Leadership


Clergy

The Reverend Daniel Simons

Daniel was welcomed as Priest in Charge of St. Paul’s in February 2020. He joins St. Paul’s after eleven years at Trinity Church, Wall Street, where he served in a variety of clergy leadership positions, including director of liturgy, hospitality, and pilgrimage, and most recently as director of the Trinity Retreat Center in West Cornwall, Connecticut. After a three year discernment process, the community called Daniel to be the 31st Rector of St. Paul’s on the Green.

After graduating from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1994, Daniel’s vocational path led first through cathedral ministry as Canon Pastor of St. Stephen’s, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He then responded to a call to explore monastic life with the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After seven years of formation and leadership in that community, Daniel returned to parish-based life, joining St. Gregory of Nyssa church in San Francisco to direct national initiatives in congregational development through liturgy and music. In San Francisco, Daniel met his husband, Javier Galitó-Cava, whose life-work forming actors has blended with Daniel’s own vocation to create a common pilgrimage that has continued to unfold for the past 14 years.

Daniel’s spiritual orientation and practice has been influenced by extended contact with Buddhist, Jewish, and Muslim spiritual communities and teaching. His spiritual grounding is also shaped by regular immersion in unbuilt environments in Nature. For the past 20 years he has created and led pilgrimages throughout the biblical world, Europe, Ethiopia, the American South, and Standing Rock, and pilgrimage has come to be the central lens through which he understands life’s journey.

To reach Fr. Daniel, email simons@stpaulsnorwalk.org.


The Reverend Paul Carling

Ordained in Vermont, Paul has served parishes in Brattleboro VT, and Darien, Fairfield and Trumbull in CT.  Most recently he served as Episcopal Chaplain at Yale for 7 years, responsible for worship and formation for undergraduates. Paul is a doctoral level developmental and clinical psychologist, and prior to his ordination, developed an international research and training center focused on innovative and recovery-oriented community-based services for people with major psychiatric disorders, often accompanied by homelessness and substance use. Paul lives in Bridgeport with his wife Cherise and their two 5-year-old mutts, Paddy and Maisie.

To reach Fr. Paul, email carling@stpaulsnorwalk.org


Staff

Marsha Dunn, Associate for Member Engagement & Administration

A lifetime Episcopalian, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Marsha joined the St. Paul’s staff in February 2015 as the Parish Administrator.  She brings a warm, efficient and helpful presence to the St. Paul’s office and maintains organization over a variety of office systems each weekday.  In September, 2017 Marsha’s position was reconfigured to include the important oversight of St. Paul’s signature “Radical Welcome” and engagement. Her Sunday presence offers a consistent point of entry for newcomers and a touchstone for established members seeking greater involvement.

Marsha can be reached in the parish office Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 1 pm or by appointment. 

To reach Marsha, email admin@stpaulsnorwalk.org, or call (203) 847-2806.


Ferbian Salkie, Sexton

Ferbian Salkie has served as part-time Sexton at St. Paul’s since January of 2013, and works to help maintain the large physical plant at St. Paul’s. Born in Jamaica, Ferbian has lived in the United States since age 11, graduating from Norwalk High School, where he also served in the ROTC. In 2005, Ferbian graduated from Porter and Chester Institute, where he studied to be a heating and cooling technician. Ferbian holds a full-time position with Ring’s End in Lewisboro, NY.


Will Doreza, Interim Director of Music

Will is an experienced and passionate musician who has already been a part of the life of St. Paul’s as a baritone section leader for five years. Will relates, “My primary goal in this new position is not simply to sustain the music program while the parish seeks a permanent Music Director, but to continue nurturing and growing your love and involvement with music. Like the St. Paul’s community as a whole, the choir community is diverse, affirming and inclusive. Utilizing the full extent of my skills and resources, I will work steadfastly to make singing an empowering and joyful experience for all.”

For more information about the music program at St. Paul’s on the Green, contact Will at doreza@stpaulsnorwalk.org


Joshua Ehlebracht, Interim Organist

Joshua Ehlebracht is a master’s student pursuing a degree in Sacred Music from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in the studio of Prof. Martin Jean. Joshua’s previous studies include a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of music, as well as a Colleague diploma from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. Joshua is from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and is very excited to have the opportunity to be part of the St. Paul’s community and music program.


Molly Cooke, Seminarian

Molly Cooke (she/her) is a cradle-dreidel Episcopalian from an inter-religious family in southeastern Pennsylvania and a postulant for the priesthood in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Entering her second year of seminary at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, she serves as a chapel minister for her student community and is excited to be completing her field education at St. Paul’s. Prior to discerning a call to ordained ministry, Molly was a research linguist studying language acquisition in d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Unable to shake her love for both linguistics and disability advocacy, she has continued to pursue those passions at Yale: Molly enjoyed studying Biblical Hebrew and Greek (which frequently plays into her preaching) during her first academic year and is excited to spend this one working as a disability peer mentor for Yale students and as a voice for accessibility on the Berkeley chapel ministry team. Molly envisions her future ministry as one where she helps create accessible spaces for all people of God to worship, educates her siblings in Christ about Judaism, and gets to spend time nerding out about the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.

Vestry

Ginny Balser & Gail Bindley-Taylor, Wardens
Maggie Gomez & Peter Squitieri, Co-Treasurers
Diane Drozd, Clerk

Vestry members: Donna Booth, Audrey Cozzarin, Marva Cummings, Rosemary Dellinger, Lindsay Kennedy, Penney Kimbell, Gerry Krom, Cecil Wade, David Westmoreland

Delegates to Diocesan Convention: Gail Bindley-Taylor, James McNutt, Nikkya Hargrave (alternate) Marybeth Yancy (alternate)

Questions or Comments for the Vestry? Email the group at vestry@stpaulsnorwalk.org