Staff of St Johns

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Meet the Staff

Staff at St. John's

Fr. Philip C. Linder, Rector
Fr. Jay Pierce Associate Clergy

prayerbook

Kathy Sparrow, Secretary
Bill Webber Organist

Vestry

Vicki Duff, Sr. Warden
Todd Cooper, Jr. Warden
Emily Cardwell
Louise Jones
Jay Box
Jane Hansen
Al Beatty
Linda Reeves
Rick Keeling

Patrick Hall, Asst Clerk to the Vestry
Julie Skeeters, Treasurer

Our Rector, The Reverend Dr. Philip C. Linder

frphilip Ordained to the priesthood in 1985, Father Philip has served as Associate Rector and Priest in Charge of St. Martin in the Fields, Atlanta, GA, Rector of Holy Trinity, Decatur,
GA for 9 years, and most recently as the Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Columbia, SC for 11 years. Philip has a Doctorate in Psychology from the Graduate Theological Foundation, Oxford, England and Indiana, a Doctorate in Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA; a Masters in Divinity from The General Theological Seminary, NY; and, a Bachelor of Science in Education from Villanova University, PA. He has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Religion at the University of South Carolina.

Father Philip has served as a Deputy to three General Conventions, serving as Deputation chair for Upper South Carolina in 2006 and 2009. He is strongly committed to the Millennium Development Goals, local outreach, and an inclusive Church. He has served on the boards of Community Food Banks, the Salvation Army, and Kanuga. Seven years ago Philip and his wife Ellen began the Columbia week at Camp Bob, Kanuga, a summer camp experience for 90 underserved inner-city children. In 2004 he published A Priest's Journal of Hope.

Father Philip has been married for twenty-nine years; his wife, Ellen, is an RN,
and they have three grown children: Gabrielle, Conrad, and Philip Jr.. He is an artist with a passion for pastoral care, writing, teaching, horses, and seeking to serve Christ
and the people of God.

philellen

Organist and Choir Master Bill Webber

bill Hailing from Cynthiana, Kentucky, William Webber (Bill) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northern Kentucky University, where he studied voice with Gail Sheard of the German Opera. He also holds a Master of Theological Studies in Church Music from Drew University Theological School, and a post-master's degree, the STM, also from Drew Theological School. While at Drew, Mr. Webber studied hymnology and liturgical musicology with Robin Leaver, a world re- nowned authority on hymns and Anglican music, and early music (medieval and renaissance) with Anne Yardley of Columbia University. At Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, Mr. Webber studied American church music with Steve Pilkington and handbells with Cathy Ebling-Thorne and Donald Allured.

Bill has served three Episcopal Churches as organist/choirmaster during his ministry in music, including an internship at The Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and St. Philip in Newark, New Jersey. He has also served twelve other denominations from Florida to New York during his 35-year church music career, including 16 years in a large Jewish synagogue. He comes to St. John's from First Christian Church in Danville, Kentucky, where he has been the Organist/Director of Music for three years. While at his post at First Christian, he directed the chancel choir, the children's choir, the four-octave Grace Notes handbell choir, and the congregation's praise band, Worship Light.

In addition to the usual credentials, Bill has also worked 'on the road' as a keyboardist and singer with touring rock bands in the 1980s, and as the organist and soloist for evangelist Ford Philpot in the 1970s.