Episcopal Church Foundation Announces 2020 Fellows
The Episcopal Church Foundation has named the 2020 Fellows class and includes The Rev. Hannah Armidon. Currently in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield, Hannah and her husband Robert were residents at Nashotah House, where Robert is completing his Master of Divinity in 2021.
As ECF’s longest running program, the Fellowship Partners Program has been supporting entrepreneurial leaders since 1964. Initially started to support academics with intentions to teach in seminaries, the Fellowship has expanded over the years to lift up emerging academic and ministry leaders who seek to impact the wider Church. ECF is proud to partner with our 2020 Fellows and is excited to journey with them as they shape the Episcopal Church of the future.
“Currently, I'm working on my dissertation, which is (working title) A Theology of Swarming Creatures,” said Hannah. “I'm working on a theological interpretation of Scripture that incorporates the modern biblical studies methods of historical and textual criticism into a theological approach, which focuses on what a given passage says about God, rather than just deconstructing it. The idea is to reclaim the overlooked bits of the Old Testament that people skip over as boring or irrelevant, saying that they don't have anything to say to Christians today, when the whole Bible is the Word of God (as per 2 Tim. 3:16-17). So I'm using the topic of swarming creatures (primarily located in the laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy) to see what they bring to the table theologically. The fellowship's goal is to support and promote scholarship geared toward the wider church, not just academia. Scholarship with feet, as it were. The temptation for passages like the dietary laws is to pass them over as irrelevant to Christians; however, their theological implications extend to theology of creation, fall, and new creation, idolatry in Israel and the book of Revelation, and the relationship between Israel and the nations, all of which have an impact on the Church’s role in the world, particularly missionally.”
ECF President Donald Romanik, extending his congratulations to the 2020 Fellows, said, “For more than half a century, ECF's Fellowship Partners Program has supported emerging and aspiring leaders across the church. During these difficult times, our 2020 Fellows continue the tradition of pursuing important, innovative and potentially transformational academic and ministry initiatives. We look forward to working with these exceptional individuals.”
The two recipients’ scholarship and ministry projects show a church that is engaged in a changing world. The 2020 Fellows are building up spiritual leadership in poor communities and addressing the theology of uncleanness.
Hannah Armidon was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in 2010. Prior to this, she was a veterinary technician and a professional violinist. For the subsequent seven years, she planted a church ministry in the inner city of Troy, New York. In 2017, she became ill and left to pursue a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies at Wycliffe College, Toronto.
The application process for the 2021 ECF Fellowship is now open. Complete information about the ECF Fellowship Partners Program can be found on ECF's website: https://www.episcopalfoundation.org/programs/fellowship-partner-program.