The Rev. Donald R. Caron, Interim Rector
I grew up in northeastern Connecticut and went to a Catholic parochial school, This was during the years of the Second Vatican Council. After eighth grade I very briefly attended what was called a minor seminary, but fled to the public high school back in my home town, where I was involved with publications and dramatics. I went to a Dominican school Providence College, in Providence, RI, and majored in Education and English. I was an editor of the yearbook and participated in dramatics. During the summer after graduation, as I was preparing to teach in my home town public junior high school, I was invited to take a 4th grade class in the parish Sunday school. By Christmas I was Director of the whole program. For thirteen years I taught school, eventually in the high school as well as classes for the local community college and the University of Connecticut and directed the religious education from kindergarten to adults. I completed a Master’s degree in Theology at PC during that time.
People in my parish, the priests I worked with and my own heart were moving me toward priesthood, so I mailed in a card to the vocations office of the religious order who served in my parish, I was soon visited by two members of that order, and not long after found myself enrolled at Weston School of Theology, a Jesuit school in Cambridge, MA. Weston was part of the Boston Theological Institute, a consortium of 11 different seminaries of many different denominations, so I was able to take classes at Harvard, Boston U and others. Weston used the classrooms of the Episcopal Divinity School, so I was constantly rubbing shoulders with Episcopal seminarians and learning about their perspective on Christianity. During these years (middle 1980’s) the Catholic Church seemed to be retreating from the spirit of Vatican II, and issues on human sexuality and the role of women were causing conflict in the church and in my religious Order. I left the Order after graduation from Weston, and went to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. I was ordained to the Diaconate and priesthood there following the installation of a new Archbishop.
I served as an assistant priest for three years in a parish of over 2,000 families in Dunwoody, Georgia. I became the Diocesan priest for Marriage Encounter for two terms. I went to an even larger parish in Lilburn as an assistant. The people there were ready to split off a mission church, and I was asked to head that effort. We started with 250 families in a shopping center. Within three years, we had grown to 750 families, had purchased a home to serve as a rectory, and property where the church would be built and we were working with an architect. This was the beginning of St. Marguerite D’Youville Church, of which I became the founding pastor.
Solitary life in the rectory was lonely. Issues of abuse, women’s ministry, the way divorced people were treated and many other issues added anxiety to being a Catholic priest. I had issues with the way the diocese treated priests in general, and me in particular. I went to counseling in an attempt to resolve my inner conflicts, but it became clear that I could not be the person God wanted me to be as a Catholic priest. I left the parish, moved in with a deacon and his family and took a job for which I was totally unqualified. I was soon fired. I visited the Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, who was eager to receive me as an Episcopal priest. I proposed to Melanie, whom I had met 9 years earlier, and we made plans to be married. Mel and I attended a couple of Episcopal churches where we rediscovered the spirit of Catholicism of Vatican II which we loved so much. I took another job, in a warehouse, and was fired a couple of weeks before our wedding. A parishioner from the parish in Dunwoody called me to offer me a long-term substitute position teaching English at the school where she was Department chair. She said they needed a priest there. I took it, and was eventually was offered the permanent position. I was waiting to be received as an Episcopal priest, but the bishop retired due to a serious health situation, so I had to wait until a new bishop was in place and ready to move forward. That took three years. I tried to be a calming, listening presence at the school where I was working, and in the third year was nominated as Teacher of the Year.
I met with a panel of priests of the Episcopal diocese and finally, I was ready, and received a call to serve in a parish in what is called Middle Georgia, 100 miles from Atlanta, a place that seemed like another country. Race issues were still rife there, and some natives were none too happy to have a Yankee as Rector, but I stayed nearly 8 years and did some things that were long overdue, setting the parish on a much more secure financial path. After leaving that church, I took my first Interim position in a parish about 60 miles away. I stayed in the home of a parishioner and had a great time with people there. My father had passed the year Mel and I were married, but Mom began to fail now, so we decided we needed to be closer to her. I was called to a parish in New Jersey. There were serious issues between parishioners there, and it became clear that this was not a good place to stay, so after a year and a half, I resigned and went back to interim ministry.
