Bishop Bonnie A. Perry

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Bonnie A. Perry is the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan (EDOMI).  She was consecrated as bishop on February 8,  2020. Her position oversees a diverse diocese of 76 worshipping communities and more than 14,000 baptized members. The diocese encompasses the Detroit metropolitan area and adjacent regions that stretch as far west as Lansing, Jackson, and Hillsdale. Prior to her election as bishop, Perry spent 27 years as rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Chicago, one of the largest and most active congregations in the Diocese of Chicago.

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Tali Perry—Canine to the Ordinary

My name is Tali Perry and I’m an Australian Shepherd. Originally from Blue Rain Aussies located in Sobieski, WI I’m excited now to be living in Detroit. I’ve been educated at Call of the Wild dog training in Chicago, completing my Basic Puppy Obedience and Level 1 Obedience.

One of my great joys in life is snatching frisbees out of the air and adding commentary to Zoom calls. In my new position as Canine to the Ordinary, I’m working on my herding skills and honing my pastoral skills. I’ve found that most life events are enhanced by wiggles and caring looks.

I have a strong following on Facebook and invite you to follow me on Instagram where you can find me at @tales_fromtali_theaussie.

The Rev. Ellen Ekevag is Canon for Congregational Development and Transitions. She collaborates with lay and ordained leaders to develop more faithful, healthy, and effective faith communities. After spending over a decade leading and guiding churches of various sizes, she believes the local church is the primary context for formation, ministry, mission and transformation. Through our baptism we are each called to share in Christ’s identity and mission, and each church has been given the gifts and the people it needs to accomplish God’s will. In all of her work she puts a high value on prayer, collaboration, openness and a sense of humor.

The Rev. Susie Shaefer serves as the Associate for Transitions and Local Formation. She loves working with people in all seasons of discernment: folks in the ordination process, congregations and clergy in transition, and anyone being nudged by the Spirit into deeper knowledge and love for God’s mission in the world.

Susie most recently served as the Vicar of St. John’s in Clinton from 2012-2022, and lives in Ann Arbor with her spouse, two kids, and a rescue dog.

The Rev. Sr. Veronica Mary is a native of Southeast Michigan, born and raised in Mount Clemens. Prior to her call to ordained ministry, she spent over seventeen years working for the Federal Government, mostly in regulatory compliance of international trade, focusing on manufacturing and supply chain logistics and free trade agreements. After serving in lay ministry, she answered a three-fold vocational call: Sr. Vee is a professed member of Anamchara Fellowship, an Episcopal religious order; she was certified as a spiritual director through the Haden Institute, and maintains an active practice; and after graduating from Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, was ordained to the priesthood. Sr. Vee loves running and walking along the shore of Lake St. Clair, and centers herself spiritually through gardening, reading, writing, and photography.

The Venerable Tim Spannaus is Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. Tim has been a deacon since 1996, having been raised up and serving in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and then being received into the Episcopal Church in 2006. He previously served at St. John’s, Royal Oak (MI), where he initiated the Stephen Ministry program and Education for Ministry.

He is retired from Wayne State University, where he was Sr. Lecturer and Program Coordinator of Learning Design and Technology until 2020. He earned his PhD from Wayne State. He is former president and a Fellow of the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi).

He also serves the diocese and the Episcopal Church in a variety of roles relating to formation and Safe Church, Safe Communities, including the Task Force to Develop Safe Church Policies and Training. He serves on and was formerly chair of The Commission on Ministry and participated in the revision of the process for ordination, including developing competencies and formation plans for those seeking ordination.

Tim is married to Collette Pariseau and has two sons and two grandsons. He enjoys baking, woodworking and road trips.

“My family has been with the Episcopal Church for almost 10 years, which we chose because we are most closely aligned with the values the Church has. My wife and I are both native Michiganders and we have a son in the 4th grade. When we aren’t supporting him on the soccer field, we love spending time in northern Michigan enjoying the woods and water.”

