The Rev. Michael Chaney ’13 is a bi-vocational priest in the Diocese of Georgia where he is also a Professor of Film & Television at SCAD in Savannah, Georgia.
Michael graduated from EDS in 2013 through the Distributive Learning program. He was so enamored with the program that he created a panel on higher education distance learning options for the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin Texas that featured programs from EDS, Harvard, and MIT.
Michael was ordained to the transitional diaconate in 2013 and to the priesthood in 2014. He served as Missioner to Area University and College Students for five years until he was called to serve as priest-in-charge with The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, a church plant in Savannah, Georgia and The Community of St. Joseph, a sister parish with a focus on pastoral care and justice for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
Epiphany framed itself as a “Church without walls” and put radical hospitality into action. They held dinner church in a community office space before moving to the Savannah LGBT Center and then to a Comedy Improv Theater. Since January 2024 Epiphany has worshiped at a building that housed a former Episcopal Church and continues to experiment with liturgy that attracts those searching for an affirming community with whom to explore and question. Their annual Christmas Eve service at Savannah’s premiere punk rock club has become a local tradition that attracts an eclectic crowd.
Michael is passionate about the intersection of faith, arts, and politics. He programs film screenings and discussions at local venues and on the film festival circuit. In 2021 he created the Wild Goose Cinema at the Wild Goose Festival. His “Common Grounds” coffee house discussion series (2015-2020) implemented the discussion guidelines from the Visions training at EDS and successfully brought together disparate points of view for discourse.
“EDS was the place God called me to be at the time God needed me to be there.” says the Rev. Chaney. “I am deeply grateful for the formation experience with my cohort and the success of the distributive learning program. I continue to lean into the anti-racist and anti-oppression foundation of my seminary education as a lens to better understand the Gospel, my own privilege, and the growing need for justice in creation. My classes with Larry Wills, Julie Lytle, and Patrick Cheng helped shape my understanding of how the secular and quotidian world can point us toward glimpses of the divine.”
Michael’s 60 Second Sermons can be found on TikTok and Instagram @padrechaney.