NOW DEACON HILLEBRAND – ORDAINED TODAY

Candidate for the priesthood in June.

NOW DEACON HILLEBRAND – ORDAINED TODAY

Today The Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, Bishop of Long Island ordained Aissa Hillebrand to the Sacred Order of Deacons of the Episcopal Church. A special Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate Mass was held at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City attended by Aissa’s husband, The Very Rev. Dr. Walter V. Hillebrand, Rector of Grace Church, Massapequa, their children Emmanuel and Amalia and many supporters from Grace Church.

Deacon Aissa will be completing her Master of Divinity this June and will become a candidate for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.

Before entering discernment for ordained ministry, Aissa Hillebrand served for more than fifteen years as Director of Child Life Services in pediatric healthcare hospitals, where she led interdisciplinary teams, developed therapeutic programming, and advocated for trauma-informed, compassionate care. Her leadership extended into mentoring, policy development, and program design.

Since 2016, Aissa has served within the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island at the George Mercer Jr. Memorial School of Theology, supporting diocesan formation, Safe Church initiatives, and operational leadership. Her call to ministry has also been shaped by both local and global, including volunteering within healthcare settings, food ministries and a medical mission trip to Chulucanas, Peru.

Aissa is currently completing her Master of Divinity at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and is a candidate for Holy Orders. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with concentrations in Child Development and Speech Communications from Syracuse University.