Rev. Kuruvilla "Sunil" Chandy | Canon for the Central Collaborative of Eastern and Western Michigan and Coach for Digital Communities
Initially 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.
The Rev. Canon Tracie Little | Canon for the Southern Collaborative and Adult Formation
Tracie serves as Canon to the Ordinary for the diocese, holding responsibility for working with congregations and clergy in transition and supporting the development and mission strategy of our congregations and diocesan leadership.
Katie Forsyth | Canon for Evangelism & Networking
Katie served four years as Director of Communications and Public Engagement for the Diocese of Eastern Michigan before her appointment as Canon for Evangelism and Networking for both the Dioceses of Western and Eastern Michigan in 2018. She works in collaboration with the congregations of the dioceses to build up the voice and identity of the Episcopal Church, with a special focus on equipping leaders for their call to be evangelists of the Gospel and leaders in justice and reconciliation. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Public and Nonprofit Administration and Political Science from Grand Valley State University. Katie lives in Grand Rapids.
Congregations should contact Katie to discuss evangelism efforts, internal and external communications, asset mapping, public relations, and responding to issues of justice.
Sara Philo | Chief Financial Officer and Benefits Administrator
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. Like our other full-time shared staff members, she maintains an office in both Saginaw and Grand Rapids.
Catherine Cameron-Heldt | Diocesan Office Administrator
Catherine has vast experience serving organizations as an employee or board member in nonprofit, university, and corporate settings. She holds degrees from Central Michigan University and Grand Valley State University.
Catherine holds responsibility for administrative projects on behalf of the diocesan offices.
Among other projects that arise, she 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.
Catherine works primarily from the Grand Rapids office and remotely, from her home in Grand Rapids.
Angela Krueger | Assistant to the Bishop
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.
Angela works primarily from the Saginaw office and remotely, from her home in St. Clair Shores.
McKenzie Knill l | Director for Children, Youth, and Young Adult Formation
McKenzie has served as Facilitator of Youth and Young Adult Networks in the Diocese of Eastern Michigan since 2015. During that time, she has developed a robust program for youth and young adults that has included opportunities for youth across the state, access to peer relationships beyond the congregation and beyond the diocese, and, with the Canon for Evangelism, has developed a group of “young adults” (college-Gen X) that gather for Compline and Dinner once a month in locations in both dioceses (when circumstances allow for in-person gatherings).
In her role, McKenzie directs, oversees, and convenes children, youth, and young adult formation programs and networks in the dioceses. Working with diocesan leadership, she develops and plans programming and opportunities for leadership for all ages and identifies and share resources with the growing network of parish youth ministers (staff and volunteer).
Congregations should contact McKenzie to discuss youth and young adult networks and formation programs.
The Rev. Radha Kaminski | Missioner for Northern Youth Region
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 husband, Matthew, their dog, Mara Joy, and two cats, Bob and Shirley. She enjoys knitting, board games, baking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Jeff Brown | Missioner Central Youth Region
Jeff is the Director of Youth Ministries for Grand Rapids Episcopal Youth, a collaboration between St. Mark’s, St. Andrew’s, and Grace Episcopal Churches in Grand Rapids. Jeff is a known leader in youth ministry, having organized and led efforts such as the progressive mission trip for many years. Jeff also works as the Visual Display Coordinator for Gazelle Sports, is a certified yoga instructor, loves trail running, and is quite obsessed with Cedar Point. He and his wife, Angie, live in Grand Rapids with their two teenage sons.
The Rev. Beckett Leclaire | Missioner for Eastern Youth Region
Beckett serves as the Facilitator of Holy Hikes Great Lakes and is a nominee for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.
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.
The Rev. Joel Turmo | Missioner for Southern Youth Region
Joel has been the rector of St. Timothy’s, Richland since 2012.
Prior to this he was the Director of Youth and Family Ministries at St. Gregory’s in Boca Raton, FL. Both in Florida and in Michigan, he’s served as a youth coordinator, co-leading many diocesan events including retreats and the progressive mission trip.
He is passionate about including youth in all aspects of the church. Joel earned his M.Div. from Sewanee School of Theology in 2008. Joel and his college-aged sons live in Richland.
Michelle Ruiz | Assistant for Communications
Michelle is a student at Grand Valley State University working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia Journalism. She enjoys advocating for women’s rights and communities of color. In her free time, Michelle likes to unwind by painting and watching television shows. She especially loves the comedy genre and anything that will make her laugh.
In her role, Michelle, who is bilingual, will assist our dioceses in all functions of communications including our bi-diocesan newsletter, websites, social media, and our print magazine, The Feast.
Habla Español.
Julia Quillan | Bookkeeper
Julia, who works part-time, holds responsibilities for accounts receivable, payroll, bank reconciliations, and other projects.
Maggie Gonzalez | Safe Church Coordinator
Maggie, who works part-time, is responsible for our Safe Church data tracking and support for accessing training.
Mary Simpson | Dismantling Racism Data Coordinator
Mary, who works part-time, is responsible for our Dismantling Racism data tracking, support for our Dismantling Racism task force, and other projects.
Rev. BJ Heyboer | Coordinator of the College for Congregational Development
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. BJ can be reached by calling either diocesan office and listening for the list of extensions or by emailing ccd@eastmich.org or ccd@edwm.org.
The Ven. Beth Drew | Archdeacon
The Rev. Beth Drew
Archdeacon and Deacon for International Mission
Phone Number: 269.244.9908
Beth was ordained in 2008. She serves as the Bishop’s representative to the Board of the Dominican Development Group. She also coordinates Western Michigan’s efforts for the DREAM Mission Project in the Dominican Republic. She travels the diocese to call forth, empower, and inspire the baptized to look for their own role in fulfilling their own call to servant ministry.
Congregations should contact Beth to speak at your Sunday services, vestry, or group meetings.
The Rev. Diane Pike | Intake Officer
The Rev. Diane Pike
Co-Intake Officer for Eastern and Western Michigan
Phone: 401-644-5758
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 one of our two Intake Officers.
The Rev. Bill McClure | Intake Officer
The Very Rev. Bill McClure
Co-Intake Officer for Eastern and Western Michigan
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 one of our two Intake Officers.
