A Celebration of New Ministry
The Right Reverend Harry B. Bainbridge, III, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho, will preach and preside at the Institution and Induction of the Reverend Kenneth H. Brannon as Rector, 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 201 Sun Valley Rd., Ketchum. A potluck lunch and reception will follow.
"This unique service actually highlights the shared ministry of all God's people," said Brannon. Members of St. Thomas will present the rector with a series of gifts representing the mission and ministry of the church both within its own community and beyond. In addition, representatives of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hailey and the Wood River Jewish Community will present gifts that highlight a shared history and collaboration in the larger community. St. Thomas was founded in Ketchum in 1891. The church is a constituent member of the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho, the Episcopal Church USA, and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Rev. Kenneth Brannon wandered onto the national Episcopalian Web site last year and found something he didn't know he was looking for.
At the time Brannon, 39 tomorrow, was an associate rector at St. Barnabas in Sleepy Hollow, Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y. With two children (Lucy, 10 and Isaac, 6) in school and his wife, Rachel, a psychotherapist studying to be a Jungian analyst, the idea of moving out West wasn't on his radar. But Brannon saw the Web site for St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ketchum, which was in the process of a new minister search.
Brannon was immediately intrigued, and continues feeling that way a month after moving to the valley to fill the large shoes left at St. Thomas by the departures of Rev. Brian Baker and more recently Bishop Craig Anderson.
"We weren't looking to move to Idaho. But the program and the St. Thomas Playhouse were compelling," he said. Brannon's second degree (out of three) is from New York University in drama therapy.
"Basically anything to do with theater can be used therapeutically," he said with regard to drama therapy. "You're mindful of the transformative aspects" when people choose characters to act out. He worked with juveniles, hospitalized adults and the homeless in New York City for several years before, finally giving in to the calling he'd sensed for some time and enrolling at Virginia Theological Seminary. He graduated with honors in 2003.
The therapy work and his faith were "two streams that ran next to each other," he said
Though he was raised in Louisiana, Brannon's family moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when he was a teen. Because no American kids were allowed to go to school there, he was sent to boarding school in India for four years.
"It was lush and jungly but being in the mountains here feels right," he said. "That was my best training for embracing all religions. What I came away with was the awareness that the U.S. is not the center of the universe. I've never lost that."
He is committed to continuing St. Thomas' tradition of interfaith gatherings, workshops and lectures, he said. In fact, he and another new spiritual leader in town, Rabbi Barney Brickner, have been getting to know each other over cups of java at the Coffee Grinder in Ketchum.
"I am distinctly Christian and I honor that, but because that's true for me I don't have to beat someone over the head with it. People will find in me an open spirit and (that I'm) fairly theologically generous.
"I think my drama therapy comes to bear on my work here, but I won't be doing that or acting, though. I have enough on my plate."
Speaking of plates, the personable Brannon said he will attend small dinners with different demographics in the "belief that eating good dinners together makes good friends."
When asked how his ministry might differ from his predecessors, he said, "there is a sense of a very wide embrace here and a respect for different journeys. The congregation brings a lot. There's so much love and skill and talent in the pews. My role is to discern that and fuel the embers. My approach can seem understated, but I think it's frankly an effective mode of ministry. I like to get out of the way and let the liturgy do its thing. I let the beauty of the service run."
The Rev. Kenneth Brannon will be installed as the new pastor of St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Sunday, Aug. 26. Photo by Dana DuGan
