The Rev. Michele Quinn-Miscall, Rector
Mother Michele has been the rector at SPaSM since Advent 2001. She was ordained in the Diocese of Colorado in 1998. She graduated from Iliff School of Theology with Distinction in 1997 with a MDiv and a Masters in Scripture. Mother Michele served at St. Stephen's, Aurora and was the first vicar of a new start in Elizabeth, CO. Yet her heart was always in the inner city.
She has a passion for education for all ages. In her previous life (before ordination) Mother Michele was a teacher who found her heart in the Kindergarten classroom. To fulfill that call, Mother Michele served on the bishop's staff as the Children's Vicar for the Diocese from January 2000 until August 2005. Leaving that ministry was a difficult decision but the commitment to the people of St. Peter & St. Mary - both the Sunday congregation as well as the Tuesday congregation overrode any hesitations.
Mother Michele is married to Dr. Peter Quinn-Miscall . Together they have six children and 3 grandchildren.
The Rev. Melanie Christopher, Deacon
Melanie was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Western North Carolina in 1998, where she had an extensive ministry with the Hispanic population in that area. Before ordination she was a nurse. She moved to Colorado with her husband Len in 2000 and was assigned by the Bishop to St. Philip & St. James Church in Denver because that church had a need of a bilingual Deacon to serve their Hispanic congregation. She served both the English and Spanish congregations there for five years.
Deacon Melanie has been officially at St. Peter & St. Mary since Pentecost Sunday of this year (2005), although she had been serving as the deacon at our Tuesday evening bilingual Eucharist for the past three years. This Eucharist is offered to the homeless and working poor of our community. She also helps at the meal following that service, which feeds an average of 150+ people every Tuesday night. This is truly her passion as a deacon.
She is a member of the National Church's Hispanic Ministry Advisory Council, the Diocese of Colorado's Mission Strategy Committee, the Anti Racism Committee and the Diocesan Hispanic Ministry Council. Melanie is also a trainer of Safeguarding God's Children and of Lay Eucharistic Visitors in our diocese, both in English and Spanish.
Deacon Melanie is married to Len Christopher, a retired Engineer. Together they have four children and eight granddaughters.
Thomas Strickland, Music Director
Tom came to St. Peter and St. Mary in April 2007. For the five previous years he was Organist and Choirmaster at St. Matthew's Church in Parker. He is a music editor for World Library Publications, a publisher of liturgical resources for the Roman Catholic Church, and choral music for all denominations. He "telecommutes" to the office in Chicago from his home in Aurora, which he shares with partner Mark Alan Filbert, Cantor (music director and organist) of St. Paul Lutheran Church in downtown Denver, and their two cats.
Born in Indianapolis, Tom was raised in the Episcopal Church and educated at the Indiana University School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. He has held a number of church positions, notably thirteen years in Burlington, Vermont, as Canon Precentor and Music Director at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul and Director of the Burlington Oratorio Society. Before that, he served as Assistant Organist and Choir Director at St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue in New York City. This church has a notable music program brought to prominence by David McK. Williams (1887-1978) in the 20s and 30s of the last century. Jack Ossewaarde, who Tom assisted, had been a student of Williams. It is interesting to note that in 1899, young David McK. Williams, then a chorister at St. John's in the Wilderness Cathedral, was called to serve as organist here at St. Peter's Church for a number of years!