I went to a very small parish in Linden and stayed with them 2 ½ years until they called a wonderful priest to be their Rector. Then I served as interim at a terrific parish close to home in South Jersey for 1 ½ years. I am pleased now to serve St. David Church.
People in my parish, the priests I worked with and my own heart were moving me toward priesthood, so I mailed in a card to the vocations office of the religious order who served in my parish, I was soon visited by two members of that order, and not long after found myself enrolled at Weston School of Theology, a Jesuit school in Cambridge, MA. Weston was part of the Boston Theological Institute, a consortium of 11 different seminaries of many different denominations, so I was able to take classes at Harvard, Boston U and others. Weston used the classrooms of the Episcopal Divinity School, so I was constantly rubbing shoulders with Episcopal seminarians and learning about their perspective on Christianity. During these years (middle 1980’s) the Catholic Church seemed to be retreating from the spirit of Vatican II, and issues on human sexuality and the role of women were causing conflict in the church and in my religious Order. I left the Order after graduation from Weston, and went to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. I was ordained to the Diaconate and priesthood there following the installation of a new Archbishop.
I served as an assistant priest for three years in a parish of over 2,000 families in Dunwoody, Georgia. I became the Diocesan priest for Marriage Encounter for two terms. I went to an even larger parish in Lilburn as an assistant. The people there were ready to split off a mission church, and I was asked to head that effort. We started with 250 families in a shopping center. Within three years, we had grown to 750 families, had purchased a home to serve as a rectory, and property where the church would be built and we were working with an architect. This was the beginning of St. Marguerite D’Youville Church, of which I became the founding pastor.
Solitary life in the rectory was lonely. Issues of abuse, women’s ministry, the way divorced people were treated and many other issues added anxiety to being a Catholic priest. I had issues with the way the diocese treated priests in general, and me in particular. I went to counseling in an attempt to resolve my inner conflicts, but it became clear that I could not be the person God wanted me to be as a Catholic priest. I left the parish, moved in with a deacon and his family and took a job for which I was totally unqualified. I was soon fired. I visited the Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, who was eager to receive me as an Episcopal priest. I proposed to Melanie, whom I had met 9 years earlier, and we made plans to be married. Mel and I attended a couple of Episcopal churches where we rediscovered the spirit of Catholicism of Vatican II which we loved so much. I took another job, in a warehouse, and was fired a couple of weeks before our wedding. A parishioner from the parish in Dunwoody called me to offer me a long-term substitute position teaching English at the school where she was Department chair. She said they needed a priest there. I took it, and was eventually was offered the permanent position. I was waiting to be received as an Episcopal priest, but the bishop retired due to a serious health situation, so I had to wait until a new bishop was in place and ready to move forward. That took three years. I tried to be a calming, listening presence at the school where I was working, and in the third year was nominated as Teacher of the Year.
I met with a panel of priests of the Episcopal diocese and finally, I was ready, and received a call to serve in a parish in what is called Middle Georgia, 100 miles from Atlanta, a place that seemed like another country. Race issues were still rife there, and some natives were none too happy to have a Yankee as Rector, but I stayed nearly 8 years and did some things that were long overdue, setting the parish on a much more secure financial path. After leaving that church, I took my first Interim position in a parish about 60 miles away. I stayed in the home of a parishioner and had a great time with people there. My father had passed the year Mel and I were married, but Mom began to fail now, so we decided we needed to be closer to her. I was called to a parish in New Jersey. There were serious issues between parishioners there, and it became clear that this was not a good place to stay, so after a year and a half, I resigned and went back to interim ministry.
I went to a very small parish in Linden and stayed with them 2 ½ years until they called a wonderful priest to be their Rector. Then I served as interim at a terrific parish close to home in South Jersey for 1 ½ years. I am pleased now to serve St. David Church.
The Rev. Hank Bristol, Deacon
Hank is a recent graduate of the School for Deacons at our Cathedral in Trenton. The Right Reverend George E. Councell ordained the class of six on May 5, 2012. Up until September, he served as intern and then deacon at Saint John’s Church in Somerville, NJ.
Hank and his wife, Susan, live in Rocky Hill with their children Benjamin (18) and Rachel (21). Their son Clark (24) lives in Washington, DC with his new bride, Jessie. Susan is an architect in private practice, as well as adjunct professor of Architecture at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is a native to Wayne, NJ. Hank currently teaches 7th and 8th grade history at the Princeton Day School. He has taught at local private schools for the past 15 years.
