Dear members of St Stephen’s and friends in Christ.

We have some good news on our parish personnel front.  The Bishop’s Committee (formerly Vestry), working in collaboration with the Diocese, has reached an agreement, which provides St Stephen’s with an interim priest beginning 01 November 2025.  At the same time maintaining our search efforts to hire a new vicar.

The Bishop’s Committee is pleased to announce and welcome Father JJ Bernal as our interim priest. In this position, Father JJ will provide pastoral care on a half-time basis with St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Douglas.  Under this arrangement, Father JJ will provide St Stephen’s, Sierra Vista, with the following:

  • Communion service (Wednesday morning)
  • Communion service (every Saturday evening at 5 pm – his first Saturday service will 01 November.
  • Communion service (second Sunday of every month – his first Sunday service will be 08 November.  Deacon Dottie and Decon Sherry will fill in for other Sundays with the current process in place)
  • Office Hours (Sierra Vista) – Wednesday and Thursday [hours yet TBD]

As Father JJ settles in and adapts to his new work schedule and works with our two Deacons, additional information will be forthcoming on the various ‘church’ celebration seasons and feast days.   This information will be posted on the St Stephen’s Calendar; therefore, please check on regular basis.

On the other front, the Search Committee has completed its initial work (the St. Stephen’s Parish Profile and OTM questionnaire) for our vicar vacancy.  This information has been provided to the Diocese and placed in a database, announcing that St Stephen’s Episcopal Church is seeking to fill a half-time vicar position.   An ad announcing our vacancy has also been placed in the Episcopal Digital News to provide additional visibility for our search.  Next step in this process involves waiting to see if ‘interested and qualified’ individuals submit an application for our vacant position.   This will take some time; therefore, I ask everyone to be patient and let the process work with guidance from our LORD God.

Peace

-Jeff Speer-

Senior Warden