A NOTE FROM FATHER ANTHONY . . .

Dear Friends,

On Monday, October 5, I will begin my one-year Clinical Pastoral Education residency with the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System. I look forward to this opportunity and I thank you for your continued prayers and support.

I will of course continue to serve as your rector. My Sunday schedule will look exactly the same as it has since I joined the National Guard in the fall of 2022.

During this time, Mother Joyce McGirr, along with Deacon Len Roberts, will take on an increased role at Grace Church. Mother Joyce has been active at Grace Church for nearly two years now, and I have asked her to take this opportunity to (re)-introduce herself as our Assisting Priest in the space below.

Additionally, The Rev. Richard Gressle and The Rev. Alon White will also provide assistance at our Wednesday services. I can’t thank them enough for their friendship and support.

As always, I hold all of you in my prayers.

Peace,
Father Anthony

Dear Friends in Christ,
 
I am excited to have been invited to work with a team of clergy and lay people in assisting Father Anthony in carrying out the various ministries in this Christ centered community during this coming year.  The following is a little information about my life.
 
I was born in Paterson, NJ, and raised in the Methodist Church. Due to my father’s work, we moved to Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies where I attended Bishop Anstey High School, an Anglican school for girls, ages six to eighteen. After ten years, I continued my high school education at St. John Baptist School, an Episcopal boarding school for girls, in Mendham, NJ, run by the sisters of the Community of St. John Baptist. In my senior year, I decided to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church and became an Associate member of the convent.
 
I received my BA and MA degrees in Music Education and Performance from Montclair State College. Throughout my long music teaching career, I continued to sing professionally in churches and synagogues, performed in operas, musicals, and plays, and offered benefit concerts for outreach ministries. I now sing regularly with the Ars Musica Chorale in Ridgewood, NJ.
 
In retirement, I entered the Spirituality Department at The General Theological Seminary, NYC. After two years of study, I received a Certificate in Spiritual Direction in 2010 and then matriculated to the Master of Divinity program receiving my MDiv degree in 2014.  My ordination to the Sacred Order of Priests was on January 10, 2015 at the Church of the Atonement, Tenafly, NJ.  I served for three years in House of Prayer, Newark, a year in St. Paul’s, Montvale and have supplied in many churches throughout the Diocese. I also have served on the Music and Liturgy Committee for the Diocese and co-led a workshop on prayer at the Diocesan Convention.  
 
My son, Darren from my first marriage, and my daughter-in-law, Delica, live in West Orange, NJ.  Darren works as a paramedic for the FDNY and performs as lead guitarist in an 80’s dance band in NJ and NY and in the “Live the Who” show in Chicago and Detroit. Delica works as an Employee and Labor Relations Manager at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ and is a passionate knitter and photographer. I was married for thirty-five years to my second husband, John, who died from a long battle with cancer in 2015.  Darren, Delica and I recently had a great visit in NYC with his daughter Kate and friend Kenny who live in New Mexico.  My older brother, David, a Methodist minister and family counselor in Findlay, Ohio, died two years ago and my younger sister, Marie, retired from working in a textile company and lives in Syracuse, NY.
 
This year I was blessed to go with a small group on a retreat held on Holy Island, a tidal island off the coast of Northumbria, England, followed by a beautiful trip to Barbados with my best friend.  
 
I look forward to our continued holy and joyful time together as we do our best to follow the way of Jesus here at Grace Episcopal Church. 
 
In the peace of Christ, Mother Joyce+