The Reverend Gary Parker
Interim Priest-In-Charge
Fr. Parker was born in Potsdam, NY, going to school through
college at the State University of New York at Potsdam. In his junior year
abroad he attended Schiller College, Heidelberg, Germany in 1969-70. After
graduation for his Master of Divinity degree he went to General Theological
Seminary, New York City. He was ordained a deacon in June, 1974 and priest,
December 1974. He served as curate in South Orange, NJ then as rector in
Ticonderoga, NY. In 1983, he began his 22-year Navy chaplain career serving on
ships, in Marine Corps units, hospitals, overseas in Italy and at the Marine
Corps University. After his military retirement Fr. Parker became the Director
of Veteran Affairs, Healthcare, Prisons, Maritime and First Responders
chaplaincies for the Episcopal Church until April 2006. His passion is in adult
spiritual formation with further study at the Catholic University of America,
Washington, DC. Fr. Parker has a grown son Bill and 3 teenage grandchildren. He
likes the Adirondacks, running, reading, and meeting people.
The Rev. Farrell D. Graves, PhD, Mission Associate/Curate
Deacon Graves was born in High Point, North Carolina. He
holds a bachelor’s in religion from Duke University and a PhD in Japanese Ethics
from The University of California, Irvine. Before entering seminary, he taught
English as a Second Language in Southern California. He graduated from The
General Theological Seminary on May 19 and was ordained a deacon on June 12,
2010. He likes cycling, photography, nature, exploring town and country,
hiking, and Baroque and mountain music.
"The only child and the youngest in my extended family, I
was born in High Point, an industrial town in North Carolina. Before
globalization, High Point was the center of furniture manufacture in the United
States. My father and, later, my mother worked in furniture factories. I
sensed my initial calling shortly before college and went on to declare a major
in religion at Duke University (BA 1986). In college, I started considering
whether I would like to get an MDiv, a ThD, or a PhD in religion. Despite my
interest in developing a deeper spiritual life and in ministering to others,
however, I grew disappointed in the rigid Christianity that I found around me.
Ideas were valued more than people, and the Bible was seen more as a rulebook
than as an introduction to how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. This
Biblical fundamentalism was matched by the institutional fundamentalism of the
Roman Catholic Church. Young and idealistic, I left Christianity and turned to
Buddhism. I eventually got a master’s degree in Buddhist studies, but this did
not fulfill my call to minister, to share with others the joy of community and
inclusion as taught by Christ. In graduate school, moreover, the competitive
and often spiteful atmosphere saddened me, but I persevered until I received a
PhD in Japanese Intellectual History from the University of California, Irvine.
I had moved farther and farther from my original interest.
I was trying to make academia serve as a vehicle for my calling, but academia is
quite resistant to practical applications and to unapproved approaches.
Luckily, while getting my PhD, I met a priest who introduced me to the Episcopal
Church. I found there a respect for the individual seeker and support for the
discernment of the Spirit in our lives. My sense of a calling finally seemed to
have found a place where it could be fully realized. I started going through
the discernment process as I worked on my doctorate. Once I completed my
degree, I had to make a decision, and eventually decided not to apply for
fulltime academic positions. I taught briefly as an adjunct, but soon focused
on teaching English as a Second Language, which I had begun as a side job while
a student. This allowed me to continue to live in the Diocese of Los Angeles
while I went through the process. I eventually went to study at the General
Theological Seminary in Manhattan, where I graduated in May.
I enjoy teaching and writing, music (especially mountain
and Baroque), going to the gym, cycling, and exploring cities (people, food, and
architecture) and the countryside (plants and critters)"
