Young Episcopal Priest on “What Not to Wear”

I had never watched the TLC cable channel until recent events. Here's a “Must See TV” alert for all my Episcopal friends. Mark your calendars for this Friday evening, 8:00 Central Time on The Learning Channel (TLC).

Watch What Not To Wear Friday night. For it features one of the younger priests in our diocese, Emily Bloemker, who is on the staff at St. Timothy’s.

This is oral tradition, but this is what I understand.

Emily was a student at the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Washington University, led by the Rev. Michael Kinman, a few years ago. She heard his appeal and traveled on one of our diocese’s first trips to the Diocese of Lui, in The Episcopal Church of Sudan, in 2005. I hear it was in reflecting on that trip that Emily claimed the call to ordained ministry. She went on to seminary and was ordained in June 2009. [I blogged about her ordination here.] I know that Emily was one of my best advisors when I made my own trip to Lui, Sudan, the next year.

Emily is a smart, passionate, joyful, no-B$ priest. As I hear it, she is a fan of the What Not To Wear show and expressed a wish they could do a wardrobe make-over for her. Apparently, some of her friends contacted the show. And the show decided to take her on.

Then Mike Kinman invited Emily to deliver a presentation on Sudan early this year at Christ Church Cathedral. Except it wasn’t really a Sudan session. It was a set-up … into which the What Not to Wear Duo sprang. My St. Louis friends tell me it was a very pleasant evening. Apparently, Mike had warned the crew that they were filming in a church, and a certain decorum must be obeyed. From all I have heard, it was a delightful evening with much good-natured banter between the show’s crew and the gathered Episcopalians.

If you’re in the St. Louis area, we are having a “watch party” on Friday, February 5, at the Lucas Park Grille in St. Louis. Be there if you can. It promises to be a fun evening.

Otherwise, just watch the program.

It will be interesting to see what these people do with a lovely young Episcopal priest and her wardrobe.

At What Not To Wear, the promo for this new episode says "Emily is your typical single girl with one divine difference... she's an Episcopal priest. She may have been called by a higher power but her friends and family called Stacy and Clinton. Can Emily find a feminine style that balances her youthful energy?"