Hank was born in Princeton where he grew up attending Trinity Church with his family. His father, Lee, was very active in the music program at Trinity and Westminster Choir College. For high school, Hank attended Saint George’s School in Newport, RI. In college he majored in studio art and economics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. Hank studied architecture in graduate school at the University of Virginia, where he met his wife Susan. They were married at Christ Church in Wayne, NJ in 1983. Hank spends much of his free time painting, working in both watercolors and oils. Over twenty years ago, Hank was part of the start of Habitat for Humanity chapter in Trenton. He is a recent board member of Trinity Counseling Service (Princeton). And currently, he serves on the board of the Mary Jacobs Memorial Library (Rocky Hill).
His roll at Saint David’s Episcopal Church will be to assist Mother Karin and the Church in a number of areas. He is excited to meet all of the parishioners, learn about Saint David’s history, and help in its journey forward.
Hank and his wife, Susan, live in Rocky Hill with their children Benjamin (18) and Rachel (21). Their son Clark (24) lives in Washington, DC with his new bride, Jessie. Susan is an architect in private practice, as well as adjunct professor of Architecture at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is a native to Wayne, NJ. Hank currently teaches 7th and 8th grade history at the Princeton Day School. He has taught at local private schools for the past 15 years.
Hank was born in Princeton where he grew up attending Trinity Church with his family. His father, Lee, was very active in the music program at Trinity and Westminster Choir College. For high school, Hank attended Saint George’s School in Newport, RI. In college he majored in studio art and economics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. Hank studied architecture in graduate school at the University of Virginia, where he met his wife Susan. They were married at Christ Church in Wayne, NJ in 1983. Hank spends much of his free time painting, working in both watercolors and oils. Over twenty years ago, Hank was part of the start of Habitat for Humanity chapter in Trenton. He is a recent board member of Trinity Counseling Service (Princeton). And currently, he serves on the board of the Mary Jacobs Memorial Library (Rocky Hill).
His roll at Saint David’s Episcopal Church will be to assist Mother Karin and the Church in a number of areas. He is excited to meet all of the parishioners, learn about Saint David’s history, and help in its journey forward.
The Rev. Jacob David, Associate
The Rev. Dr. Jacob David is St. David's, Cranbury Priest Associate. He and his wife, Shanta, moved to Dayton, NJ after retiring from the Diocese of Newark in 2011. They became members of St. David's Episcopal Church in 2012.
Fr. Jacob holds a bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Kerala, India. In 1984, he received a Masters Degree in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He later went on to do his graduate studies at Drew University in Madison, NJ and graduated with a PhD in Liturgics and Homiletics. He was ordained a Deacon in 1984 and to the Priesthood in 1985 for the Diocese of Newark. He served at the Church of the Resurrection in East Rutherford, NJ as a Vicar from 1985-2000 and later on became rector of St. Paul’s and Resurrection Church in Wood-Ridge, NJ. In 1998 he received “the Priest of the year award” (Canterbury Scholar Award) from the diocese of Newark and was sent to Canterbury, England for studies in Anglicanism.
Fr. Jacob has been teaching in Unification Theological Seminary, NYC as an Adjunct until 2006. He was later appointed the Director of Field Studies and the Assistant Professor of Ministerial Studies and Homiletics.
Shanta, Fr. Jacob’s wife, is a Professor of English at Union County College in Elizabeth, NJ.
Their two daughters Anjana and Namita are married with children. Anjana is a social worker in Baltimore and Namita is an Administrator for Princeton Review living in NJ.
Father Jacob has recently published a collection of his musical compositions titled “Stairway to Grace”.
Fr. Jacob holds a bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Kerala, India. In 1984, he received a Masters Degree in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He later went on to do his graduate studies at Drew University in Madison, NJ and graduated with a PhD in Liturgics and Homiletics. He was ordained a Deacon in 1984 and to the Priesthood in 1985 for the Diocese of Newark. He served at the Church of the Resurrection in East Rutherford, NJ as a Vicar from 1985-2000 and later on became rector of St. Paul’s and Resurrection Church in Wood-Ridge, NJ. In 1998 he received “the Priest of the year award” (Canterbury Scholar Award) from the diocese of Newark and was sent to Canterbury, England for studies in Anglicanism.
