In this episode of Connecting Our Conversations, General Presbyter Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo sits down with the Presbytery of Southern New England's newly elected Moderator, Rev. Jenny Peek, and Vice Moderator, Elder Keith Rhoden Jr., to learn more about the people behind this year's leadership team.

Together, they reflect on their ministries, their shared commitment to inclusion and connection, and their hopes for the year ahead as they help guide the life and work of the Presbytery

Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo sits down with Rev. Kevin White, Rev. Kate Carlisle, Elder Rachelle Lee, and Young Adult Advisory Delegate Michael Ofori to reflect on their experiences representing the Presbytery of Southern New England at the 227th General Assembly of the PC(USA).

Together, they share stories of action, worship and fellowship, and what they believe the Holy Spirit is calling the church toward next.

In this episode of Connecting Our Conversations, Rev. Dr. Shannan Vance-Ocampo is joined by Dr. Heidi DeBlock, Visiting Research Scientist with NASA’s Johnson Space Center Cardiovascular Laboratory, for a thoughtful conversation about space exploration, human physiology, scientific discovery, and the sense of awe that comes from seeing Earth in the context of the wider universe. Together, they reflect on what missions like Artemis can teach us about the human body, our shared future, and the wonder that connects science and faith.

About Dr. Heidi DeBlock
Dr. Heidi DeBlock grew up in Upstate New York and frequented Maine to ski, enjoy the beaches and honeymoon. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in Astrophysics and attended the SUNY Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Science. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital.

Dr. DeBlock moved to the Portland area and is a hospitalist/intensivist for Maine Health Stephens Hospital . She is now a coach for students of the Tufts Medical College as well as teaching Problem Based Learning at TUSM. For the past 24 years she was an Associate Professor of Surgery at Albany Medical Hospital where she was an attending physician in both the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Units. She was on the faculty of the Albany Medical College and was the Director of the Critical Care Clerkship.

She has been working with NASA, Johnson Space Center's Cardiovascular Laboratory since 1990 as a Visiting Research Scientist. Her areas of study have included both Earth and Space based research on the areas of arrythmogenesis, orthostatic hypotension and their countermeasures. She was awarded the Spaceflight Achievement Award from NASA in 2003 for her contributions to research in Cardiovascular Physiology. Although based in Houston, Dr. DeBlock’s research has taken her to the Kennedy Space
Center and the Dreyden Spaceflight Research Center to attend shuttle landings over the past many years. She is currently working researching arrhythmias as a result of long duration spaceflight on the International Space Station. Dr. DeBlock talks about her research and work with NASA to many local schools, clubs and associations.

She was an adjunct professor of Science and Technology at Schenectady Community College, was the President of the Board of Directors of the Challenger Learning Center, is an avid skier, triathlete and enjoys traveling and playing a variety of instruments. She is the proud mother of 3 daughters and the wife of the Reverend Dr. Scott DeBlock.

In this episode, Rev. Dr. Shannan Vance-Ocampo, along with Rev. Gusti Newquist, pastor at Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church, discuss a key pillar of nonviolence: The Universe is on the Side of Justice.

Together they discuss how nonviolence is lived out in everyday ministry, and challenge us all to trust that even in complexity, God is on the side of justice.

In this episode, Rev. Dr. Shannan Vance-Ocampo talks with Rev. Trina Portillo of Burlington Presbyterian Church in Burlington, MA about the fifth pillar of Kingian nonviolence: Avoid Internal Violence of the Spirit as well as External Physical Violence.

Together, they reflect on ministry, immigration justice, public witness, righteous anger, and the discipline of nonviolence in a time of fear and harm.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Bearing Witness website: https://bearingwitnessne.org/
Bearing Witness Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1459429958807792/
Weekly witness: Wednesdays, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at 1000 District Avenue, Burlington, MA
Burlington Presbyterian Church: https://burlingtonpres.org/

Rev. Dr/ Shannan Vance-Ocampo discusses the theology of belonging with Erin Weber-Johnson, lead editor of the transformative new book, Pathways to Belonging.

The editors have generously offered a 40% off code for ordering directly from the publisher’s website with a discount : PATHWAYS
https://wipfandstock.com/9798385203321/pathways-to-belonging/#:~:text=Description,%2D%2Dincluding%20our%20faith%20communities.

