Four women and two men embraced uncertainty with faith to become transitional deacons — a required step to priesthood in The Diocese of Atlanta— on Dec. 13 at The Cathedral of St. Philip.
Bishop Rob Wright ordained Shannon Swift Darke, Brandon Wilson Dasinger, Emily Robin Elder, Alyssa Lynne Sali, David Emory Stooksbury and Nicole Tingle Walters to the Sacred Order of Deacons. They answer to the bishop, and their mission is to serve all people, particularly the poor, weak, sick, and lonely.
“This is a faithful, skilled group of leaders, and the Church will be blessed by their ministry,” said Sally Ulrey, Canon for Congregational Vitality and Ministry Development. “We already have been, and I can’t wait to see what God does next!”
Representing parishes across the Diocese’s 120 worshiping communities, the six ordinands step up as Georgia population surges, church membership declines and the “quirky Episcopal Church” is needed more than ever, said The Rev. Grace Burton-Edwards in the sermon.
“God willing, and the people consenting, you will all go on to become priests, but you will always be deacons,” she said.
“We’re asking God’s spirit to make you into people who read the Scriptures with an eye on the text and an eye on the world,” she added. “We hope your ministry will always place people who are helpless at the center, not at the periphery. We hope you will lead our church to get better at doing just that.”
Burton-Edwards, Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus, noted that in the past decade, Georgia gained more than 1 million people, but even here in the Diocese of Atlanta, over the past ten years, membershiphas declined by over 12% and average Sunday attendance by 30%. In the Diocese of Georgia, membership is down 24% and attendance down 40%.
“We’re not keeping up. It’s not clear what the future of the Episcopal Church or of ministry within it will be,” she said. “And yet, Shannon, Brandon, Emily, Alyssa, David and Nicole, you are promising today to give your lives to God’s work through the church. You are tying your future to a declining institution. You come with all the courage of Esther and with equal uncertainty about the outcome, and we are all so, so grateful.”
Timing is important today as it was in the Old Testament story of Esther, who used her queenly powers “for just such a time as this” to save the lives of fellow Jews.
“It’s not hubris to say that the world needs our quirky Episcopal Church,” Burton-Edwards said, invoking St. Lucy, patron saint of the blind who is celebrated Dec. 13 and crowned with a wreath of candles. When the six new deacons encounter suffering, they also have a relentless power source.
“Don’t lose sight of the fire within that led you to start this journey in the first place. The world needs the light of Christ that shines uniquely through each one of you,” Burton-Edwards said. “And when you get scared or feel inadequate to the task, remember that this light of Christ is not in your hands. You don’t have to search for it, hold on to it or worry about losing it. It is on your head like Lucy’s candles. It comes down from above. It is there even when you can’t see it. The light on your head frees you to hold more of the world in your arms.”
Family, friends, mentors, and other supporters filled the cathedral for the ordination and for photos with the six. Music was performed by the choir of Church of the Epiphany under the direction of Julie Ryder.
Less than 24 hours later, one new deacon was in the pulpit.
“I served for the first time as a clergy person in my home church, St. Paul’s Newnan,” Walters posted. ““I felt so loved and supported by the communities who have nurtured me through the whole discernment process for the past four years. Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it. I wouldn’t be here without you. Now the work continues – together. Body of Christ let’s go. There’s much to do.”
Prior to the ordination, the new transitional deacons were asked to summarize the story of their calling for the Diocese of Atlanta readers. They were also asked about balancing clergy work, the significance of ordination, their hope for the future, and any further details they wanted to share. Here are their replies.
Shannon Swift Darke: “Many yeses over many years”
The (Jeremiah 18: 1-6) story of the potter shaping a vessel is in essence the scripture that describes my spiritual journey towards a calling to ordination. While I can point to the moment of hearing the call, starting an itch that began one Christmas Eve 14 years ago sitting in a church pew as discernment often unveils, my journey in fact began much earlier.
