BEVERLY, Mass., Sept. 28, 2026 — The Episcopal Free Fellowship of America (EFFA) announced today that Bishop Joshua Lickter incardinated the Rev. Tim Clayton, the Rev. Wendy Dixon, and the Rev. Jen Keifer into the fellowship during a seaside service held Aug. 12 in Beverly, Massachusetts. At the same service, Bishop Lickter appointed Clayton as EFFA’s Canon Missioner to the Earth, strengthening the fellowship’s commitment to ecological justice and supporting Trinity North Shore Church’s ongoing work of creation care.
Clayton, Dixon, and Keifer were previously ordained in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). They left the ACNA to minister more fully among their neighbors within the context of a province that maintains orthodoxy while sharing their commitments to ecological, racial, and gender-related justice.
Trinity North Shore, a worshiping community in Beverly, Massachusetts, grounds its Christ-centered ministry in “Ancient + Future Beauty, Goodness, Truth.” Its creation-care work includes the North Shore Pollinator Corridor Initiative, a justice-rooted and theologically grounded effort to promote ecological and human flourishing through native pollinator gardens, community education, and socioeconomic equity across communities north of Boston.
“The Church is called not only to proclaim the love of God, but to embody that love in the world God so deeply loves,” said Bishop Lickter.
“We are grateful to welcome Tim, Wendy, and Jen into the Episcopal Free Fellowship of America. Their ministry reflects a faithful commitment to Christ, to their neighbors, and to the healing of creation. Tim’s appointment as Canon Missioner to the Earth will help the EFFA learn from and encourage the important work already taking shape through Trinity North Shore.”
Clayton’s appointment recognizes and supports Trinity North Shore’s ecological vocation. Through its creation-care initiatives, the congregation connects spiritual formation with practical care for the land, hospitality across socioeconomic lines, and the restoration of relationships among people, communities, and the wider creation.
Trinity North Shore describes this work as part of its founding vision to connect people with God, community, and creation.
Following its June 24 disaffiliation from the Anglican Church in North America, the congregation entered a season of discernment to prayerfully determine the province or wider ecclesial home with which it will ultimately align.
The EFFA is offering Trinity North Shore and its clergy safe harbor during this period. In keeping with its kingdom-minded and ecumenical focus, the fellowship welcomes the congregation’s continued discernment while providing a sacramental and pastoral home in which its clergy may continue to serve freely and faithfully.
The incardination of Clayton, Dixon, and Keifer affirms their ongoing pastoral ministries and the EFFA’s commitment to make room for communities seeking a more expansive and justice-centered expression of Anglican and sacramental Christianity. The fellowship looks forward to accompanying Trinity North Shore as the congregation continues its discernment and its ministry of worship, hospitality, ecological renewal, and neighborly love.
About the Episcopal Free Fellowship of America
The Episcopal Free Fellowship of America is a Christ-centered, sacramental province rooted in the richness of the Great Tradition. Guided by the call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Christ our neighbor,” the EFFA seeks unity over uniformity and welcomes communities committed to grace, compassion, reconciliation, and hope. The fellowship is part of The Table of Christ: An Interdependent Sacramental Communion.
About Trinity North Shore
Trinity North Shore is a Christian worshiping community on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Its ministry integrates worship, community life, and care for creation, including the North Shore Pollinator Corridor Initiative and other local creation-care projects.