PSNE 2025 Summer All-Presbytery Book Study
Schedule and Information:
Our summer book study will begin on Tuesday June 17th and run for five weeks, meeting at 12:30PM for an hour over zoom. After five weeks together in community, the second half of the summer will be spent reflecting and developing your own story of belonging, along with an opportunity to share that journey prayerfully with a spiritual companion.

Register: https://psne.breezechms.com/form/pathtobelonging

In this episode of Connecting our Conversations, Rev. Dr. Shannan Vance-Ocampo is joined by Rev. Kathryn Beilke for a discussion on how our faith calls us to care for God's creation, and address the growing plastic pollution crisis.

Together, they explore:

• The accelerating production of plastics and its impact on the current climate and public health crises
  
  
• How practices like fasting from plastics can raise consciousness and catalyze permanent lifestyle changes
  
  
• The PC (USA)'s overture calling congregations to move from disposable to sustainable practices
  
  

Rev. Kathryn Beilke is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and served for a decade as Pastor of a progressive congregation, but the moral and spiritual urgency of our current ecological crises prompted her to leave the pulpit and dedicate herself to effective environmental solutions. Believing that state and local action can spark meaningful change, Rev. Beilke worked with municipalities navigating New York State’s Climate Smart Communities initiative before joining Beyond Plastics as the Development Manager. While she is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she believes in centering a diversity of traditions and indigenous perspectives in her work. She enjoys gardening, camping, hiking, biking, and paddle boarding with her family.

About Beyond Plastics:
Launched in January 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of grassroots advocates to build a vibrant and effective movement to end plastic pollution.

Additional Resources:

Plastic Jesus
https://www.creationjustice.org/plasticjesus.html

Overture from the 226th General Assembly
https://www.pc-biz.org/search/3001145

Connecting our Conversations is hosted by the Presbytery of Southern New England, a regional governing body in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This is our space for conversations that push the edges of our faith and help us deepen discipleship.Connecting our Conversations is hosted by the Presbytery of Southern New England, a regional governing body in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This is our space for conversations that push the edges of our faith and help us deepen discipleship.

The PSNE's All-Presbytery Antiracism Training with Rev. Dr. William Yoo is coming up on March 1, 2025.

In this episode of Connecting our Conversations, Rev. Nancy Baseel and Rev. Kevin White chat with Rev. Dr. William Yoo about the PSNE’s upcoming Antiracism Training, where Dr. Yoo will be our keynote speaker. We talk a bit about Dr. Yoo’s historical work and how that intersects with the Church in our time and place, and get a preview of what we can expect at the training. Registration link below.

Dr. William Yoo is the Associate Professor of American Religious and Cultural History at Columbia Theological Seminary, where he is also the Director of the M.Div. Program.

He is the author of What Kind of Christianity: A History of Slavery and Anti-Black Racism in the Presbyterian Church (winner of the 2023 Award of Excellence from the Religion Communicators Council), and most recently Reckoning with History: Settler Colonialism, Slavery, and the Making of American Christianity.

“As a teacher, preacher, and scholar, Yoo focuses on the history of racism in American Christianity. He is a professor and public theologian who interprets the most challenging and urgent issues of racial justice with clarity, depth, honesty, and precision.” (WJK bio).

Dr Yoo has a deep commitment to researching, studying, writing about and engaging the histories of settler colonialism, racial injustice, and slavery through the lens of Christianity; and his work invites the alignment of the Gospel with the work of liberation through an honest assessment of the church’s role in these forms of oppression in the United States.

Rev. Nancy Baseel and Rev. Kevin White are the co-chairs of the Presbytery of Southern New England’s Antiracism and Equity Team. Rev. Nancy Baseel is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Hartford CT; and Rev. Kevin White is the pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church, Cumberland RI.

PSNE Antiracism Training is Saturday, March 1 at New Haven Korean Presbyterian Church. Click here for the registration link.

Participation is open to anyone in the Presbytery!

This training fulfills the antiracism training required once every three years by the PSNE Antiracism Policy for all active Teaching Elders, Certified Ruling Elders, Inquirers and Candidates under care, and those engaged in Presbytery ministry service (serving on commissions, committees, teams, pulpit supply, etc – see page 5 of the policy).

Read the PSNE Antiracism Policy here.