For me stepping into what God is calling me to has not been one yes; instead, it has been many yeses over many years, each one forming me along the way. Many experiences in my life have formed me and shaped me similarly to the vessel in Jeremiah. Each preparing me for my next step, my next ministry and opportunity to explore how my spiritual gifts can align with my passion to bring deep joy.
I have been fortunate to have strong faculty, clergy and lay mentors that God placed in my life for every step of the way. I have discovered that I find joy in community, participating in and leading in community. I have learned that pastoring by praying for, listening and being present is a ministry that fulfills me. Pastoral care work brings me peace and joy and has deepened my faith and my relationship with God. It has given me an opportunity to see God in a new way through others, to learn that many times listening or just being present in periods of joy and times of need is quite a gift, a gift to see God at work in relationship and in others’ lives.
There are so many ways we are all called to participate in God’s work. It brings me such joy to finally step fully into ministry, yet my hope is that my vessel is truly never complete, that I continue to be open to molding it by saying yes to God in new ways, grounded in scripture, influenced by many and in community that enables spiritual growth and a deeper relationship with God for us all.
Balancing diaconate work with another career:
I am balancing my diaconate work with a secular vocation in marketing and communications. In my secular role, I work with clients on strategic planning, brand development and overall communications strategy. Navigating both has given me the opportunity to cross-pollinate learning. All that I have learned in seminary has been useful in business and all that I continue to learn and grow in business has been useful in ministry.
It really is amazing how both have worked together to make the other one even more complete. Yes, it is all a balancing act; it has been fun to have the opportunity to experience how they work stronger together.
Significance of this ordination:
This ordination is exciting for me as it begins what I feel is the next step towards a vocation in ministry. I have been sitting with this call for a very long time. This ordination as I mentioned before is the culmination of many yeses over the years, prayers and conversations with God and others. I cannot wait to get to expand my work in ministry, to walk with others and explore fully how God is working in their lives and mine.
Hopes as you go forward as a deacon:
I hope my formation continues to deepen. I hope that I continue to experience God in new and unexpected ways. I hope that I get to be the holy pesterer that my mentor, The Rev. Sarah Fisher, describes as the role of the deacon, the one that continues to push the community in which they serve towards the world, and the needs of the world back into the community.
I hope that I continue to feel the tension of living into the work so fully that it is uncomfortable yet brings that deep peace that only comes from God.
Advice for readers who may be feeling called:
Community is critical. Lean into yours if you have one and if you don’t find one. The discernment process changed the meaning of community for me. You cannot discern or walk this journey alone. You need conversation partners, you need prayer partners, you need mentors and guides, and you need love. Community holds all of that with you; they will question, love, pray and guide you through.
Dr. Brandon Wilson Dasinger: “Bringing up a generation that knows the Lord”
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8).
The calling to ministry comes in a variety of ways and through many different means. The majority of people do not hear an audible voice like Isaiah. Most people start by volunteering and fall in love with the work. Others simply see the needs of people and feel the desire to help them. While many, including myself, are spoken to through God’s word.
One night when I was a teenager, I read this verse from Judges 2:10: “After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things God had done.” I knew then that God wanted me to do my part in bringing up a generation that does know the Lord. Our callings may be distinct, but there is one component that is a piece of every calling to ministry: when we do ministry, we feel God’s joy.
My calling became more specific in my last year of high school. The pastor and youth director at my church noticed my potential and gifts and they asked if I would like to start the candidacy process in the United Methodist Church. Early on I experienced both an individual calling that was then confirmed by my church community.
After graduating high school, I was hired as a youth intern at a large church in the city where I attended college. I’ve been on church staffs ever since and was fully ordained in the United Methodist Church in 2011. My education in college and seminary along with the ordination process further cemented my calling to be a pastoral ministry. I’ve now been serving in the church for 20+ years and I truly love the vocation God has given me through proclaiming God’s Word, equipping God’s people and administering the sacraments. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities God has given me.
As someone who was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, I know it’s important to also explain my calling to be a priest in the Episcopal Church. Why Episcopal? The following reasons are part of my answer to these questions. The confirmation process along with this discernment group has added to and affirmed these reasons.
