The Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, Bishop of Long Island will ordain, Miguel Ángel Castilleja Escobar, Casey Jamaal, Amirthaseeli Jeyaseelan Beulah Koila, and Katharine Jane Akerman Schneider to the Sacred Order of Deacons on Saturday January 25th, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. The ordination will be open for in-person attendance, and will be live-streamed.
Clergy who plan to vest and process are kindly asked to let us know by REGISTERING HERE.
View the Live Stream
Meet the Ordinands
Miguel Escobar is a candidate for the transitional diaconate in the Diocese of Long Island with a particular focus on Spanish-speaking ministry.
Miguel earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2007 and has served in a variety of roles in the Episcopal Church since. He was communications assistant to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, managing program director for the Episcopal Church Foundation, and served as director of Anglican Studies and then operations director for Episcopal Divinity School. He also researches, writes, and presents on Christianity's conflicted relationship with money, wealth, and poverty. His first book is The Unjust Steward: Wealth, Poverty, and the Church Today.
Miguel grew up in the Texas Hill Country and attended Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio where he studied the Roman Catholic social justice tradition, Latin American liberation theologies, and minored in Spanish. He serves on several boards including Episcopal Relief & Development and Friends of Forward Movement.
Casey Jamaal Jones is a third-year masters of divinity student at Virginia Theological Seminary and a Candidate for Holy Orders from Grace Church Brooklyn Heights. In seminary, Casey serves as the President of the Justice and Reconciliation Society and an active member of the Seminarians of Color Union. Prior to seminary, Casey completed a year of service through Jubilee Year Los Angeles, an Episcopal Service Corps program. Prior to his year-of-service, Casey led campus, youth, and young adult ministries. Casey is active in the Interfaith America Emerging Leaders Network, the Episcopal Church African Descent Ministries Council of Advice, and the Union of Black Episcopalians. Casey is a graduate of Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia).
Casey is married to Amoni, a poet-scholar-activist and doctoral candidate at the University of California Santa Barbara. Amoni and Casey have one daughter, Amara. Besides ministry, Casey enjoys reading, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends.
Katharine “Kate” Schneider is a third year MDiv student at Union Theological Seminary. Prior to seminary, Kate served as the Director of Family Ministries at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City, NY. She currently serves as the Ministry Associate at Zion Episcopal Church, Douglaston, NY. She is excited by the magic that happens when our rich Episcopal tradition and creativity meet, and she seeks that out in liturgy and learning.
Kate earned her Bachelor of Science in Recreation Management at Appalachian State University. While in college she actively participated in campus ministry with the Presbyterian- Episcopal Campus Ministry. She is especially grateful to the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina’s youth ministry programs, HUGS Camp, and Camp Henry who all raised her up and encouraged her to listen to God’s call in her life. Above all, she is grateful to her parents, Mark and Mary Jane Akerman for raising her in this beautiful tradition and living as faithful examples of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and to her wife, Mariel Schneider who has supported her every step of the way of this long and winding path.
Kate is excited to continue to make her home in the Diocese of Long Island and begin her ordained ministry in service to Jesus Christ and His church.
Amirthaseeli Jeyaseelan Beulah Koila is a candidate for the priesthood and currently completing her internship at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Ontario. Originally from Idayankulam village in Tirunelveli, South India, Amirthaseeli felt called to ministry from a young age. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she began serving as a Children’s Missionary in the Diocese of Tirunelveli. She later earned her Master of Divinity at the United Theological College in Bangalore, where she served as a Pastoral Assistant in several churches and worked in the city’s slums through an organization called Women’s Voice, addressing issues like domestic violence and alcoholism. During this time, she also served as a counselor at "Friends in Need," an interdenominational home for the aged.
After moving to the United States, Amirthaseeli pursued an M.A. in Pastoral Care and Counseling at the New York Theological Seminary, completing her Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Her M.A. thesis focused on helping young Indian immigrant couples build healthy relationships using Murray Bowen’s concept of differentiation of self. She also served as a Eucharistic Minister and Sunday School Coordinator at the Church of the Resurrection, Kew Gardens, Queens.
Amirthaseeli is married to the Rev. Joshua Samuel, a priest and theology professor at Huron University College in London, Ontario. Together, they are raising two children, Raphael (12) and Matthew (5).