Clergy Biography's

            RECTOR,  THE REV. KAREN P. EVANS

The Rev. Karen P. Evans is the Rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Marietta, since May, 1998.  She holds a Masters in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, and a Master of Divinity degree from St. John’s Seminary in Michigan.  She has been an ordained Episcopal priest since 1985.  From 1991-1998, she was Rector of Emmanuel Church in Alexandria, Virginia.  There she also worked with students and faculty at Virginia Theological Seminary.  She has also studied at The General Theological Seminary in New York, and St. George’s College in Jerusalem.

In addition to her church work on the local, diocesan and national levels, she is interested in music and the arts, and has been involved in founding an after school program for middle school children affected by HIV/AIDS.  She has been married to Bill Evans for 33 years.  He is an Episcopal priest, and they have two daughters.

        ASSOCIATE RECTOR, DR. RAYMOND M. GOTKO

The Rev. Dr. Raymond M. Gotko (Ray) is the Associate Rector at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Marietta beginning his ministry here in November of 2002. Prior to coming to St. James’, The Rev. Gotko was the Rector of St. Andrew’s in Fort Valley, Georgia. Before ordination to the priesthood in 1999, he was a lay professional serving on staff as the organist/choirmaster at St. Patrick’s, Dunwoody, Georgia, and Grace Calvary, Clarkesville, Georgia. In a former career, The Rev. Gotko was a tenured Associate Professor at the University for Georgia and has taught as an adjunct professor of music at The University of the South, Brenau University, Mercer University, and as an adjunct professor of religion at Piedmont College. He and his wife, Lynda, have also owned two small businesses. He currently serves on the Standing Committee of the Diocese and is a member of the Commission on Church Growth and Development.

He attended undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Georgia, studied piano privately in New York City, and was awarded a Ph. D from the Florida State University before receiving his M. Div. from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.

Fr. Ray has been married to Lynda, an artist, for 38 years. They have two married children, Dan and Kathryn, and two grandchildren, Allison and Carolyn. His interests include golf, cycling, cutting-edge thought and technology.

                  THE REV. KIRK A. LEE

A native of the state of Maine, Kirk has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada.  He lives in Lenox Park in Atlanta.  Kirk earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois, in 1976; a Master of divinity Degree at the University of Toronto, Trinity College, in 1990; and was ordained priest in 1992 at the Diocese of Toronto, Anglican Church of Canada.

Kirk has served throughout the Diocese of Atlanta since 1994 as an interim priest on a part-time basis.  He has a full-time secular career as Certified Financial Manager with an international financial services firm.

Kirk enjoys overseas travel, Chinese pugs, and literature.  He is the Assistant Priest on the weekends at St. James'.

           THE REV. JEAN ANN WRIGHT

Ordained in the Diocese of Southeast Florida in November, 1987 Deacon at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Transferred to the Diocese of Atlanta in 1995. Deacon at St. James' Episcopal Church in Marietta
Profession: Editor of QUILT Magazine and related publications. Unmarried. Mother of 3, grandmother of 6. Hobbies: Gardening, Quilting, Watercolor Painting.

THE REV. JOSEPH SHIPPEN

The Rev. Joseph Shippen is the Assistant Rector at St. James’ Episcopal Church since June of 2006. He graduated from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church on May 17th, 2006 with a Master of Divinity degree. On December 21st, 2005, the Feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, he was ordained to the diaconate. On June 29th at 11:00 a.m. he will be ordained to the priesthood at St. James’.