Thomas Bullene Woodward
Thomas B. Woodward is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with his wife Ann. Woodward was a steering committee member of "The Episcopal Majority", an organization within the Episcopal Church created to counter the attacks upon the church from various self-styled orthodox groups. In 2006, Woodward was appointed to the Executive Council’s Committee on the Status of Women and then elected as Secretary.. He is currently the Priest in charge of St. Paul's Peace Church, a joint Episcopal and Lutheran church in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Woodward served The Episcopal Church over two decades as university chaplain at several campuses, including the University of Kansas, the University of Rochester, the University of North Carolina and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He served as rector of Christ Church, Warrensburg and of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salinas, California, which was John Steinbeck's parish church. While serving in Salinas, he was awarded The Ben Heller Award for Courage and Leadership in Service to the Farmworker Community and The Bishop's Cross from the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real for his leadership in shepherding the diocese through a difficult time. In 1982 he led his congregation in Madison, Wisconsin in their becoming the first Episcopal Church in the country to provide public sanctuary to political refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala, all captured in the PBS documentary, "The New Underground Railroad." Earlier he had been arrested for his part in a civil rights demonstration at the University of Kansas (1965) and then arrested again in Rochester, New York while providing pastoral care for university students involved in a protest against the war in Viet Nam.
For the past 35 years Tom has had a parallel career as a street performer, presenting his one-man show, "Uncle Billy's Pocket Circus," consisting of fire eating, juggling, magic and mime in nearly every State of the U.S. as well as overseas and in South America. As an extension of that vocation, while in Madison, Wisconsin he organized "The Care Fools," a clown troupe of disabled men and women who entertained in hospitals, nursing homes, parades, and university campuses.
He has written two books for Seabury Press, "Turning Things Upside Down" and "To Celebrate", and more recently "The Undermining of the Episcopal Church," published by The Episcopal Majority. His articles have appeared in Modern Liturgy, The Witness Magazine, Red Rubber Noses and The London Times on-line edition. His "The Parables of Jesus from the Inside," first published by The Sewanee Theological Review, is currently being expanded into a book. His "The Case for Luke's Gospel Having Been Written by a Woman" is in the process of being published in a theological journal.
In the past several years, seven of his fifteen-minute plays have been produced by The Santa Fe Playhouse in their annual Benchwarmer series. One of those plays, "Body and Soul," served as the Keynote Event at a recent national convention of psychotherapists. His latest play, "I'll Have What He's Having," will be produced by Ironweed Productions in Santa Fe.
Recently, Woodward collaborated as librettist with Daniel Steven Crafts, the originator of a new genre of opera called "Gonzo Opera," in the creation of two operas in that genre, "And the Winner Is. ." and "All the Right Moves." The characteristics of Gonzo Opera include music that is both melodious and memorable, a libretto that is comic and often satirical, and production values that make it possible to produce the operas simply and inexpensively -- all in the service of appealing to young people from the ages of 25 to 45 years old who normally do not attend traditional operas. "And the Winner Is . . " debuted at the Abiquiu Chamber Music Festival in 2012 and was later sung in part in Hood River, Oregon and San Francisco in November, 2013
Tom and his wife, Ann, have five children—Thomas B. Woodward, Jr., Jennifer R. Gibson, Joy P. Woodward, Thomas F. Cunningham and David C. Cunningham as well as six grandchildren.
Publications
- ...To celebrate;: ...explorations and discoveries in Christian learning for families in the home...children in the church school...the congregation in the family service, Thomas B. Woodward, Seabury Press, 1973, ISBN 0-8164-5705-0
- Turning things upside-down: A theological workbook, Thomas B. Woodward, Seabury Press, 1975, ISBN 0-8164-0279-5
- So, What's Up with Eliot?, The Richest Man in Santa Fe, Body and Soul, "And the Winner Is. ..", "The Smedleys Are Here", "Xenaphobia," and "Funny You Should Ask" seven one act plays produced at The Santa Fe Playhouse.
"I'll Have What He's Having," a 15 minute play, produced by Ironweed Productions in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In collaboration with composer Daniel Steven Crafts, two Gonzo Operas:
- "And the Winner Is . ." composed by Daniel Steven Crafts with libretto by Tom Woodward, debuting in Albuquerque, June 2016.
- "All the Right Moves" composed by Daniel Steven Crafts with libretto by Tom Woodward, debuting in Albuquerque in 2017.