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 Feb. 8,  2020 — a position that oversees a diocese that consists of 77 congregations in the southeastern region of Michigan. EDOMI comprises over 16,000 baptized members in 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 the 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.

For more than three decades, Jo Ann has found great joy in her vocation as a lay professional in the Episcopal Church. As Canon to the Ordinary and Chief Operating Officer, Jo Ann finds it a privilege to dream, brainstorm, organize, strategize and plan in support of the clergy, congregations and bishop of our diocese. Jo Ann brings a passion and compassion to her work, and her distinguished experience, historical perspective and depth of knowledge are integral to diocesan operations.

When not attending to matters of the church, Jo Ann finds her center and great delight in spending time on the Atlantic ocean with her spouse Jerry (a celebrated musician) and their daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters.

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.

Mark Miliotto serves as the Canon for Finance and CFO of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, having first joined the diocesan staff in 2012. Prior to coming to the diocese, Mark served as the Director of Finance and Administration of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in the Chicago area. Before that, Mark worked in a variety of finance roles in the banking industry in Denver. Mark’s wife, Beth Taylor, serves as rector of St John’s Episcopal Church in Royal Oak, Michigan. Together, Beth and Mark are the proud parents of two teenage children, Gianni and Sofia. Outside of work, Mark volunteers as the treasurer of Episcopal Divinity School and he enjoys all outdoor activities, especially gardening, hiking, and biking.

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.

Adrienne brings a strong background in all forms of digital communication and marketing, event planning, graphic design, photography and videography. Adrienne edits and distributes our Weekly Connection and coordinates diocesan events.

Adrienne taught Advertising Design and 2D Animation at College for Creative Studies, and Photoshop, 2D Animation, and History of Graphic Design at Henry Ford College. She has worked  in the Detroit production and broadcast industry creating commercials and on-air graphics for television. Her passion though is in the arts. She is an accomplished painter and exhibits regularly in metro-Detroit area galleries. In 2021, Adrienne was awarded the Creators of Culture grant through Culture Source Detroit for her work in curating and arts organization.

Adrienne is a member of St. Stephen’s in Wyandotte where she heads up the Children’s Ministry. She is a very active mom and on most weekends, if the weather is above freezing, you can find her at a regatta cheering her daughter’s rowing team on.

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 also helps congregations to deepen 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, a member of The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, has served with the Children’s Ministry, Vestry and Technology Team. She has a passion for working with young people and has been an elementary school teacher in the city of Detroit for almost 10 years.