Announcing Our New Rector!

The Rev. Beth Taylor

Dear Fellow St. Mary Magdalene Parishioners,

Your vestry is delighted to announce their selection of The Rev. Beth Taylor as our new rector. Bishop Kimberly Lucas issued the call, and Beth has accepted with great enthusiasm. She will begin her tenure with us on February 1. 

From the beginning of our search, Beth impressed us with her self-confidence, preaching excellence, and teaching and mentoring skills. She exhibits strategic management, empathy and inclusion for everyone, and collaborative leadership. She is engaging and humble, energetic, and excited to come to St. Mary Magdalene. 

Beth and her family are returning to Colorado where they have close family members and dear friends. She has most recently served as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Royal Oak, Michigan. After 10 years of ministry with a congregation she loves, and coinciding with becoming ‘empty nesters," she and her husband, Mark, have discerned that it is time to come ‘home.’ Beth and Mark have two adult children, Gianni and Sofia. Beth’s first service with us will be on Sunday, February 2. Please look for additional information about Beth and her family in the coming weeks in The Weekly WORD.

Over the last ten months, the vestry worked tirelessly, managing the search process. We were guided initially by intense, insightful work by the Visioning Committee which collected congregational input and wrote a parish profile that attracted numerous well-qualified applicants. We interviewed and evaluated these applicants and selected three finalists for in-person visits here at St. Mary Magdalene. We engaged them in conversation, observed their preaching and liturgical styles, answered their questions about us and our neighborhood, and got to know them personally.

I hope you will take the time to express your gratitude individually to all on this vestry—Dennis, Margaret, Cris, Jason, Judy, Jane, Tim, Miranda, Jack, and Betsy. This was a collegial, thoughtful, discerning group. They showed up! They listened to each other! They sought the truth! Going through this process with them was life-giving.

During this time, we are deeply grateful for the loving support of The Rev. Sarah Berlin, The Rev. Sasha Bilow, and the SMM staff. We recognize, too, all of you who continue with consistent commitment to the lay ministries that sustain this community in full loving relationship.  

“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118: 24

—Janet Poley, Sr. Warden