Beauty—I really appreciate liturgy, hymns and beautiful sanctuaries. I believe the glory of God can be revealed through beautiful architecture, beautiful music and beautiful liturgy, and the Episcopal Church does each of those very well.
Ordination—I believe all people should be able to serve in every office of the church and be able to fulfill God’s calling on their life in connection and approval of their church community and leadership. In the Episcopal Church, every person can serve as acolytes, vestry members, senior and junior wardens, deacons, priests and bishops.
Communion—I want to serve at a church where the Eucharist is the central focus of worship.
Book of Common Prayer—I’ve been using the Book of Common Prayer for a few years now devotionally. I really appreciate the daily offices and the opportunity to join with Christians all around the world in reading the same scriptures and praying the same prayers each day.
Church calendar—Our family has always followed the church calendar and so I am thankful to be a part of a church that does so as well. It creates a great rhythm for life that is centered on the life and teachings of Christ.
Communion of saints—As I’ve become older, I’ve come to a greater appreciation of the communion of saints and the impact of their example and devotion. I love the feast days in the Episcopal Church.
Overall, my own journey has led me to a place where I crave sacred space and a sacred rhythm to life. Liturgy, silence, contemplative prayer, set calendars, hymns and holy communion have become immensely important to my faith and my family and so I wanted to be a part of a church that emphasizes these practices in a more intentional way.
For the past few years, I’ve been on staff at St. Peter and St. Paul Episcopal Church in Marietta and as the executive director of a nonprofit ministry called –Project 82 Kenya. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve and for the many ways my local parish has supported and encouraged me in this discernment process.
I’m also grateful for the whole Diocese and the variety of priests who have also given me much needed guidance. Hopefully, as a priest in the Episcopal Church I will continue my calling to serve the church through the ministry of church of governance and mission, the preaching of God’s Word, and the administration of the sacraments.
And for those who feel they have a similar calling, I would encourage you to take the first step! Serve in your local parish, pray, make worship a priority and share your thoughts with your community who can help you in the discernment process. God is faithful and will provide what you need along the way!
Emily Robin Elder: “A hunger to learn all I could and share it”
I grew up as a missionary kid in a different Christian tradition, and it seems like I’ve always had a deep interest in and love for the Gospel and Christ’s Church. However, I didn’t start thinking about working in ministry until I took my first religious studies class in college. Something about that class awoke a hunger in me; a hunger to learn all I could about theology, church history, and Biblical studies, and to integrate that information into my own faith and to share it with others.
After college, I encountered The Episcopal Church for the first time, in Nashville. A mentor there, The Rev. Clint Wilson, was the first person to ever suggest I shouldconsider seminary, and maybe even enter the priestly discernment process. At the time, I was still somewhat involved with a denomination that did not ordain women or queer people, so I put the idea on the back burner. Yet just a few years later, I found myself moving to Atlanta for seminary (at Candler School of Theology) to continue studying the church, the Bible, and theology.
At some point in my seminary journey, I found a beloved church home at The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany. There, I was welcomed and mentored by The Rev. Amy Dills-Wright and The Rev. Nicole Lambelet (and later, The Rev. Carmie McDonald). After graduating from Candler, I took a job there as the Director of Children & Youth Ministries. This is also when I formally entered the discernment process.
A few years later, I moved to Alexandria, Va., to complete an Anglican Studies Diploma at Virginia Theological Seminary, under the tutelage of The Rev. James Farwell. The rest, as they say, is history! I am so very thankful for all of the support and mentorship along the way, and for how faithful God has been throughout the entire journey.
Balancing diaconate work with another career:
I am currently living out my vocation as a deacon as the chaplain at Washington Episcopal School (WES) in Bethesda, Md. And on Sundays, I will be at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church which is just down the road from WES!
Significance of this ordination:
As I mentioned above, I have been committed to the Church and to ministry for a long time now. I see this ordination as formalizing this commitment. I am grateful to have been able to take these vows, and to have the Church affirming and supporting my call.
