Trish Sullivan Vanni, M.Div., Ph.D.
I am a person with a passion for faith and for people, filled with hope for us all.
I currently serve as the Pastoral Director of a new faith community that is part of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. We meet weekly in Eden Prairie, MN and if you’d like to hear more about us, click here. I hope to be ordained in service to this community within the coming year, and it’s where I have the privilege of preaching and teaching, all in the company of some amazing people
I also work as a consultant to parishes, ministry professional groups and parachurch organizations in the areas of formation for ministry, vision casting and mission development. Some of you may know me from my days as the director of The Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project, a Lilly Endowment funded initiative researching parish pastoral practice and ministry. For five years, I was the director of The Leaven Center, a non-profit ministry center that addressed multiple aspects of Catholic parish ministry vitality.
Prior to entering ministry, I was president of Sullivan Communications, a marketing and communication firm serving clients in what was then called the information industry. My work received numerous awards for excellence from professional groups and I was a regular speaker in key industry gatherings. Former clients included Dow Jones & Co., America Online, Knight-Ridder, Merrill Lynch, USWEST, Bell Atlantic, Merck, Sony and many others.
I’m a Hoya (CAS ’81) and received a Master of Divinity degree from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Ecclesiology and Organizational Leadership Theory at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Ca. I’ve worked extensively in parishes and have consulted with national ministry organizations (including NALM, NOCERCC and the Pastoral Summit) as an instructor and facilitator.
I’m orginally a Jersey girl, but now I live in Eden Prairie, MN with my sculptor husband Peter. Our three children — Nora, Justin, and Mairead — are the light of my life. And Stella and Lila, our two cats, and Aria, the dog, are the icing on the cake.
Salt, Light and Leaven 