The Rev. Jason Shank, who brings years of experience in church planting and ecumenical congregational vitality and transition, has been named interim church planting network strategist for The Episcopal Church.
The one-year experimental position—under the leadership of the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, chief of mission program—is designed to assess, guide, and shape the next chapter of church planting and redevelopment across the church.
Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 2017, Shank has served as canon for congregational vitality and transition in the Dioceses of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. As priest and mission developer with Resurrection Church in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, he created and led the planting of a new Episcopal church.
Shank—who earned a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.—served most recently as director of evangelical mission and assistant to the bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s synod in Washington, D.C. He has taught at United Lutheran Seminary and, before becoming an Episcopal priest, helped plant and lead churches as an associate pastor in the United Methodist Church in Maryland.
Shank has served on the Transition Ministry Conference Board, the Task Force on Church Planting and Redevelopment, and the standing committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. He has coached clergy and congregations on initiatives for congregational vitality, hospitality, and growth.
In his new role, Shank will work closely with the newly appointed Advisory Group on Church Planting and Revitalization created by General Convention Resolution A045 and collaborate with bishops, dioceses, ethnic ministries, formation leaders, and mission program staff to strengthen and sustain future planting and redevelopment strategies. A key focus will be to develop strategically aligned church planting and redevelopment grants.
Shank began his new role June 9.