Hopes as you go forward as a deacon:
I hope that I can be a bridge between the world and the church and that I might live out the Gospel in my personal and professional life. And when I fall short, I hope to repent and acknowledge my need for God’s abundant grace. I hope that my church community will hold me accountable in addition to supporting and praying for me.
Advice for readers who may be feeling called:
I would advise them to find good mentors, good friends, to have a daily prayer practice and to hold the timeline and end “goal” loosely. You will be met by grace and joy along the way!
Alyssa Lynne Sali: “Enough hope to go and see”
I was blessed to grow up being taught that God created and loves me. I loved being in church, loved the hymns my mother sang to me as lullabies, loved Jesus.
I began leading worship at age 4 – providing “special music” duets along with my 6-year-old sister in the chapel at the VA hospital where my grandfather was a chaplain. In 5th grade, I preached my first “sermon”— sharing the gospel as I discussed a Keys for Kids devotional at show-and-tell.
I thrived in Christian Reformed, Baptist, charismatic and nondenominational spaces, digging into scripture, learning the joy of extemporaneous prayer, soaking in hymns and praise songs. Jesus was there with me through good times and bad.
The congregations I was part of did not have female pastors, so I interpreted the call I felt (early and often) as a call to youth or children’s ministry, or a call to be a “pastor’s wife.” I chose Biblical and Theological Studies for my focus in college and graduate school. I worked in churches, nonprofits and schools, and volunteered at church. Eventually, with my husband and children, I moved to Mexico to support ongoing Baptist, nondenominational, Brethren and Pentecostal missionary work there.
During our time in Mexico, I began to see more clearly that the theology I had learned as a child and young adult did not have room for the ministry of all believers: limits for women; exclusion for LGBTQ Christians, in particular several of the youth in our youth group. After trying, and failing, to move our communities toward the justice we envisioned, my husband and I formally dissolved our relationships with our sending organizations.
As we prepared to move back to the United States, I wasn’t sure I would ever be part of an organized church again. I had a list of non-negotiables and enough hope to go and see. The first Sunday after we moved to Atlanta in summer 2018, I walked to the closest church–St. Bede’s Episcopal Church–with my list and my hope. I was astounded and blessed to check off all the items on my list.
For a year, I soaked in the unfamiliar and healing rhythms of liturgy and belonging-for-all at St. Bede’s. I marveled at the diverse preaching voices and ministries of Deacon Nora Cruz-Diaz, and priests Claiborne Jones, Lynnsay Buehler, Caroline McGee, Chad Vaughn and Fabio Sotelo. I then accepted the invitation to join the staff as Director of Children’s and Family Ministries, my call beginning to be affirmed in new ways. At Chad’s urging (“many at St. Bede’s are seeing charisms for ordained ministry in you”), I attended “Here I Am” day in January 2020 and discerned for postulancy to the priesthood through that horrible, wondrous year.
Through diocesan-level involvement – teaching Safeguarding God’s Children Inclusion modules, serving on the LGBTQ Ministry Commission, and visiting 50 parishes in 15 months– I have been blessed to witness the Spirit’s creative power at work through lay and ordained ministries all over Middle and North Georgia. I’ve also been blessed by the mentorship of Ceci Duke, Monica Mainwaring and Fabio Sotelo, and the staff and congregations at St. Bede’s, St. Martin in the Fields and St. Edwards.
As I move into this next part of my call, the diaconate, I find myself moved by the beauty of the two-step ordination, the theology and practice that have developed around the need for priests to lean into the layers of their call. In the diaconate, the layer of my baptismal ministry gets interpreted through a particular call—to servanthood, to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns and hopes of the world. Only after learning these disciplines will I put on the priesthood layer! What a gift to practice this diaconal ministry with the amazing community at St. Edward’s in Lawrenceville (come visit–you will be blessed!). My hope is that these six months will not fly by, but that instead I will be indelibly formed by this diaconal call and ministry, strengthened for the good of the church.
