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Stowe Sisters to Lead July 2 Service

Stowe Sisters to Lead July 2 Service

St. John’s in the Mountains to Host Unusual Family Reunion

On Sunday, July 2, St. John’s in the Mountains will become the site of an unusual family reunion. To be more specific, three sisters with ties to Stowe, Vermont, will be celebrating the Eucharist from the altar and the pews. All are welcome.

Three sisters with ties to Stowe, Vermont, will be celebrating the Eucharist from the altar and the pews.

The guest celebrant for the July 2 service will be the Rev. Betsy Heller Fowle from the Dioceses of Western Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Her sister, the Rev. Mary Heller Taggart—who was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Northern California on June 10, 2017—will serve as visiting deacon at St. John’s on July 2. Finally, Susu Heller Brown, who is a St. John’s parishioner and sister to Fowle and Taggart, will join her siblings as Lay Eucharistic Minister and intercessor that day.

The Rev. Rick Swanson, rector, explained, “Betsy, Mary, and Susu’s  father was a Stowe resident for more than 30 years and active parishioner at St. John’s for that entire time”

He continued, “This is a special day in the life of St. John’s in the Mountains, the Heller family, and the Episcopal Church. Not often do we see sisters holding three of the four orders of ministry in the church, and all serving at the same altar on the same Sunday.”

“Not often do we see sisters holding three of the four orders of ministry in the church, and all serving at the same altar on the same Sunday.”

Parish deacon, the Rev. Zarina Suarez O’Hagin will be preaching the sermon on July 2.

The month of July marks the 43rd anniversary of the ordination of the first women as priests in Episcopal Church. Women have been ordained as deacons in the Episcopal Church for the past 50 years.

St. John’s in the Mountains is located at St. John’s, 1994 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vermont and can be found online at http://stjohnsinthemountains.org/.


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