The Rev. Pamela “Pan” Conrad serves as interim rector of Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD. She also serves as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, a group charged with working on dismantling systemic racism where it exists within the diocese and continually approaching this transformational work through the lens of our Baptismal Covenant. She considers it a great joy to serve under the guidance of EDS alums The Rev. Randy Callender (Canon for Mission) and The Rev. Kristin Krantz (Canon for Transitions) in the Diocese of Maryland. How cool is that?
Pan has also begun interfaith work through a congregational leaders fellowship with the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, MD, and she is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of interfaith tensions and racism.
Pan still keeps a hand in her previous life as an astrobiologist/planetary scientist. She serves as a scientific co-investigator on NASA’s Mars2020 Perseverance Rover mission, and has learned that her scientific exploration is a rich source of theological reflection that can provide some insight into the exploration of the spiritual universe. Bridging the communities of science and faith, Pan is the Warden (equivalent to president) for the North American Province of The Society of Ordained Scientists, an international contemplative order that supports the ministry of ordained scientists. She has given public “science and faith” lectures all over North America and in the U.K.
Active participation in both communities of faith and of science has given Pan an opportunity to share those two communities each with the other. She is dedicated to encouraging people to engage both critical thinking and faith as they explore the interconnectedness of the material and the spiritual in their own life journeys. Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ using both heart and head has led to a deep conviction that God has asked us to use every gift we have to restore the streets to live in and truly live into our potential as repairers of the breach.
Pan has explored “extreme” environments all over the Earth including in the high arctic, Antarctica, Death Valley, and the deep sea hydrothermal vents of the Pacific seafloor, to name a few, as well as two regions on Mars with the help of robotic spacecraft. What she has learned is that the kingdom of God is the most amazing dimension of them all.
“I joined my cohort at EDS with no clue what to expect, and I came with a vague sense that I wanted to use the things I had learned as a scientist and explorer in theology, Christian formation and evangelism,” said Pan. “While that has come to pass in my ministry, after the first week on campus, I realized that social justice ministries, particularly racial reconciliation would become the center of my call. I still function as a planetary scientist / astrobiologist, and what I learned from our beloved Prof. Kwok Pui Lan about colonialism has profoundly impacted my approach to understanding what makes environments hospitable to life. I was not formed just in that three year experience at EDS, but I continue to be formed by the relationships built with my classmates, the professors and the staff. How deeply EDS has written its impact on my life, cannot be summarized in one or two sentences!”