Diocese Welcomes Jenny Beaumont as New Missioner for Adult Formation and Lifelong Learning
The Diocese welcomes Jenny Beaumont as the new Missioner for Adult Formation and Lifelong Learning for the Diocese of North Carolina.
This is a new position created to affirm the diocesan commitment to our mission priority of lifelong formation. The missioner is envisioned to be a key leader in increasing the vitality and impact of Christian formation at the local, regional and diocesan levels with a focused intentionality to “make disciples who make a difference.” This position was first proposed for the 2020 budget year but postponed at the onset of the pandemic to allow the Diocese to review its priorities and make necessary adaptations to ensure long-term diocesan stability.
“Jenny Beaumont is already a highly experienced and greatly respected visionary in our diocesan leadership network for Christian formation,” said the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, bishop suffragan for the Diocese of North Carolina. “Not only does she come with an impressive resume of accomplishments in adult formation at the local level, she is familiar with what it takes to adapt proven materials to various contexts across our diocese.”
Beaumont’s responsibilities will include reimagining Christian formation for a 21st-century context. She will draw upon and strengthen traditional platforms for in-person gatherings as well as create and utilize online models designed to expand offerings and networks across our diverse diocese. Beaumont will help coordinate efforts, strategies and approaches in adult learning, emphasizing our mission priorities.
This is not work Beaumont will do alone. She will work closely with the diocesan youth missioners and other diocesan staff, the Chartered Commission for Lifelong Christian Formation, the Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee, the Commission for the Diaconate and the Diocesan Council department for Christian formation, all of whom plan to work together to continue to build relationships and cooperative efforts with formation leaders across the diocese and the wider Church.
“We are very excited to welcome Jenny to our team and benefit from her extensive experience as an educator with a heart for mission,” said the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman, bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. “She brings a depth of leadership in formation, building programs that inspire and strengthen beloved community. Her work at Christ Church, Charlotte, was grounded in the Episcopal tradition and also embraced the wider ecumenical connections she brings to her work.”
Beaumont is well-suited to lead the deepening of diocesan Christian formation, as she has spent 25 years as a skilled Christian formation leader. She currently serves as the director of adult spiritual formation at Christ Church, Charlotte, a position she has held for 13 years after serving for 10 years as the church’s director of Christian Education. In her time as the director of adult spiritual formation, she has led initiatives as a digital and online facilitator/trainer, a Sacred Ground group facilitator, a race and reconciliation leader and a national trainer for Education on Ministry through University of the South. She has presented at FORMA and was the lead author of These Are Our Bodies: Talking Faith at Church and Home and co-author of These Are Our Bodies: Talking Faith at Church and Home: Foundation Book, all while running a learning center created to “meet the needs of families and students with specific and expert support in learning.” She shared her considerable gifts with the Diocese in 2020, when she was instrumental in bringing Christian Essentials, a multi-session offering that invites participants to explore, grow and deepen their faith and life with God, to a diocesan-wide audience. “The Christian Essentials program is an excellent example of how Jenny has already been part of our diocesan strategy as we move into a ‘new normal’ for Christian formation,” said Hodges-Copple.
Beaumont begins her tenure with the Diocese on January 26, when she will attend the 2021 FORMA virtual gatherings with hundreds of other Episcopal leaders in Christian formation.
