Reverend Miguel A. Briones serves as a deacon at St. Helena’s Episcopal Church and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, IL. Deacon Miguel was invited by Fr. Ethan to join Santa Elena’s staff in September 2017. His responsibilities include liturgy and outreach including planning for celebrations such as Quinceañeras, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Las Posadas. This summer, Deacon Miguel will be one of the organizers for an Hispanic Youth Event held at St. Mark’s which will host young people from throughout the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago for a day of learning, prayer and fellowship. Miguel has served as treasurer on the board of the Hispanic Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and has also been a member of the Antiracism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (ARC) for approximately eight years. For a long time, he has felt a deep interest in the fight to eradicate racism in our institutions and communities, beginning with the first anti-racism workshop he attended during the seminar. He is a facilitator of the anti-racism workshop in Spanish in the Diocese of Chicago at the Episcopal Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Waukegan, IL. In the most recent convention of the Episcopal Dioceses of Chicago the Rev. Miguel was elected as member of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.
Deacon Miguel graduated from the Benemérita University of Puebla in Mexico with certification as a public accountant and auditor. He continued his theological studies obtained a Master Theological Studies (MA) at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and at the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. He has also worked as a chaplain at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, IL which has a large Hispanic population, and at Unity Hospice in Chicago.
In August 2016, Deacon Miguel developed a training and leadership plan in the Episcopal Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Waukegan. This plan, based on spiritual formation, is now bearing fruit with the participation of new and more committed leaders who are developing their ministries with a vision that allows them to continue growing as leaders. As part of this plan, different activities have been planned and organized, such as a weekly Bible study and teaching and training in different ministries. In 2015. Rev. Miguel participated in the creation of a new Hispanic community in the Episcopal Church of San Pablo in Kankakee IL.