For all those who wonder about the shape of your own baptismal call–if it might be to ordained ministry–I encourage you to lean in, even if you’ve never seen an ordained person quite like yourself. “Here I Am” Day is just around the corner–January 2026. Your ministry–whether lay or ordained–is a beautiful and unique journey. The church and the world need you being you, doing whatever work God has created you for, and the diocesan discernment process is a great way to find joyful, thoughtful, supportive companions to help you discern your way. May God be glorified in all of us – human beings fully alive!
David Emory Stooksbury: “A call to serve rural Georgia”
My journey has been long. It began with me being nurtured at North Decatur United Methodist Church and Briarcliff United Methodist Church. Yes, I am a native of Atlanta, being born on Peachtree Road. When in college at the University of Georgia, on Sun. Oct 29, 1978, I attended Emmanuel Episcopal Church for the first time. I felt like I had just found my most comfortable shoes that I had lost years earlier. I never left.
I have felt a call to serve rural Georgia for decades. My professional background is in the agricultural sciences. When I went through discernment over 15 years ago, I was unable to make clear to the church the needs for rural Georgia. Following COVID-19, I was encouraged to go through discernment again by my rector, Nikki Mathis. Nikki assured me that the church had changed.
I was surprised pleasantly when I began discernment that the church has a new understanding of the needs of rural Georgia. I found strong support from my sending congregation, St Gregory the Great. I have been an intern at The Church of the Mediator in Washington, Ga. My time there has confirmed my call to rural/small church ministry. I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received from the people at Mediator.
Balancing diaconate work with another career:
My call is bivocational, rural/small town ministry. I am associate chair for agricultural engineering in the University of Georgia College of Engineering and will continue full-time employment at UGA. I have found it is important to set realistic expectations for myself and for what others expect from me. I am currently serving as a deacon at The Church of the Mediator in Washington, Georgia, which means my drive is one-hour both ways. This gives me plenty of time to think as I make the drive. For me, the most surprising change is that I have had to set different expectations for my work at UGA.
Significance of this ordination:
The significance for me is that the Church also heard my call to serve in rural Georgia. Right before the Bishop laid his hands on me, I was deeply aware that I was participating in an act that is almost 2,000 years. It is not about me. It is about us living into the Kingdom of God.
Hopes as you go forward as a deacon:
My hope that I am able to help others to learn and develop their gifts to serve God and God’s people in rural Georgia, where the public infrastructure and resources are often limited. The lack of public transportation makes many problems in rural Georgia much more difficult to solve.
Advice for readers who may be feeling called:
First, one needs to listen to their heart. What is God calling you to do? Part of the test of your calling is to volunteer in the type of service that you think God is calling you to do. Does it feel right? Meeting with those who know you best and a deacon/priest is important.
During formal discernment, remain open to all the possibilities. Real personal discernment must be open to all options. There are no shortcuts. During your discernment, spiritual growth is important. If you are not growing spiritually during discernment, you need to slow down. It is important to have a realistic understanding that the process takes years.
Dr. Nicole Tingle Walters: “Trusted God to guide me step by step”
The clearest way I can describe my call is to say that Christ has been pursuing me for as long as I can remember. I did not grow up in the church, yet even as a child I felt a deep longing for God and felt drawn to Jesus. I remember sitting by my family’s nativity set every Christmas, just mesmerized by this baby in the manger. When I was finally invited to church as a teenager, I was all in. What I encountered there awakened a desire not only to know God, but to follow Christ with my whole life.
During college, I began to sense a call to ministry just as my world was expanding through relationships, travel and exposure to diverse cultures. Over the next 20 years, I served in church and nonprofit ministry across three continents, learning firsthand the beauty and breadth of the global Church and interfaith relationships. Along the way, I was deeply formed by a variety of Christian traditions, expanding the roots I built in the Baptist church—worshiping with the Egyptian Coptic Church, being welcomed into local house churches, and learning contemplative prayer at the feet of Trappist monks. These experiences shaped both my faith and my understanding of a God who meets us across cultures, traditions and boundaries.
