Vulnerable Congregations

The Rev. Earnest Graham

Canon Graham serves as a regional canon located in the Greensboro and Winston-Salem convocations.

Prior to attending seminary, Canon Graham worked as a graphic artist in advertising as well as an illustrator. He comes to the Diocese from the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia where he served as interim rector of Hickory Neck Episcopal Church in Toano, Virginia, and rector of St. Matthew's in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Ordained in 2001, Canon Graham’s service to the church began long before he entered Virginia Theological Seminary. While a lay member at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming, he chaired committees and directed ministries, he led youth programs and served as a vestry member, acolyte, LEM and hospital visitor. His call deepened, leading him to VTS in 1998; he remained in Virginia following his ordination.

In his free time, Canon Graham continues to practice art, creating comic book translations of the Bible; he is currently at work on selections of the Psalms.

The Rev. Canon Rhonda Lee, Ph. D.

Canon Rhonda Mawhood Lee grew up bilingual and bicultural (English and French) outside Montreal, Quebec. She has lived in North Carolina since 1992, except for a six-year sojourn in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was ordained. Canon Lee holds a doctorate in U.S. history from Duke University. She is the author of occasional essays and two books: Through With Kings and Armies: The Marriage of George and Jean Edwards and, with Craig Werner, Love and Happiness: Eros According to Dante, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and The Reverend Al Green. A student of non-violence married to a military historian, Canon Lee and her husband, Wayne E. Lee, never lack material for conversation.

A spiritual director formed in the Ignatian tradition, Canon Lee supports congregations and clergy in discernment processes, mutual ministry reviews, leadership transitions and conflict management. She is available for preaching (including in Spanish), coaching and support of clergy and lay leaders. She is particularly interested in intentional communities, ministries of presence and accompaniment, and intercultural ministries, which can take many forms—most of which, she suspects, we haven’t yet imagined.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Sally French

The Rev. Dr. Sally French serves as the interim east regional canon for the Diocese of North Carolina. In her role as regional canon, she is part of a team of missioners and canons dedicated to increasing the vitality and impact of congregational development initiatives at the local, regional and diocesan levels. Sally’s work focuses on the Raleigh, Durham and Rocky Mount convocations of the Diocese.

The Rev. Daniel Dario Robayo Hidalgo

Robayo served as the rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia for nine years before joining diocesan staff. A priest for 30 years who has served in a wide variety of parish settings and diocesan leadership roles, Robayo has great gifts in formation and congregational development. He understands his vocation as “empowering the ministry of the baptized in the church as well as in the world.” His passion is to “give people the tools to reflect theologically about their Christian identity and their place in the world so that in their daily lives they may represent Christ to the world.”

A native of Venezuela who has spent most of his adult life as an Episcopalian in the United State, Robayo seeks to walk with the worship communities of the diocese through the opportunities and challenges of being a multilingual, intercultural Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement.

Robayo is married to Nancy Urrecheaga-Robayo, an educator with many years of experience as a classroom teacher, principal and Godly Play instructor. Between them, they have 5 children and 6 grandchildren.

The Rev. Canon David Forster Sellery

Before joing the staff of the Diocese of North Carolina, Sellery served as priest-in-charge at St. John’s, Salisbury, Connecticut. He successfully opened the doors of St. John’s to the community, particularly to young people and families, through the “WiFi Café” program he hosted every week in the parish hall. As part of his community outreach mission, Sellery actively served as an emergency medical technician with the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service.

In addition to extensive parish work, Sellery served as the director of institutional advancement for two of New York's premier not-for-profit organizations, focusing in the areas of community development and healthcare. While working in portfolio and investment management, he continued his active ministry serving as visiting clergy to parishes in Connecticut and New York and on Long Island. His experience as a commuting executive informs his perspective in serving families in commuter communities. He later returned to full-time parish work to which he brought his enhanced administrative, communications and stewardship skills.

Born in Norwood, Massachusetts, Sellery was educated in public schools in Darien, Connecticut; Malvern, Pennsylvania and Woodland Hills, California. He majored in English Literature and received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut (1989), Masters of Divinity from The General Theological Seminary in New York (1992), and Certificate in Appreciative Transitional Ministry (2013) and Certificate in Appreciative Coaching via The Clergy Leadership Institute (2015). Sellery serves as a director of Nazareth Friends, Inc. a family foundation that owns and operates four homes for people with developmental disabilities in Florida.

Sellery is married to Jane Muir Sellery. They have two sons, Robert and William.

Website: davidsellery.org
Podcast: Fr. Sellery Presents This Week’s Focus

The Rev. Kathy Walker

The Rev. Kathy Walker previously served as the associate rector for pastoral care and parish life at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, Florida, though her call to church leadership and ministry is one she has answered her entire life. Prior to becoming a member of the clergy, over her lifetime she has served as a licensed lay reader, a lay Eucharistic minister, vestry member and church officer. She was instrumental in the founding of the David Henry Brooks chapter of Union of Black Episcopalians in the Diocese of Florida, and while serving as its president organized multiple forums about the future of Black churches.

Kathy believes strongly in the honoring and continuity of Black churches and hopes in her new role to help as many as possible not only survive, but flourish. She also wants to work with congregations to deepen their churches’ roots in the communities they already serve so well, and build leadership opportunities in the Church for future generations.