian formation for all ages.
In addition to his role at St. Timothy’s, Fr. Joel serves the Diocese of the Great Lakes as the Youth Missioner for the Southern Region, supporting congregations in their youth ministry efforts and leading diocesan youth events such as retreats, statewide virtual confirmation classes and an annual mission trip.
Fr. Joel holds an M. Div. from Sewanee School of Theology and a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University. He and his wife Katy are the proud parents of four children.
Fr. Joel is committed to guiding St. Timothy’s on its faith journey, with open hearts and a welcoming spirit for all.