The church office will be closed on Easter Monday, April 25. We will reopen at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26.
If you have a pastoral emergency, please call 520-668-5727 to reach a trained member of our pastoral care team.
Recently in Administration Category
The church office will be closed on Monday, Dec. 27th, and Tuesday, Dec. 28th. It will open again on Wednesday, Dec. 29th. If you have a pastoral emergency on Monday or Tuesday, please call the office at 520.327.6857; the messages are monitored by a member of the church's pastoral care team and someone will call you back promptly.
We are very happy to welcome KiKi Fenik to the position of Parish Administrator at Grace St. Paul's. KiKi moved to Tucson in February 2010 after living in New York City for 20 years. While in New York, KiKi helped create and administer the national planned giving program run by the Episcopal Church Foundation. She is also a law school graduate and worked in estate planning and probate before deciding that being a lawyer was not her path. KiKi reports that the things she most enjoys about Tucson are "the sun, the heat and the very friendly people." She's looking forward to exploring Tucson's hiking trails, is a new yoga enthusiast, and has the distinction of being the only extravert in the church office. Sounds like she is perfect for her new job!
We are sad to note that Fred Bernard died of cancer on August 24, 2010. Fred was the former sexton of St. Paul's and Grace St. Paul's parishes from 1975-1995 and was beloved by many for his affability and great sense of humor. Before his tenure with our parish, Fred was a career military man in the Air Force.
A memorial service will be held at the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration chapel, where Fred was a volunteer, on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 1:00 p.m. Chaplain John Zinck will officiate. The Veterans Administration is located at 3601 S. Sixth Avenue.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory at the end.
This summer, the Rev. Stephen James Keplinger accepted the Vestry's call to serve as Rector of Grace St. Paul's. Fr. Keplinger (who likes to be called "Steve") has most recently served as Rector of St. David's Episcopal Church in Page, Ariz., (Diocese of Utah) since 2001. He and his wife Jean began their ministry at GSP on Sunday, September 12, 2010.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Steve spent the majority of his life in the state of Maryland, with a short stint in the mountains of West Virginia. All that changed after his first trip to the western United States, where he fell in love with the landscape, especially the red rock deserts of southern Utah and northern Arizona. After a raft trip down the Colorado, and his first night under a sky brilliant with thousands of stars, he determined to move west.
Nine months in southern California was followed by a move to St. George, Utah. Living between the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, Steve spent much time in the midst of the desert landscape, writing about that experience for local papers and a few national magazines. During those years he was employed in administrative and sales positions, ending as sales manager for a printing company.
Steve is known for his love for the sport of baseball, especially the Baltimore Orioles. In 1989, he published The Comeback Kids, an emotional reaction to the 1989 season of the Baltimore Orioles and the community around them.
Steve's spiritual journey led him to the Episcopal Church in 1986. After growing up in the Roman Catholic tradition, it became obvious to him through a series of experiences at the Episcopal Church in St. George, that this was his home. After years of discernment, he entered Church Divinity School of the Pacific in the fall of 1997. He then spent two years of seminary commuting to the Episcopal Theological School in Claremont, Calif., before returning to CDSP to finish his studies. He completed his Master of Divinity program at the end of 2000 and was ordained in August 2001. He and his wife, Jean, began serving at St. David's in January 2001.
Steve has a passion for creative liturgy, social justice and outreach and church growth and development. Jean has many years of lay leadership experience in children and youth ministry. We look forward to the gifts they will offer us at GSP!
