Welcome the Rev. Mary Demmler as Priest Associate
I am happy to share with you that the Rev. Mary Demmler is a new priest associate at Grace. In The Episcopal Church, a priest associate is different from an associate rector (oh, how we love our terms!). An associate rector is a full-time position with day-to-day ministerial areas within a community. A priest associate is a priest whose full-time ministry is outside the parish but who is assigned or attached to an altar within a parish community. As a priest associate, Mary will be with us to occasionally share in worship as well as lead classes on certain topics of interest to her. She will not share in pastoral care or the day-to-day ministry functions, since she has her hands full in her role as a school chaplain at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Ga. In her chaplaincy ministry, she has the joy of exploring faith with children ages Pre-K through twelfth grades, children who come from over 50 different countries. Mary also provides pastoral support for the entire campus, including faculty, staff, and their families.
Mary grew up in Gainesville, where her family joined Grace Church when she was in elementary school. She was confirmed here, married here, and ordained here! She has been a priest for fifteen years, serving congregations and communities from south Georgia to Arlington, Va. Her husband Derek teaches humanities in the upper school at Rabun Gap and they have three children, Hannah (11), Bailey (9), and William (6). In her spare time she loves to cook and write. You can explore her work at prayerfulkitchen.blog. Mary shares that she is delighted to rejoin the Grace Church family and serve the parish in new ways.
Cynthia and I both are so excited that the Demmler family is weaving into Grace’s life, with children and youth ministries as well as parish-wide events. We consider ourselves lucky that we get to see Mary quite often at diocesan events and clergy gatherings, and she is a gifted and compassionate-and hilarious-colleague and friend. Welcome Mary, Derek, Hannah, Bailey, and William!
Blessings to you all,
Stuart