Leadership

The Rector

The Reverend Deborah Phillips has been the Rector since 1997. A graduate of both Boston University and the Episcopal Divinity School (where she received the Excellence in Preaching Award), she was ordained a priest in 1992 and has served three other parishes in the Diocese. Prior to her ordination, Debbie was a math teacher serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia, and teaching in the Woburn, MA Public Schools and at Shore Country Day School in Beverly, MA. Debbie has enjoyed serving the Diocese as a member of Diocesan Council representing the North Shore Deanery, as co-chair of the Evangelism Network, as a member of the Standing Committee and as co-leader with Bishop Gayle on pilgrimages to the Holy Land. She has been co-chair of the Social Ministries/Public Policy Mission of the Diocese, and part of the Transition Committee for the Consecration of the Bishop. She is actively involved in her community. Debbie has served on the board of the Salem Harbor Community Development Corporation, and was past president of both the Essex County Community Organization and Help for Abused Women and their Children, Treasurer of the Salem YMCA, and Execuative Director of the Bowditch School Partnership. (She also plays tennis for Bass River Tennis Club in Beverly). Debbie, her husband Eric, and their dog Dublin live in the Collins Cove Neighborhood of Salem.

Music Director

Mark N. Peterson has been our Music Director since June 2023 following his retirement as director of music at Barton College in Wilson North Carolina. His primary duty at Barton was the direction of the Barton College/Wilson Symphony, a privately endowed, professional ensemble, presenting several concerts annually. He conducted over one hundred concerts with the BC/WS usually featuring extraordinary, international guest artists.

A native of Haverhill Massachusetts, Peterson holds degrees from Boston University and the University of New Hampshire and served for many years on the faculties of Bradford College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. At Barton College, he also directed the college choir and has served as music director for numerous college musical theater productions.

Peterson also served as director of music at the Parish of St. Therese in Wilson, where he provided his congregation with a “well regulated” music program, which includes a steady diet of Bach organ music. Before moving south, Peterson served at several parishes in the North Shore region, including Clifton Lutheran (Marblehead), First Parish (Wakefield), and Christ Church (Andover).

Vestry

The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. Vestry members are elected at the annual parish meeting. The presiding officer of the vestry is the rector. The basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.

Ryan Patten, Senior Warden

Margaret Carter, Junior Warden

Katie Scott, Treasurer

Barbara Layne, Clerk

Joanne Moar, Assistant Tresurer

Melissa Barnes, Andrew Bishop, Marianne Cannon, Lisa Duffy,

Joanna Troy, Matt vanHamersveld, Members At-Large