Rev. Dr. Dean Aponte-Safe

Greetings, friends! You've reached the website of Rev. Dr. Dean Michael Aponte-Safe, interim pastor to the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I served for five and a half years in rural southeastern Minnesota. My work as a pastor focuses on rural ministry, congregational leadership, preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.

I am a graduate of the Pacific School of Religion's Doctor of Ministry program, where I studied with Dr. Bernard Schlager and Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence. In the Master of Sacred Theology program at Chicago Theological Seminary, my work focused on LGBTQ+ Studies and Theology. My thesis was advised by Dr. Bo Myung Seo. My Master of Divinity was earned at Luther Seminary, where I studied rural ministry and leadership with Rev. Dr. Alvin Luedke.  

Undergirding all of my work and convictions is the wholehearted belief that what will transform hearts and minds towards the rendering of justice is the ability to dwell in mutuality together: that we see one another first and foremost as created in the divine image. Central to my work is interpreting our Holy Texts in ways that broaden the circle of belonging, in order to hand these stories back into the hands of those whom the Church has rejected. I believe that God is crafting the kindom into something more beautiful through our collective narratives and identities, and that our stories are enriched when we see ourselves tied to holy storytelling and lineage.

I'm glad you're here.