New Rector is Called

With great pleasure, the wardens and the vestry announce that we have called the Reverend Anne Margaret Sawyer as the fourteenth Rector of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, and she has accepted the call. She will take up her duties on June 1, 2017, and her first service at St. Mark’s will be on the Day of Pentecost, June 4.

Rev. Anne and her wife, the Reverend Susan Anderson-Smith, will be moving to New York from Tucson, Arizona, with their two labs, Belle and Cooper. Anne is a graduate of the University of Arizona where she earned her BA, the University of Chicago where she earned her MA, and Harvard Divinity School where she earned her MDiv.

Susan and Anne met in Tucson, which is where they cofounded Imago Dei Middle School in 2005. Imago Dei is a tuition free Episcopal school designed to address educational and life opportunity inequalities for low income children. The school started in the parish hall of a small church and has grown in and with the community, moving locations twice and seeing its first graduates enrolled in university. The school currently serves over 70 students and has more than 100 alumni.

Rev. Anne brings a wealth of knowledge around organization building, fund-raising, and community development. For many years while Head of School, Anne concurrently served as an affiliate clergy at St. Andrew’s Church, Grace St. Paul’s Church, and most recently at St. Phillip’s In The Hills in Tucson.

The vestry was in unanimous agreement that Rev. Anne's depth of experience in leading and growing an organization as well as her heart for ministering to those in need was a perfect fit for St. Mark's.

We are incredibly grateful for the guidance, wisdom, and care administered by our Interim Pastor, Reverend Dr. Allison Moore. She came to us as an interim in August of 2015 and has led us through this time of transition with gentleness and grace. Rev. Allison will celebrate her last Eucharist with us as our Interim on April 23. We will celebrate her time with us during and after the service.

We also take this opportunity to once again thank our search committee for their tireless efforts in service to God and this parish. They organized and facilitated town hall meetings, developed a thorough parish profile, and read all application materials with a desire to find a rector that would effectively served the current needs of St. Mark’s. Through extensive conversations and site visits, they were able to present an exceptional panel of final candidates for consideration by the vestry.

Finally, thanks to the vestry for your open hearts during this discernment period. It has been a great pleasure to be in service with each of you, growing together as we learn from one other. We are excited to continue with you in this journey of faith.

Christine Breiner Roger Walters

Wardens, St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery

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