Macedonian Ministry is excited to announce and welcome Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio as the organization’s Pilgrimage Formation Consultant! Dr. Bonfiglio will be responsible for coordinating Macedonian Ministry’s Holy Land Pilgrimages and initiating shorter-term, stateside immersion experiences that will be available to cohorts or individual cohort members who are unable to travel to Israel for two weeks. Dr. James Maxwell (Max) Miller, Biblical Archaeologist and Macedonian Ministry’s longtime Holy Land Pilgrimage Consultant, recommended Dr. Bonfiglio for this position and it was with his commendation, Macedonian Ministry proceeded with confidence in his appointment.
Ryan is a Princeton University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Emory University graduate. He brings with him years of Biblical and theological knowledge and expertise, serving as a Lecturer in Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary and currently, as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. In addition, he is the John H. Stembler Scholar in Residence at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta where he develops courses, curriculum, and other resources for church-based theological education (www.FirstPresEDU.org). He is also the current Director of TheoEd Talks, an ecumenical speaker series that brings together leading thinkers in the church and the academy to give the talk of their lives in 20 minutes or less. Ryan is Emory’s 2014 Distinguished Dissertation in the Humanities & Fine Arts Award winner, as well as, the author of Reading Images, Seeing Texts: Towards a Visual Hermeneutics for Biblical Studies (2017), and editor of Iconographic Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (2016), along with numerous journal articles and other scholarly publications.
Macedonian Ministry’s Executive Director, Rev. Mark Ramsey, commented, “One of the key elements of Macedonian Ministry is a pilgrimage experience, most often to the Holy Land, and it continues to be a significant part of the Macedonian Ministry cohort experience. Dr. Max Miller has been our key leader for these Holy Land Pilgrimages through the last decade and more. Max approached us several months ago, wanting to begin a transition to retirement and he recommended Ryan Bonfiglio to come aboard to continue this work within Macedonian Ministry. We are thrilled both to keep Max in an important role and to add Ryan, and all his gifts, to what we can offer cohorts. We are excited to welcome Ryan to the team and are so grateful to Max for identifying him for this role.”
Ryan states, “For centuries, Christians have gone on pilgrimages in order to connect more deeply with God, the biblical world, and the history and traditions that sustain and inform their faith. As part of the Macedonian Ministry staff I’m thrilled to be a part of a team that is helping pastors today discover spiritual renewal through pilgrimages.”
Ryan, his wife Jamie and their son, Leo, an energetic 4.5-year-old who just entered Pre-K, have lived in Atlanta since 2009. His first career was a Division I College Wrestling Coach at Princeton, where he also wrestled. Ryan is an avid runner, cyclist, recreational athlete, and Philly native who suffers from a life-long love of Philadelphia sports.
Please join us as we welcome Ryan to the Macedonian Ministry team!
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