February 9, 2021

On behalf of Junior Warden, Ellen Burton, and members of the Bishop’s Committee, Anne Davis, David Huang, Charlee Mitchell, and Melinda Sowers, I am pleased to announce that Good Samaritan Episcopal Church has a new priest! After a period of careful discernment, Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows has named The Rev. Elizabeth (Beth) Scriven to lead our congregation as our next Vicar. The Bishop’s Committee has met Beth virtually and we unanimously agreed with Bishop Jennifer’s decision. We found Beth to be thoughtful and genuine and we were excited to learn of her engagement in issues of social justice and racial equity as well.

Beth’s start date is scheduled for April 6th with her first Sunday being April 11th. This gives her an adequate amount of time to say goodbye, move to the area, and prepare for her time to serve as our priest. During this period of waiting it seems appropriate that we will spend the season of Lent preparing for the arrival of our priest. Her first Sunday will be just after we come together to celebrate Easter. Again, what an exciting time as we anticipate her arrival!

Thank you to all of the Good Samaritan staff members and our interim pastor, The Rev. Dr. Amy Lindeman Allen, for all of the work you have been doing to keep our congregation moving forward during this time of transition. We can also be thankful that Amy has committed to being with us until Beth’s arrival. We also thank former Senior Warden Kevin Samples for all of his assistance in this process as well. And, finally, thank you to all of you for your continued patience and prayers.

As we prepare for the arrival of our new priest we will be sure to share more information as we receive it. If you have questions we invite you to email wardens@churchthatserves.org. What an exciting day in the history of our congregation!

Peace,
Erin Tanner
Senior Warden

A letter from Beth

February 9, 2021

Dear people of Good Samaritan,

I am so excited to join you soon as your next vicar! I believe that God is up to something amazing in the work you are already doing, as well as in bringing us together for what is coming next.

I knew there was something special about Good Sam’s before I ever saw your website or Canon Kristin’s post of the position. I knew it because I had no idea this congregation or this position were out there at all until three separate people said to me: “Go look at this post. I think these are your people.” And when I looked, I saw a church that has clarity about who you are and who you are becoming: a church that serves, first, but then also a congregation that values the ministry of all its members, and a congregation that is trying to live more and more fully into becoming truly inclusive in the way that Jesus was inclusive. The more I learned, the more my heart was touched, and now I am delighted that the Holy Spirit and Bishop Jennifer have indeed called us to become each other’s people.

Now that I’ve been so bold as to make that claim, perhaps I’d better introduce myself a bit more! I’m a born and bred Midwesterner, raised in the Cleveland area by two public school educators. I was ordained a priest in 2008, after attending Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and Smith College. I served for seven years as an associate rector at St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, Ann Arbor, MI, where I worked particularly with youth programming, young adult discipleship, and conflict resolution with all ages. (St. Clare’s also co-owned the space with a Reform Jewish synagogue, which gave me an experience of life in shared space that I think might come in handy!) For the last nearly six years, I have been the chaplain of Rockwell House Episcopal Campus Ministry in St. Louis, where I lead an all-student congregation drawn from the campuses of Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis University. They are a marvelous, curious, funny, driven group of students, whom I have loved deeply and will miss. I never expected to leave them in the middle of a semester, but I believe the timing and the call are right, and I know they are well supported and well equipped to care for one another in this transition.

Outside of ministry, my great joys in life include cooking for other people, watching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The West Wing, visiting my family in Ohio and Pennsylvania, reading N.K. Jemisin novels, and laughing at anything and everything.

I look forward to joining you in April and getting to know and laugh with each of you then!

Faithfully,
Beth