After living and serving in the Middle East and South Asia, my family returned to the United States in 2019. I sensed God calling me deeper, though I did not yet know where that call would lead. I returned to seminary to complete my degree and, during that time, found the Episcopal Church through a centering prayer group. In that space of silence and shared prayer, I discovered what felt like a spiritual home.
Having come from traditions where women’s leadership in the church was limited, I never imagined preaching or ordained ministry as a possibility for myself. That changed when God placed me under the leadership of leaders who recognized and nurtured my gifts. The Rev. Hazel Glover at St. Paul’s, Newnan, saw those gifts from the moment I walked through the doors and invited me into service and leadership immediately. Her encouragement, along with the faithful support of the St. Paul’s community, was instrumental in my discernment.
The day I was confirmed into the Episcopal Church in November 2021 felt like coming home. On that same day, Bishop Rob Wright invited me to enter the discernment process. After years of others naming the gifts they saw in me, I finally said yes. I did not begin this journey with a clear sense that I was called to the priesthood; instead, I trusted God to guide me step by step.
From my Anglican year at Candler School of Theology to my Doctor of Ministry work exploring how congregations grow through contemplative practice, each step clarified my call. I was deeply shaped by the leadership and mentoring of The Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, my thesis advisor and one of my doctoral advisors. His wisdom and example as a leader in contemplative formation helped ground my emerging sense of vocation and clarified my desire to serve the Church as a spiritual guide rooted in prayer, presence and attentiveness to God.
I was also profoundly shaped by my formation as a seminarian under Canon John Thompson Quartey, whose mentorship modeled pastoral leadership rooted in humility, faithfulness and deep love for the Church. Equally formative has been my relationship with a beloved community on the West Coast, which I can only describe as God-ordained. There, I have been deeply shaped by my friendship and mentorship with Father Vincent Pizzuto, whose priesthood embodies the kind of leader I aspire to become. Through his example, I have learned what it looks like to nurture authentic, intimate Christian community, one rooted in contemplative depth, radical hospitality and shared spiritual life.
I have come to understand my vocation as one rooted in walking alongside others, helping people grow spiritually, encounter Christ more deeply, and live that transformation out in compassionate service to the world.
Balancing diaconate work with another career:
Alongside my formation and church service, I have continued to work as a writer and communications professional. All of this comes after my role as a wife and mom to two teens (and a dachshund who thinks he is the center of the universe). Balancing these responsibilities has been challenging, but deeply life-giving. I see all my work as ministry, various ways of serving compassionately and communicating hope and meaning. Working with nonprofits and ministries has allowed me to hone skills that I now bring into the life of the Church, especially in helping communities articulate their mission and share God’s story in the world.
Significance of this ordination:
This ordination marks a pivotal moment in my life. As a woman who once believed this kind of ministry was not possible for me, it feels like both a fulfillment of a calling God planted long ago and an invitation into deeper faithfulness. It represents grace to keep learning, to keep growing, and to keep being shaped by God for the sake of others. I receive this ordination with gratitude and humility, praying that I will continue to grow evermore united with Christ and to love God and God’s people more fully throughout my life.
Hopes as you go forward as a deacon:
Much of my ministry has unfolded at the intersection of cultures, traditions and social realities, and I have seen firsthand both the deep beauty and deep brokenness of our world. As a deacon, I hope to help the Church more fully see and respond to that world, to be a bridge between the gathered body of Christ and the communities God longs to heal.
I understand the diaconate as a ministry that calls the Church outward: to serve compassionately, to notice suffering and to embody Christ’s presence beyond our walls. My prayer is that I can help equip God’s people to recognize where Christ is already at work and to join Him there, with humility, courage and love.
Advice for readers who may be feeling called:
Trust the community God has placed around you. Others often see our calling before we are able to name or trust it ourselves. I needed mentors, teachers, and faithful companions to walk with me, encourage me, and sometimes carry me when the journey felt uncertain or difficult.
Listen carefully, remain open, and trust that God works through the people who surround you. Discernment is never meant to be done alone.