Who we are
St. Peter’s is a community of clergy, staff, lay leaders, members, friends, and community partners. Those who one might contact most frequently include:
Rector
The position of rector at St. Peter’s is currently vacant. We are in the midst of a search process and welcome interested individuals to use this link.
Candida Steel: Senior Warden
Candy was raised a cradle Episcopalian in New York with summers spent on Frenchman Bay in Sorrento. Moving to Washington DC after earning a BA in history at Northwestern, she secured a JD from Catholic University and became a lawyer and then a federal judge handling government contract disputes throughout the country. This career supported her singing with the Choral Arts Society of Washington for 44 years — excellent training for singing with Barbara Jean at St. Peter’s after she moved to Owls Head in retirement!
Lee Karker: Priest Associate
Lee Karker was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 2007. He has lived in the Rockland area since 1984, where he served as pastor of the Rockland Congregational Church from 1984 to 1994. He then went to work for MCH (formerly the Methodist Conference Home) where he served as Executive Director from 1995 until his retirement in 2016.
Lee grew up in southern Africa, living in Swaziland and then South Africa, where his parents were missionaries in the Church of the Nazarene. He returned to the US to attend college and lived in Massachusetts, Maine and California before moving to Maine for the second time in 1984.
Lee holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Master of Arts degree in History from Boston University.
Barbara Jean O’Brien: Music Director
Barbara Jean O’Brien grew up in the Boston area and moved to Maine in 2001. She has a Bachelor of Music from the University of Massachusetts, a Master of Music from the University of North Carolina, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of New Hampshire and certifications in Contemplative Musicianship and Music-Thanatology from the Chalice of Repose Project School of Music-Thanatology.
Barbara Jean has served many spiritual congregations over the years, as organist, pianist, choir director, cantor, harpist, choir member and vocal soloist, and is pleased to call St. Peter’s her spiritual home.
Our Vestry (governing board)
Senior Warden: Candida Steel
Junior Warden: Judith Haines-Carter (acting)
Treasurer: Peter Fontaine
Judy Mullins
Rachel Snow
Other Lay Ministry Leaders at St. Peter’s
Altar Guild: Marjorie Miller
Budget & Finance Committee: Joe Cox
Loaves and Fishes: Scott Tilton
Pastoral Care: Lucia Elder
Stewardship: Joe Cox