Discovery Adult Education

September 29–October 20: Welcoming the Stranger: Asylum, Migration, and Jesus as Refugee

In the first session of our fall season, clergy and scholars explore migration, asylum, the concept of land, and what it means from a Christian perspective to “welcome the stranger.”

September 29: Jesus the Refugee author D. Glenn Butner, Jr., explores the holy family’s flight to Egypt through the lens of modern legal conventions impacting refugees across the globe. Watch the recording

Glenn Butner began serving as Associate Professor of Theology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, MA) in July 2024. Before that he taught for eight years at Sterling College in Sterling, KS, where he also coordinated a multi-church refugee resettlement ministry. He writes in systematic theology and social ethics, including Jesus the Refugee: Ancient Injustice and Modern Solidarity and Work Out Your Salvation: A Theology of Markets and Moral Formation. He is married and has three children.

October 6: The Rev. David Ulloa Chavez, former Canon for Border Ministries at the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, on supporting asylum seekers in our communities and The Episcopal Church’s response to the crisis.

The Rev. Canon David Ulloa Chavez currently serves the Rector of All Saints of the Desert Episcopal Church in Sun City, AZ.  Prior to his present call, Fr. David served for four years as the Canon for Border Ministries for the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. He has also served a Vicar at Iglesia Episcopal Santa Maria and the Latinx community at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, both in the Phoenix metro area.   For six years, Fr. David served on the diocesan anti-racism committee and as instructor in theology for the diocesan Deacon Formation Academy.  His service to the wider Episcopal Church includes being a member of the Council of Advice for the Hispanic Latino Ministries; member of the General Convention’s, Mexico Covenant Committee; and board member of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing.  Fr. David is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary where he graduated with a M.Div. and Th.M. in Philosophical Theology.  He is the father to two sons, an avid reader, and jazz musician.  

October 13: The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil, Bishop of Toronto, on migration, asylum, and Indigenous Ministries in of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Bishop Andrew Asbil is the Anglican Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Toronto. He is the chief pastor of the Diocese of Toronto, with pastoral oversight of 202 parishes and 650 clergy. Founded in 1839, the Diocese of Toronto is the most populous of the 30 dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada. A passionate preacher, Andrew has shared vision for creation, diversity, discipleship and mission.

Bishop Asbil was elected Coadjutor Bishop on June 9, 2018, and was consecrated on Sept. 29, 2018. He automatically became the Diocesan Bishop on Jan. 1, 2019, and was installed on Jan. 13, 2019.

Born in 1961, Bishop Asbil was educated at the University of Waterloo and received his Master of Divinity degree from Huron College in 1988. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1989 and served a number of parishes in the Diocese of Niagara before coming to the Diocese of Toronto in 2001. In 2019, he was recognized with a Doctor of Divinity from Huron University College.

In Toronto, he served as Incumbent of Redeemer, Bloor St. and was appointed Canon of the Diocese of Toronto in 2009. He served as the Dean of Toronto and Rector of St. James Cathedral from January 2016 to September 2018. As Bishop, Andrew is a member of the Canadian National Church’s governing body; Council of General Synod, and the Canadian representative to the Episcopal Church’s governing body; Executive Council. He is the president of the Canadian Chapter of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Compass Rose Society.

Certified in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and conflict management, Andrew is often asked to manage large groups who need a credible outside facilitator to get them to a place where they can effectively negotiate. 

Married to Mary with a combined family of five young adult children, Andrew is a family man. As a son, brother, in-law, cousin, dad – family is the stabilizing center of his fulsome day-to-day life. He is an avid swimmer, loves sports & cooking, and together with Mary, host fantastic parties.

October 20:The Rev. Jorge Ortiz on welcoming the stranger in church, our spiritual home.

The Rev. Jorge Ortiz is Priest and Associate Director for Community Engagement at Trinity Church. His passion for mission, reconciliation, and social justice has inspired his call to ordained ministry around the world. 

Fr. Jorge strives to find meaning and purpose in the role of Christian faith in public life and how it may empower people and their communities in terms of spiritual, human, and social transformation. 

Along with his MA in Human Rights Law and an MA in Higher Education, Rev. Ortiz has extensive work experience as a leader in faith-based programs designed to promote social mobility and equal opportunity. 

Fr. Ortiz feels privileged to currently dedicate part of his ministry here at Trinity to serving and welcoming asylum seeker families who make New York their home. 

October 27–November 24: How to Love Your Enemy: Peacemaking and Love Across Conflict

Jesus calls us to love our enemy. Yet we live in a divided world, and it is challenging to be in relationship with those who see things differently. Throughout this election season we will contemplate what it means to love and practice peacemaking in difficult times.

• October 27: Award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict, on moving toward healthier — and fruitful — civil discourse. At 1pm, Ripley joins our Trinity Talks series to dig into ways we can help one another break out of destructive feuds.
• November 10: The Rev. Phil Jackson, Rector of Trinity Church, on how to love your enemy in times of social and political discord.
• November 17: Distinguished preacher and author the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in dismantling apartheid
• November 24: Speaker to be announced

December 8–22: The Love That Is God: An Invitation to Christian Faith

In the season of Advent waiting, join author Dr. Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt to explore the radical and subversive claim at the heart of Christianity: God is love. Far from abstract, Christian faith is experienced in our real-life relationships and expressed through communal love that leads us to care for one another in tangible, and unexpected, ways.

• December 8, 15: Dr. Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt

• December 22: Community Roundtable Discussion