Leer en Español

The Board of Directors of the Episcopal Evangelism Society (EES) has named the Very Rev. Troy Mendez as the new Executive Director. Mendez will begin the position on February 1, 2024.

Prior to this call, Troy has served as the fourteenth dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, a historic and vibrant downtown Phoenix, AZ congregation.  Previously, he served at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, CA, and at the historic Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel, CA.

Troy attended Virginia Theological Seminary and graduated Cum Laude in 2009. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the seminary and continues to serve as Chair of the Trustees Committee.  In addition, Troy served on the  Dean’s Task Force on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, which designed the first program by an academic institution in the United States to pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved peoples. He also now concurrently serves in the same role on the Board of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary. “We are excited to see how Troy’s deep experience in theological education will inform his work with EES grantees,” said the Rev. Philip DeVaul, Co-Chair of the EES Board of Directors.

Troy approaches ministry with tremendous joy and is passionate about seeing the Church offer all people a sense of belonging, dignity, community and the grace of new life given to us in Jesus Christ. “Troy’s vocation aligns beautifully with the work of EES,” said the Rev. Canon Alissa Newton, Co-Chair of the EES Board of Directors. “Our grants are intended to help leaders-in-formation explore the evangelism dimension of their vocation, and we believe that God is calling the Episcopal Church at this time to explore how evangelism is embodied in racial reconciliation work. Troy’s commitment to full inclusion, radical hospitality and proclaiming God’s unconditional love will equip him to encourage our grantees to explore their vision for Episcopal evangelism today.”

More about the Episcopal Evangelism Society

EES supports innovative evangelism by awarding Evangelism for the 21st Century grants for projects that will share the Gospel in new and exciting ways, and support the formation of grantees as innovative evangelists. Any Episcopalian in any accredited seminary community or local formation program (ie. diocesan school, Iona Collaborative) is eligible. This includes students, faculty or staff or the Episcopalian spouse or partner of a student, faculty or staff member. Call or email the Executive Director with questions about eligibility. Get contact information,  read about recent grant work and download an application at https://www.ees1862.org/.