News from St. John’s Church and Episcopal Parish Day School
As Miranda Harrison-Quillin leaves St. John’s to serve in ordained ministry with the Methodist church, we will be joined by Chase Ackerman in the role of Curate and Director of Family Ministries. Chase sends the following message:
I am thrilled and honored to be joining the staff of St. John’s this summer as the Curate and Director of Family Ministries. As a bit of personal background, I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Ocean Springs and was baptized and confirmed in (another!) St. John’s Episcopal Church where I also served on the altar and sang in the choir. After high school, I entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and after four wonderful years on the Chesapeake Bay, graduated in 2005 and entered the naval service as a Surface Warfare Officer. I served two tours of duty on two different guided missile destroyers in Norfolk, Virginia, and was then stationed at the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base.
It was during this period, from 2009-2011, that my wife, Jeanne (pronounced “Genie”) and I discovered and fell in love with St. John’s, and that I also began the formal discernment process for the priesthood. Shortly after, I received orders to the United States Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy, and we spent two wonderful years living abroad that were highlighted by the birth of our son, Jonathan. Upon the completion of this tour, I separated from active duty and we moved to New York City where I entered the General Theological Seminary. Living in Manhattan was a wonderful experience and we loved our time there, but because of internal changes at the seminary during my first two years, Bishop Smith and I decided that a move to the School of Theology at the University of the South was the right call. Jeanne, Jonathan, and I began our new life in the idyllic setting of Sewanee, Tennessee, and this past May 6, just a short year and a half later, I graduated from seminary with a Master’s of Divinity.
St. John’s parishioners and clergy have been very supportive throughout my entire journey towards the priesthood. Your thoughts and prayers for the past three years have had a tremendous impact on not just me, but my entire family. Jeanne, Jonathan, and I are very excited to be returning to Tampa next month, and Jonathan will begin school in pre-K as a St. John’s Eagle in the fall. I very much look forward to meeting everyone in the coming months and am excited to see what the Holy Spirit has in store for us!
the United States Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy, and we spent two wonderful years living abroad that were highlighted by the birth of our son, Jonathan. Upon the completion of this tour, I separated from active duty and we moved to New York City where I entered the General Theological Seminary. Living in Manhattan was a wonderful experience and we loved our time there, but because of internal changes at the seminary during my first two years, Bishop Smith and I decided that a move to the School of Theology at the University of the South was the right call. Jeanne, Jonathan, and I began our new life in the idyllic setting of Sewanee, Tennessee, and this past May 6, just a short year and a half later, I graduated from seminary with a Master’s of Divinity.
