SCULPTOR | EPISCOPAL PRIEST

INSTRUCTOR IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND ART

Thomas lives in the Tuscan hillside east of Florence. After working for twenty years as a sculptor, ceramicist, and art teacher in Italy and Germany, he studied theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church at Saint James, Florence, in 2002. He holds degrees in Italian literature from Yale, Fine Arts from Alanus Art Academy, and Theology from Episcopal Divinity School. He was trained as a spiritual director at the Jesuit Center for Religious Development in Cambridge.

For the last 15 years, Thomas has been directing Santa Maria a Ferrano Retreat Center for Spirituality, Art, and Creation Care. His interest is in the interconnection of art and spirituality and how both grow out of our relationship with the natural world. Art and spirituality for him are concrete expressions of our engagement with God’s creation. Learning to see and honor what has been given into our care, we gradually are transformed and increasingly inspired to contribute our particular gifts to the creation of ever new forms of beauty and life. Art and spirituality are expressions of our love for this world.