Clergy
The Reverend Michael A. Phillips, Rector
On November 24, 2004, Michael accepted a call from the Wardens and Vestry of the Church of the Holy Trinity to serve as rector. He had spent the previous ten years as rector of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, NY, and prior to that had served churches in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Everett, Washington. He brings to the parish twenty-five years of parish experience along with work in Hispanic Ministry, college work, and community services. He says that what attracted him to Holy Trinity is the feel of a neighborhood church and the people who seem eager to continue developing their faith through worship, study, and active ministries.
On July 29, 1978 he and Sarah Easton were married and together they have two children. Their son, Michael, is a graduate of the University of Vermont, and their daughter, Gracie, is in high school. Sarah and Michael met at seminary (The Church Divinity School of the Pacific, in Berkeley, CA) where they both earned a Masters of Divinity degree. Sarah recently completed her work on a Masters of Social Work through the Adelphi University extension in Poughkeepsie.
Prior to ordination, Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dallas, majoring in philosophy, and worked as an emergency room technician and as a middle school teacher before attending seminary. His interests include local history, backpacking, rowing, cycling, and music. He enjoys cooking, especially in the "Tex-Mex" tradition.
The Reverend K. Jeanne Person, Associate Rector
Since joining the Holy Trinity staff in October 2004, Jeanne has focused her ministry on the spiritual formation of adults and children, liturgical planning, communications, and peace and restorative justice work. She is a preacher and teacher, author, spiritual director, and retreat leader.
Jeanne served as a co-editor of the newly published Lifting Women's Voices (Morehouse, 2009), an anthology of prayers by Anglican women and girls addressing issues of global poverty. With two widows, she co-wrote Gleanings from the Stories of Biblical Widows (Cowley, 2005), which explores the spirituality of biblical and contemporary widowhood.
Her other work is as Interim Director of The Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary. The Center's twofold mission is to educate and form leaders for ministries in the spiritual life and to provide opportunities for spiritual enrichment for the Seminary community, including visitors and pilgrims.
For the national Episcopal Church, Jeanne serves on the Executive Council's Committee on the Status of Women. She is also chaplain to the New York Chapter of the Society of the Companions ofthe Holy Cross and a leader of Anglican Women's Empowerment. Reflecting her interest in the Arab world, she serves on the New York Diocese's Episcopal-Muslim Relations Committee. Since 1996, she has been married to Kamal Abdullah, who was born in Iraq. Jeanne has a passionate hope for a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine and travels there on peace pilgrimages.
Prior to Holy Trinity, Jeanne served as the Associate Rector in Grace Church Brooklyn Heights and as a chaplain at New York Methodist Hospital. In her work before seminary, she was a vice president in the mortgage securities area of Salomon Brothers, a New York investment bank, and a journalist. She holds degrees in Economics from Princeton, Journalism from Columbia, Divinity from Harvard, and Sacred Theology from The General Theological Seminary.
Born in New Orleans, Jeanne grew up in various cities of the United States, experiencing different local cultures and church communities. Her first paid job, in high school, was as an organist for a rural mission church in northern Virginia, and she still enjoys music-making in sacred settings.
Jeanne's personal interests also include knitting, children's religious literature, and hiking.