About Stephen Shaver

I’m an Episcopal priest. I’ve spent several years serving parishes in Texas and Washington State, as well as serving in hospital and hospice chaplaincy. I was ordained in 2007.

I believe God is working everywhere and at all times to redeem the world. I believe the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are at the heart of the world’s story. I believe the Holy Spirit is breathing the universe into new life.

I also believe worship that’s faithful to its tradition and context is one of the most powerful forces for transformation in the world. I’m passionate about Christian liturgy, especially Anglican liturgy as a unique and beautiful expression of the catholic Christian tradition today.

In 2012 I started work on a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. In 2017 I completed my dissertation, Metaphors of Eucharistic Presence. It’s been wonderful to do this work, to devote myself to learning more about a subject I’m passionate about and to gain the expertise to be able to contribute to our church’s liturgical life over the decades to come. It also feels good to be done, and I’m ready to move ahead to what’s next for my ministry.

Along with liturgy, I’m passionate about congregational development: the ways congregations grow into more faithful, healthy, and effective local expressions of the Body of Christ. For several years I’ve served as a trainer for the College for Congregational Development. In seminary I learned a lot about scripture, the Christian tradition, history, spirituality, liturgy, and preaching. But it was through being part of the College, first as a participant and then on staff, that I learned a vocabulary for the other skills I had been groping towards in parish ministry by trial and error: how to work with people in groups, navigate conflict productively, make decisions collaboratively, manage change. More recently I co-designed and co-directed a two-year sibling program here in California, the Collaborative for Church Vitality.

I love to travel. I grew up overseas, and I haven’t stopped moving about the world since. But I also love having a home, and the Bay Area has been close to my heart for a long time. I’m delighted to be living here again, although it was hard to leave my beloved Seattle when we moved here in 2012.

I love making music: I’ve been a serious choral singer since back when I was in college and have been fortunate enough to be part of some wonderful ensembles since. Along with those performance groups, I’ve also been part of choirs in several beloved parishes.

I love running: not always in the moment, but I love what it does for the rest of my life. I love hiking and being outside, preferably somewhere up high with beautiful views, or else in a forest with water nearby.

I’m married to J. We live a life that is sometimes too scattered but full of many blessings, in a small house near Berkeley, with our daughter A and a cute but ornery cat.

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