Fr. Jacob has been teaching in Unification Theological Seminary, NYC as an Adjunct until 2006. He was later appointed the Director of Field Studies and the Assistant Professor of Ministerial Studies and Homiletics.
Shanta, Fr. Jacob’s wife, is a Professor of English at Union County College in Elizabeth, NJ.
Their two daughters Anjana and Namita are married with children. Anjana is a social worker in Baltimore and Namita is an Administrator for Princeton Review living in NJ.
Father Jacob has recently published a collection of his musical compositions titled “Stairway to Grace”.
Brother John Baptist, OSF
Brother John Baptist serves St. David’s in areas of pastoral care and spiritual leadership, and is on call at times of pastoral emergencies. He began his service to St. David’s in 1997.
Serving God in the area of chaplaincy is a very important part of Brother John’s ministry; he serves on the Princeton Hospital Committee on Religious Ministry and as Chaplain to 480 souls at Enable (an agency devoted to serving our developmentally disabled sisters and brothers). Brother also serves as Hospice Chaplain with the Visiting Nurses Association of Mercer County.
Brother John belongs to a worldwide Franciscan community within the Anglican Communion. His traditional garb of a brown and black habit symbolizes the Franciscan vows of simplicity, fidelity, purity and obedience.
When asked, Brother John explained his decision to pursue life as a religious in an Anglican branch of God’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. A testing process that began in 1999 culminated on September 30, 2006 when he made his perpetual vows before God and his Franciscan Community. At the offertory part of the Mass, his Rule for Life was placed on the altar, offered up to God, the Rule a binding covenant from which only the bishop can dispense him. Brother John reflects on the “Rule for Life,” quoted here in part:
“A rule of life is simply a structure in which spiritual formation is facilitated. The Latin term is regula, which does not have some of the negative connotations of the English word rule…Religious orders and groups commonly have a rule that must be adhered to for membership. A personal rule is entirely your own. Many people already have a personal rule and don’t even know it. Coming to church on Sundays and holy days is a rule. Daily prayer is a rule. Saying grace at meals is a rule. A rule is simply a way of bringing God into your life in a regular way.”
Brother John served as Diocesan Spiritual Director for the Cursillo community within the Diocese of New Jersey. Cursillo is a movement within the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches that helps individuals renew the faith they received in Holy Baptism and Confirmation. Please speak to Brother John if you have any questions regarding Cursillo.
Serving God in the area of chaplaincy is a very important part of Brother John’s ministry; he serves on the Princeton Hospital Committee on Religious Ministry and as Chaplain to 480 souls at Enable (an agency devoted to serving our developmentally disabled sisters and brothers). Brother also serves as Hospice Chaplain with the Visiting Nurses Association of Mercer County.
Brother John belongs to a worldwide Franciscan community within the Anglican Communion. His traditional garb of a brown and black habit symbolizes the Franciscan vows of simplicity, fidelity, purity and obedience.
When asked, Brother John explained his decision to pursue life as a religious in an Anglican branch of God’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. A testing process that began in 1999 culminated on September 30, 2006 when he made his perpetual vows before God and his Franciscan Community. At the offertory part of the Mass, his Rule for Life was placed on the altar, offered up to God, the Rule a binding covenant from which only the bishop can dispense him. Brother John reflects on the “Rule for Life,” quoted here in part:
“A rule of life is simply a structure in which spiritual formation is facilitated. The Latin term is regula, which does not have some of the negative connotations of the English word rule…Religious orders and groups commonly have a rule that must be adhered to for membership. A personal rule is entirely your own. Many people already have a personal rule and don’t even know it. Coming to church on Sundays and holy days is a rule. Daily prayer is a rule. Saying grace at meals is a rule. A rule is simply a way of bringing God into your life in a regular way.”
Brother John served as Diocesan Spiritual Director for the Cursillo community within the Diocese of New Jersey. Cursillo is a movement within the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches that helps individuals renew the faith they received in Holy Baptism and Confirmation. Please speak to Brother John if you have any questions regarding Cursillo.