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Calvary News
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The Visitor.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas to lead Danvers parish
CALVARY CALLS NEW RECTOR
 DANVERS, MA – Calvary Episcopal Church will welcome its new rector on Sunday, September 9, 2007 when Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas steps in front of the altar at 10 a.m. to become the congregation’s new spiritual leader.
Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas was called to Calvary as its rector by a unanimous vote by the Rector’s Search Committee (RSC). A unanimous vote by the church’s governing Vestry affirmed the choice.
Rev. Thea will assume the rectorship of Calvary beginning Sunday, September 9, at an inaugural 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist and sermon, which will be followed by an all-parish gathering and brunch to introduce the new rector and her family. All are welcome to attend. Calvary begins its two-service schedule, at 8 and 10 a.m. on Sunday, September 16.
Rev. Thea becomes Calvary’s 18th rector in the church’s 149-year history. She follows the six-year tenure of Rev. Mary Scott Wagner who departed last October to accept a call to lead St. Andrews Church in Marblehead.
The selection process of Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas went remarkably smoothly, despite a very strong field of candidates, according to Search Committee Co-chairs Larry Crowley and Debra Lemieux. And in the end, it was Thea who clearly stood apart from the rest.
“She has a maturity and a level of wisdom far beyond her age,” says Debra
Lemieux, who also serves on the Vestry at Calvary.
“She seems really happy to be in church, preaching and offering the Eucharist,” says Jane Maihos, one of the RSC members who traveled to Randolph, where
Thea served as Curate and Sabbatical Pastor at Trinity Episcopal Church, to see her preach. “She just radiates a sense of spirituality.”
Thea Keith-Lucas holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Master of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School. She has served as a Christian Education coordinator and, previous to her ordination, was an exhibition coordinator at McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, and Assistant Editor at Cascadilla Press. She is married to Jacob (“Jake”) Montwieler, a social studies teacher in the Wayland school system. The couple has two children: Renee, three, and Dimitri, who was born in March. The family currently lives in Watertown.
Rev. Keith-Lucas describes her Randolph parish as a rich amalgam of “professionals and laborers, longtime residents and recent immigrants, and people of European, Afro-Caribbean and Nigerian descent.” It is a community, she explains, that “has taught me to listen carefully and speak clearly across differences. It has also taught me that nothing can be done without humility, honesty, perseverance, and complete trust in God’s grace. It is the parish that taught me how to be a priest,” she says.
About her worship style Rev. Thea says, “I love the worship of the Episcopal Church in all its forms. My home parish was St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s in Allston, a small urban, progressive community with a fondness for elaborate ceremony. Randolph is a parish where the services are simpler and the tone is more evangelical. I feel at home in both places and am open to finding a shared worship style with Calvary.”
Rev. Thea says she was drawn to Calvary by its “openness, thriving lay ministries, and clear commitment to young people. They are vivid proof of the transforming power of Christ,” says Thea. “It is clear that God is at work there.”
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