St. Giles Jefferson welcoming new Rector Dana Stivers

Mon, 01/18/2021 - 2:15pm

After a year-long search, parishioners at St. Giles Episcopal Church Jefferson will meet their new rector in a Zoom service Sunday, Jan. 24. The Rev. Dana Stivers is “thrilled to join such a loving and caring community where all are welcome.”

Rev. Dana will be joining St. Giles after serving several parishes in Connecticut while simultaneously serving as the associate executive director and chaplain of Incarnation Center, America’s oldest Episcopal camp and conference center. Most recently she has been assistant rector at St. James Episcopal Church in New London.

Dana is a graduate of Falmouth High School and Mount Holyoke College, where her studies focused on religion, economics, and Asian studies. She graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2014, and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Connecticut in November 2018.

Among Dana’s notable accomplishments, she worked to establish Steward Outdoor School at Incarnation Center, an outdoor-oriented, semester-long boarding school program for middle schoolers. At the parishes she has served, Dana has initiated adult education classes in addition to conducting regular liturgical services and preaching. Reaching out to the wider community, she has served as the chaplain to the Essex, Connecticut, fire department, and enjoys working with community gardens and food pantries.

All are welcome to join in the Jan. 24 St. Giles Zoom service, the first to be led by Dana. Contact Meegan Burbank at saintgilesjefferson@gmail.com for a Zoom invitation. For further information, contact John Atwood at 207-586-5557.