Clergy at St. Christopher's
The Reverend Susan Sowers, Rector
The Reverend Susan Sowers, Rector
Susan became a priest to follow Jesus, wherever he leads. She was raised in an Army family, and followed in the footsteps of her grandfather and father, with her own military career. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1982, she served as a Transportation Corps Officer for 25 years and had the privilege of serving young American soldiers in a variety of leadership positions, including: platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander and brigade commander. While in the Service, she received two Master of Science degrees: Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Before retiring in 2007 and going to seminary, her final Army assignment was as the Chief of Staff of the Support Command in Iraq. Answering her call to ordained ministry, she was ordained in 2010, after receiving a Master of Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary.
Susan returns to us as our 5th rector, after serving for two years as the Associate Dean of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is no stranger to the congregation. This is where she was ordained to the priesthood and served as the Associate Rector for three years (Jun 2010 - Jun 2013). She is married to Donna Van Winkle who has lived in Hawaii most of her life, and joins her in ministry.
Susan is grateful and motivated to be ‘home,’ among the people of St. Christopher’s, as they journey life with Christ and one another. We are all called by God to live “fully alive,” and St. Christopher’s is one of those special places where love abounds and where people truly connect their faith to action.
“The glory of God is the human being fully alive.”
~ St. Irenaeus of Lyon (AD 202)
Susan became a priest to follow Jesus, wherever he leads. She was raised in an Army family, and followed in the footsteps of her grandfather and father, with her own military career. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 1982, she served as a Transportation Corps Officer for 25 years and had the privilege of serving young American soldiers in a variety of leadership positions, including: platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander and brigade commander. While in the Service, she received two Master of Science degrees: Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Before retiring in 2007 and going to seminary, her final Army assignment was as the Chief of Staff of the Support Command in Iraq. Answering her call to ordained ministry, she was ordained in 2010, after receiving a Master of Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary.
Susan returns to us as our 5th rector, after serving for two years as the Associate Dean of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is no stranger to the congregation. This is where she was ordained to the priesthood and served as the Associate Rector for three years (Jun 2010 - Jun 2013). She is married to Donna Van Winkle who has lived in Hawaii most of her life, and joins her in ministry.
Susan is grateful and motivated to be ‘home,’ among the people of St. Christopher’s, as they journey life with Christ and one another. We are all called by God to live “fully alive,” and St. Christopher’s is one of those special places where love abounds and where people truly connect their faith to action.
“The glory of God is the human being fully alive.”
~ St. Irenaeus of Lyon (AD 202)
The Reverend Nickolas Phares, Curate
The Reverend Nicholas Phares, Curate.
Journal - Boulder, Colorado - Nov. 1999
“I knew I wanted to do this when I saw him weep beside a stranger, when he placed his hand on the back of the man’s head, while he ate his first meal in a long time.”
As I look back on this reflection from so long ago, I guess you could say that my journey towards holy orders started with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a church kitchen. But, I like to think that the day I knew I wanted to become a priest was the day I learned what compassion was. How when I was barely eight, I witnessed how two people could find Christ in each other over the simplest of meals; some Hillbilly bread and Jiff. What really made an impression upon me, however, was the tenderness with which those two gentlemen supported one another. It became the pulse behind my heart’s search for Jesus and the cadence behind my walk with God’s beloved.
My wife Teresa and our children Morgan -15, Alexis -12, and Paxton -5 have been richly blessed to be called by God and the people of St. Christopher’s to learn how to bear Christ into the world. If you’ve come this far in your search, please consider this as my personal invitation to come and see how wonderfully sensitive this community is to knowing and loving the Christ within you.
Peace
Nick+
Father Nick has recently joined the community of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church after having completed a Master of Divinity Degree in 2017 from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. He was ordained to the Diaconate on June 8th at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Battle Creek, MI by the Right Reverend Whayne M. Hougland Jr., IX Bishop of the Diocese of Western Michigan.
Journal - Boulder, Colorado - Nov. 1999
“I knew I wanted to do this when I saw him weep beside a stranger, when he placed his hand on the back of the man’s head, while he ate his first meal in a long time.”
As I look back on this reflection from so long ago, I guess you could say that my journey towards holy orders started with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a church kitchen. But, I like to think that the day I knew I wanted to become a priest was the day I learned what compassion was. How when I was barely eight, I witnessed how two people could find Christ in each other over the simplest of meals; some Hillbilly bread and Jiff. What really made an impression upon me, however, was the tenderness with which those two gentlemen supported one another. It became the pulse behind my heart’s search for Jesus and the cadence behind my walk with God’s beloved.
My wife Teresa and our children Morgan -15, Alexis -12, and Paxton -5 have been richly blessed to be called by God and the people of St. Christopher’s to learn how to bear Christ into the world. If you’ve come this far in your search, please consider this as my personal invitation to come and see how wonderfully sensitive this community is to knowing and loving the Christ within you.
Peace
Nick+
Father Nick has recently joined the community of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church after having completed a Master of Divinity Degree in 2017 from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. He was ordained to the Diaconate on June 8th at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Battle Creek, MI by the Right Reverend Whayne M. Hougland Jr., IX Bishop of the Diocese of Western Michigan.