Anthony, who goes by Tony, worked at Ford Motor Company for 31 years as the Group Leader/ Graphic Designer in the Scientific Research Laboratories in Dearborn, MI.

He graduated from Eastern Michigan with a degree in Graphic Design, and has a minor in Advertising and Sales Promotion.

He’s been married to his wife Pam for 46 years. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren. Tony and Pam have lived in Livonia, MI for 44 years. In his spare time, Tony likes spending time with his family, grandchildren and friends.

Kara Chapman is the Accountant for the Diocese of Michigan. She has been with the diocese since 1999, a little over 20 years! Though her degree is in Accounting Information Systems, in 1999 she volunteered at the diocese for the Refugee Resettlement office, which led to a full-time position as a caseworker. Eventually she transitioned to part-time caseworker and part-time accountant and then to a full-time position in the finance department. It has been such a blessing for her to work for the Diocese of Michigan as she feels that the staff and the diocese at large are a wonderful family full of kindness and love for God and one another. She looks forward to continuing to serve and support all of the congregations and people of the diocese.

Simon has an “amazing sense of balance” and is great at taking care of the books.

He enjoys typing on the keyboard (i.e. walking across the keyboard); and he never misses a chance to appear in a Zoom meeting as he likes to be right in the middle of the action. Simon works well with others as long as they pet him and reward him for a job well done (i.e. treats).

Simon hopes you have a “purrrr-fect” day!

Crystal brings a strong background in process conformance, operations and auditing which translates well into her role in Administration.  She is always striving to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the diocesan processes while ensuring the needs of our congregations are met with a sense of urgency and care.

Susan previously served as parish administrator at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Rochester, executive assistant to a board of directors, and is an experience technical writer and disaster recovery analyst.  Susan and her husband Dan have 2 adult children, Mary (equestrian and human resource manager) and Forrest (guitar enthusiast and electrical engineer.) They enjoy traveling and exploring national parks. Susan also enjoys hiking, biking, backpacking, and running marathons (to be honest, “enjoys” running marathons might be a stretch, but she has completed several.) When Susan volunteers at St. Philip’s, you will usually find her cooking in the kitchen as she is also Serv-Safe certified.

Through Carmen’s experience and understanding of childhood spirituality and development and pedagogy, she offers congregational leaders support and resources for Christian Education programming. Carmen supports congregations in deepening their ministries to families and their children by resourcing the adults who work with young people. She is constantly learning from our congregations about what type of support they need to sustain, grow or build their formation programs for children.

Carmen supports programming for children and youth throughout the diocese, training and resourcing for children and youth formation leaders, oversees the Diocesan Youth Council, Safe Church, Safe Communities training, and is a liaison for College Chaplains. 

Rev. Dr. Dean Aponte-Safe hails from Cannon Falls, MN. Dean earned a B.A. degree from Waldorf University (2012), an M.Div. from Luther Seminary (2017), an S.T.M. from the Chicago Theological Seminary (2019), and a D.Min. from the Pacific School of Religion (2025).

He was ordained into the tradition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in July of 2017 and has served two calls: five and a half years at a two-point call in Southeastern Minnesota, and as interim pastor to the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before joining the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.

Dean recently contracted with Fortress Press to write his first book, titled “In the Middle of Everywhere: A Queer Love Letter to the Rural Church,” slated for publication in Autumn 2027.

Outside of Church service and writing, he is spouse to Gerardo, an Episcopal priest. Dean is a proud dog dad to a three-year-old golden retriever, Finnegan, and enjoys cooking, reading, writing, and playing the third movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata at the piano. Traveling has also been a highlight thus far: taking him to an off-grid farm in interior Alaska, spending a year in the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State, working with Lutheran congregations in central Tanzania, visiting family in Puerto Rico, and companioning with the monastic community of Taizé, France.

As Canon of Communications, I’m honored to be working alongside Bishop Perry and the entire Diocesan staff in supporting our office and our worshipping communities with their communications needs.

I’m a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Detroit. I’ve served on the Vestry (Jr and Sr Warden), and currently active in our Men’s club and Technology Ministries.