Christina Rathbone

A former journalist, Reverend Cristina Rathbone matriculated at Boston University School of Theology after a profound conversion experience and in response to a call to serve vulnerable populations. She advocated for such populations in her journalism (author of two books, A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars, and On the Outside Looking In: A Year in the Inner-City High School) and continues to do so in her ministry as an Episcopal priest. Her career has always been oriented around recognizing and restoring human dignity. After seminary, she began working at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston as a canon missioner. She became been a pastor to downtown Boston’s homeless community, developing and nurturing numerous ministry programs and gatherings that combine to form the cathedral church’s MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always) community, with and for people who are experiencing homelessness or who have been unhoused. She was ordained in the Episcopal church during her time at St. Paul’s. Most recently, ‘Tina’ worked with asylum-seekers in Ciudad Juarez to birth a cross-border chaplaincy with the Episcopal Diocese of Rio Grande, that seeks to serve all people in transit through Mexico to the U.S.