Today is All Saints Day, one of the seven principal days of the Episcopal Church. Here at Union, we’re thrilled to commemorate this day with our vibrant Episcopal community.
We also reflect with pride on the students, faculty, and staff who have graced our Episcopal and Anglican Studies (EAS) program over the years. The program has existed in various forms but has consistently been filled with remarkable people doing esteemed work.
For Linda Aristondo, an alumna of Union Theological Seminary, it all started with a red door. Years before she ever heard of Union, she was a lawyer looking for a way to serve her community outside the courtroom. Raised Roman Catholic, she also wanted to reconnect with faith in some form.
She went door to door to churches, asking how she could help. Eventually, she stumbled upon an open red door. She went downstairs, saw people making sandwiches, and immediately jumped in to help.
The Church happened to be St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Harlem. According to Aristondo, she “fell in love with the services, the rector and the community, and the diversity” and decided to become Episcopalian.
Rev. Mary Foulke, the Church’s longtime rector and current EAS Academic Advisor at Union, encouraged Aristondo to enroll at Union to learn more about theology, scripture, and tradition. Aristondo did just that.
Aristondo highlighted several meaningful aspects of her program. She took a course on how the Episcopal Church colonized other countries. She went to the border in California to work with the immigrants who were trying to get asylum. She also worked with indigenous populations at a church in Long Island.
Now, Aristondo is a Board Certified Chaplain. She has graduated from Union’s MDIV program and is on track to become an ordained Episcopal priest. Inspired by Episcopal Divinity School and EAS, Linda is now studying for a DMin at Union. Her dissertation topic is the Episcopal Church’s commitment to asylum seekers from the global south.
Joyce Jauer is another one of our EAS students. She grew up Episcopal in San Antonio, Texas. She explored other faith traditions but always felt drawn back to the Episcopal Church
After getting her undergraduate degree, she dabbled in a variety of fields, including finance, public service, international economic development, and nonprofit management. She started doing more social justice work in 2020 and was inspired to do more.
She decided to get a certificate in social justice from Union. She reflected on why she chose Union, stating, “It’s very important to me to have an environment where I’m learning alongside people who have a different way of understanding and engaging the divine, and sometimes that means no faith… One of the most beautiful things about Union is the diversity of traditions represented by the students.”
Jauer embraced the coursework. For example, she spoke highly of Dr. Carr’s course on deconstructing American civil religion myths about the Hebrew Bible. She also highlighted a course by Dr. Cheng, which posited Anglicanism itself as queer. Jauer was skeptical of this argument at first, but now she is “fully on board.”
Outside the classroom, Jauer also spoke fondly of the EAS community and the Union community as a whole. She enjoyed a retreat for EAS students and people who affiliate with Anglicanism and the opportunity to develop a “rhythm of communal prayer” doing the daily office together in addition to Union’s daily noon chapel offerings. All in all, she appreciates a “spiritual, social, and intellectual camaraderie.”
Looking ahead, Jauer aims to become a chaplain, ideally in a healthcare or academic setting.
Both Aristondo and Jauer spoke highly of how Union trains people to collaborate and pursue social justice. Aristondo shared, “All perspectives and all individuals are welcomed just as they are.” Jauer reflected, declaring the program “provided me a vision of what the Church can do to partner in the liberation of the most vulnerable.” She further explained that Union “equips students with the academic foundation and skills as well as an awareness of the possibilities for building a flourishing community once we graduate.”
Rev. Mary Foulke echoed these sentiments. An alumna of Union herself, she has been part of the seminary’s community for decades. She now supports Episcopal worship services and brings 35 years of ordained ministry to Union.
For her, EAS aims to “prepare students for leadership in the current reality of the Church.” For her, “that means study of scripture and history and tradition. It also means active prayer life, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and appreciating the multi-faith, multicultural community of Union and the world.”
She also believes Union has a significant role to play in the future of the Episcopal Church. She noted that the Church is in a “season of huge change.” Union aims to help people “wrestle spiritually with big questions… We don’t necessarily know the answers, but we know how to think things through.”
On this All Saints Day, as we commemorate the people who have passed away, she acknowledges that there is plenty of grief given all that’s going on in the world. But she hopes students will “go open the graves and celebrate resurrected life in the world.”