St. Philip the Apostle announces the Call of Rev. Katherine B. Doar as their Priest-in -Charge. Katherine’s first day of ministry was Tuesday 9th June and she led her first worship service during St. Philip’s virtual service on Sunday 14th June.
The St. Philip Vestry is excited about Katherine’s new calling to serve in Scotts Valley. The current COVID-19 situation made for an unusual interview and hiring environment, but the Vestry was impressed by Katherine’s openness, organization and experience. There is a strong sense that God has been our guide throughout this transition process and the Search Team and Vestry were unanimous the decision to invite Katherine to further St Philip’s mission to be a witness to Christ’s love in our community.
Katherine’s comes to us from 21 years of parish ministry at St. Francis Episcopal Church, San Jose. She was responsible for a number of ministries that are core to the growth and vitality of that congregation. For the past two years as the Director of Community Development and Outreach she evolved communication, connection and caring ministries. For most of her years, she was Director of Children, Youth and Family and developed comprehensive and thriving intergenerational ministries. She led changes and built programs that helped St Francis to welcome and incorporate a new generation into the church. In her work, she strives to expand Lay engagement and empowerment by building invitational collaborative, creative teams.
Katherine is a bi-vocational priest, serving part-time in the church and part-time in a children’s bookstore, and is practiced at making this model of ministry partnership thrive.
Although Katherine has no plans to move to Scotts Valley, she is no stranger to Santa Cruz, having studied History and Medieval & Renaissance Studies at UCSC as an undergraduate. She is a long time Bay Area resident and lives in Willow Glen with her husband, Matthew. They have three children ranging from 16-23, one of whom is following his mother’s footsteps and attends UCSC.
Katherine became drawn to the congregation because of the church profile vision of St. Philip’s as a welcoming, hospitable, inclusive, and inviting place. She felt the Holy Spirit at work here in our openness to exploring innovative approaches to our parish life and leadership during our interim. She is excited to partner in ministry with us and in this new model at a time when the church is called to reinvent how we can gather and serve as the hands and feet of Christ in the midst of crisis.
