The Rev. Brainerd Dharmaraj serves as Priest Associate at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California, a multicultural and bilingual parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Growing up in India with its myriad languages and cultures, Brainerd developed a deep appreciation for the gifts and joys of diversity, as well as its challenges. His experience as an immigrant, combined with his ministry at St. Mark’s and longstanding interest in diversity, led him to pursue doctoral studies. He is currently working towards a PhD in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. His research explores the lived experience of the Eucharist liturgy in multicultural and multilingual congregations, with a particular focus on English-Spanish bilingual communities.
Brainerd hopes that this “bottom-up” approach to liturgical study — grounded in the lived experiences of worshippers — will foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the diverse elements that shape worship and meaning-making across traditions. He also envisions this work contributing to the broader integration of cultural differences, not only in worship and liturgy but across all aspects of parish life.
Outside of his ministry and academic work, Brainerd, along with his wife Esther, enjoys music, hiking, watching British television shows, and having good conversations around the dinner table.
The Rev. Brainerd Dharmaraj will be named the 2025 Father J. Robert Wright Academic Fellow. The Rev. J. Robert Wright was an Episcopal priest, scholar, ecumenist, Episcopal Church historian, and a 1964 ECF Fellow. Upon the passing of the Rev. Wright, ECF received a transformational legacy gift from the Rev. Wright’s estate, which permanently endows an academic fellowship. We are incredibly grateful for this gift and excited to announce the Rev. Brainerd Dharmaraj as our inaugural Father J. Robert Wright Academic Fellow.
The Rev. Dorie Goehring (she/her) serves as Assistant Rector at St. John's Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain, MA. She is also a PhD candidate in Comparative Theology at Boston College, with a doctoral minor in Theological Ethics and a concentration in Catholic Healthcare Ethics. Her dissertation applies methodologies of comparative theology to questions of prenatal genetic testing ethics, with a focus on Anglican/Episcopalian and Islamic bioethical thought.
Dorie hopes that her work may contribute to the fields of disability theology, comparative theology, and theological bioethics. In addition to her academic and pastoral work, she has served in chaplaincy and clinical ethics roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Boston Medical Center Brighton in Brighton, MA, and Elizabeth Seton Residence in Wellesley Hills, MA. Prior teaching experience includes Boston College and the Ethics Consultation skills course at Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics.
The Rev. Kenji Kuramitsu is an Episcopal priest, licensed clinical social worker, and educator based in Chicago. He serves as Associate Dean for Community Life at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago and maintains a small private practice, Kintsugi Psychotherapy PLLC. He is board-certified in group psychotherapy and teaches pastoral care at McCormick Theological Seminary. He is also a Sacred Journey Fellow with Interfaith America.
Inspired by his own transformative experiences on pilgrimage and leading local "Race and Place" walking tours, Kenji’s ECF project, “Sacred Sites, Living Stones: Virtual Pilgrimages for Memory and Meaning,” will develop digital and in-person resources to guide church communities through pilgrimage experiences at sites of historical trauma, resistance, and sacred memory – such as Japanese American incarceration camps and civil rights landmarks. Designed for use in small groups, these materials will combine theological reflection, multimedia engagement, and practices of truth-telling to connect historical accountability with Christian discipleship.
He enjoys gardening, time with loved ones, and writing prayers and prose. His essays have appeared in Sojourners, Inheritance, and Asian American Writers’ Workshop, where his creative nonfiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is the author of A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: Collects for the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and Beyond. Kenji and his spouse Bri live in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood and are longtime members of St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Kenwood.
Demarius J. Walker is trying his best to “listen for the sound of the genuine” and follow the streams that bring joy to the city of God. He is called to cultivate reconciling communities and facilitate creative encounters that invite people to listen deeply—to themselves, one another, and God. Demarius holds a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from Boston University and an MA in Christian Formation from Virginia Theological Seminary. He studied Religion and Conflict Transformation at Boston University School of Theology and is receiving an MA in Peace and Social Transformation at Earlham School of Religion, a Quaker seminary. His journey into the ministry of reconciliation was deepened by his time with the Community of St. Anselm in London and the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland. He credits the Society of St. John the Evangelist in MA with leading him to the Anglican tradition, the Chemin Neuf Community in France with drawing him into the ecuemenical movement, Holy Cross Monastery in NY with creating space to embrace his identity as a peacemaker, and Mucknell Abbey in the UK with affirming his call to the intentional community movement, a vocation he shares with his wife Lakshmi.
Demarius is interested in how monastic, new monastic, and intentional Christian communities feed and are fed by movements for justice, healing, and social transformation. He seeks to build a bridge between these communities and young adults longing for a better way of life in a society increasingly marked by corruption, cruelty, and chaos. His ministry invites the Church to “Come and see where God dwells,” empowering young adults—regardless of income, background, or responsibilities—to embrace this call. He believes that connecting young adults with a safe, accessible, and visible network of alternative Christian communities will nurture a rehumanized generation shaped by the habits of reconciliation, ultimately making the way for a reimagined world that embodies God’s dream for humanity.