ATLANTA (February 12, 2021) —The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Matt Bloom, the Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle and Ms. Andrea Perrett to its Board of Trustees.
“These three leaders bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will help FTE grow its capacity to shape the next generation of faithful leaders,” said FTE President Stephen Lewis. “We are grateful for their commitment to FTE’s mission and welcome them as we work together to design a new way forward.”
FTE’s Board of Trustees is responsible for governing and advancing the organization’s mission to cultivate diverse young adults to be faithful, wise and courageous leaders for the church and academy. Elected by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), FTE trustees serve three-year terms that can be renewed up to two times.
Dr. Matt Bloom is currently a research professor at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. In 2020, he left his tenured position to focus full-time on leading the Flourishing in Ministry and WorkWell research projects. These projects focus on the well-being of helping and caring professions: clergy, physicians, global health workers, international humanitarian and development professionals, and educators.
For 15 years, Dr. Bloom taught innovation to graduate and executive education students. He has also worked with a variety of not-for-profit organizations in the United States and abroad, helping them learn about and integrate well-being research into their programs and initiatives.
Before entering academia, Dr. Bloom spent several years as a consultant with Arthur Young, E.F. Hutton, and Shearson Lehman Brothers. He received his PhD from Cornell University.
Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle is the executive presbyter at Presbytery of Greater Atlanta where she serves as an encourager to 84 congregations, 26 new worship communities and leaders within a presbytery filled with deep cultural diversity and a vast theological landscape.
Before her current role, Rev. Brooks-Lytle served as a youth director and later as the mission pastor at Wayne Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania. While serving at Wayne Presbyterian Church in 2013, she also served as the organizing pastor for The Common Place, a faith-based arts and education center in Southwest Philadelphia.
Rev. Brooks-Lytle has also served various churches in her hometown of Philadelphia as well as New Jersey, New York, and the surrounding area through her music ministry, preaching, teaching and pastoral care. Rev. Brooks-Lytle holds a BS in music from Temple University and earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Andrea Perrett is an associate in New Witnessing Communities at the Centre for Missional Leadership at St Andrew’s Hall in Vancouver, Canada, and the director of two different church planting networks, Cyclical Vancouver and Cyclical Calgary-Macleod.
Before her current roles, Ms. Perrett created and led a dinner church, St. Andy’s Community Table, and served at West Point Grey Presbyterian Church in Vancouver.
She is also a registered dietitian and currently leads a missional community, the Just As We Are Baking Circle. Ms. Perrett received her MDiv from Vancouver School of Theology.
The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is committed to cultivating diverse young adults to be faithful, wise and courageous leaders for the church and the academy. FTE provides resources and a forum for young adults and students to explore their purpose and call to pastoral ministry and teaching.