The following is an introductory letter from Father Chris Gregorio.
Dear Friends at St. Laurence,
I am excited and humbled to be called to serve as your next rector.
I am coming to you from St Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, New Hampshire, where I’m completing a curacy that I began in 2023 after graduating from seminary from Yale Divinity School (through Berkeley Divinity School, the Episcopal Seminary at Yale). As curate, I’ve been serving both within the parish and in the Episcopal campus ministry at Dartmouth College, which has been an incredible privilege.
In my discernment for where God might be calling me after my curacy, I was blessed to have found St. Laurence. I was drawn to the small yet vibrant and energetic community, and the way in which you approach living as Episcopal members of the one Body of Christ while truly rooted within the context and landscape of Conifer and the surrounding Front Range communities. I’m inspired by your history as a mission and your deep appreciation for beauty, both human-made and in nature, as ways of encountering the glory of God.
While my ministry and much of my recent formation has been in New England, my roots are in the Upper Midwest—I was born and raised in the Chicago area. I attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for undergrad, after which I headed to Connecticut to spend a year with the Episcopal Service Corps prior to starting seminary.
I enjoy cooking, baking, gardening (though I’ve not had the opportunity these past two years), exploring new places, and foraging. As an avid hiker, I am also very excited to explore the abundant trails and natural beauty the Front Range and Colorado have to offer.
My first Sunday with you will be August 10th, which happens to be the Feast of St. Laurence. I’m already eager to meet all of you and begin getting to know you, Conifer, and the wider area better! And I look forward to our ministry together and the ways in which we will grow and learn together as part of this particular branch and outpost of the Christ’s Body.
In Christ,
Chris+
Interim Rector - Mother Kendall Batten-Kalantzis, stlconifer.rector@gmail.com
