Stories
The Rev. Kenneth W. Parris (BTS. SFD '95) has served in chaplain ministry for over 30 years. He is the founding chaplain of the Oakland Police Chaplain Corps where he still serves as chaplain. Deacon Ken is the first vocational deacon to be endorsed by The Episcopal Church for military chaplaincy. He currently serves as a Chaplain, Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), U.S.A.F. Auxiliary and assigned as the CAP Chaplain Corps Chief of Personnel, Pacific Region Deputy Chaplain, and California Wing Chaplain. In 2019, Deacon Ken was selected as the CAP Chaplain of the Year. Deacon Ken is also the first chaplain assigned to the California Cadet Corps, the California National Guard's premier youth leadership development program, where he serves as Command Chaplain to the organization's 8,000 youth and adults. In his spare time, he also serves as chaplain for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and SF BART Police Department. Deacon Ken is assisting clergy at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.
Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain’s ministries include Good News Gardens (growing veggies to be given away and tending the church gardens at St. Aidan’s), Habitat for Humanity, and sewing baby blankets for San Francisco General with colleagues at Stanford University.
The Rev. Rebekah Hays Estera is a deacon in the Episcopal Church and based in California’s Bay Area. They feel called to the diaconate because their heart breaks for the hurt of this world while being excited to build the kin-dom of God on earth as it is in Heaven with their siblings in Christ. Baking is a spiritual practice for Rebekah, and in her free time, she loves to spend time outside, try new foods, visit museums, and borrow entirely too many library books.
“The School for Deacons prepared me to serve in a variety of contexts, from an Anglo-Catholic congregation in the heart of San Francisco, to a Lutheran congregation in the wilds of Alaska! The thread running through my ministry is being present with those as the next iteration of their faith unfurls, from working with Evolving Faith as individuals seek to reimagine and re-engage their faith, serving on the School for Deacons Board and Commission on Ministry as the next generation discerns their call to ordained ministry, and being invited to pastor a congregation while their pastor is on sabbatical. As a deacon, I meet people where they are: talking to young queer Christians over a cocktail; being present as a person tentatively guides the conversation to their church abuse; running a palm branch out to a car at the red light, the driver excited to see the Palm Sunday procession and invited in in this small way. The School for Deacons prepared me for a porous vocation that moves between the church and the world.”