The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz, Rector

The Rev. Pam Werntz (photo by Ana Hernandez)

Pam Werntz is Emmanuel’s twelfth, and first woman, rector. She is the first openly queer woman rector of an Episcopal parish in Boston. Throughout her career, she has worked diligently for social justice and support of the arts, particularly among and on behalf of people who are most marginalized in our society. The Steadiness of Showing up celebrates her ministry to incarcerated women, now at 25+ years.

Pam received her A.B. in English from Franklin and Marshall College. She spent the following 15 years in the private sector, rising to become Vice President of Human Resources in a large consulting firm in northern Virginia. In 1996, she migrated north with her family to attend Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. When she received her Master of Divinity in 2000, she was named a Lockhart Scholar for contributions to community life and awarded the Dietrich Prize for best paper on the urban mission of the church.

Pam was ordained as deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts on June 15, 2002, and priest on May 31, 2003. She served as Associate Rector at St. Paul’s Church in Brookline, MA, July 2002–January 2008. She was assigned to Emmanuel as Priest-in-Charge in February 2008, and was called as Rector in January 2010. In September 2022 she was appointed dean of our diocese’s Boston Harbor Deanery.

Pam and her wife Joy Howard have three adult children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, and four grandchildren. Please email her c/o info@EmmanuelBoston.org.

The Rt. Rev. J. Clark Grew, Senior Pastoral Assistant

The Rt. Rev. J. Clark Grew

The Rt. Rev. J. Clark Grew was born in New York City. He graduated from Harvard College and then served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy for five years. Following active duty, he taught in two independent schools outside of Boston before entering Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge MA, from which he has received both M.Div. and Doctor of Divinity degrees. Bishop Grew served as rector of two parish churches, the first in Westwood MA and then in Lake Forest IL until he was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio in 1993. He retired from the active ministry in 2004, after over ten years of diocesan, national, and international Church involvement as Bishop. He has served on many non-profit and educational boards throughout his career and currently serves as trustee of St. Mark’s School in Southborough MA, the Epiphany School in Dorchester MA, the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard, and the Maine Sea Coast Mission. He and his wife Wendy have three married children and eight grandchildren.

The Rev. Susan Ackley, Priest Associate

The Rev. Susan Ackley

The Rev. Susan Ackley served as interim priest during our rector’s sabbaticals in 2013 and 2018. Under her pastoral leadership, we began a Friday-afternoon worship service based on 12-step spirituality and Episcopal Church prayers. Each week reflections and healing prayers are offered in Lindsey Chapel or the Parish Hall.

Susan is chaplain at Plymouth House in Plymouth NH and co-chair of the NH Episcopal Recovery Ministry.

The Rev. Dr. John Golenski, Priest Associate

The Rev. Dr. John Golenski

The Rev. Isaac Everett, CRECHE Executive Director

The Rev. Isaac Everett

Isaac (he/him) is a passionate believer in intentional community; he co-founded one such community with five collaborators in 2011 and has lived there with his partner ever since, and was a part of the founding team that conceived and created CRECHE (the Charles River Episcopal Co-Housing Endeavor). Before joining the CRECHE staff, Isaac served as the Minister of Liturgical Arts at The Crossing, a Boston-based church plant, and had a ten-year career as a session musician in New York City prior to that.

Isaac has professional certificates in nonprofit management and fundraising from Boston University, a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and a dual degree in Mathematics and Music Composition from NYU.

As a musician, author, and liturgist, he has written The Emergent Psalter, a contemporary setting of the psalms, and released Rotation and Transmission, two electronic pop albums inspired by liturgical texts.

Isaac spends his spare time making music, coaching weightlifters, and playing nerdy board games. The Emmanuel House is affiliated with Emmanuel Church and through CRECHE. Learn more about The Emmanuel House and CRECHE. Contact Isaac at isaac@creche.community.

The Rev. Robert Greiner, Deacon

The Rev. Robert Greiner joined us shortly after his ordination in June of 2016. He retired from being a full-time receptionist at the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in 2019.

The Rev. Robert Greiner

After graduating from Hunter College in 1979, he worked in New York City as a project editor, mostly in college publishing. In 2000, he moved to Boston to work in the college division of Houghton Mifflin Company.

In August 2013, he married his longtime partner Baoxin Zhang at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul with Bishop Gayle Harris presiding. In 2015, they purchased a home in Malden. Bao works as a night manager at an inn near Davis Square. They enjoy long walks with conversation and silence.

Bob looks forward to meeting everyone in the parish, so please introduce yourself if you haven’t met him yet. He can be reached at deacon@emmanuelboston.org.

Rabbi-in-Residence

Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire

On 1 July, Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire became the settled rabbi of Central Reform Temple and our Rabbi-in-Residence. He also serves as Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew College, Boston. Having grownup in the UK in the Liberal Jewish Movement, he earned an honors BA in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College, London; a Master’s in Religious Education from Hebrew Union College, New York; and then a PhD in Jewish Education at HUC and University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Concurrently he served as Director of Education at Temple Beth Hillel, a large Reform Temple in the San Fernando Valley. When he returned to the UK, he became Director of the newly established Centre for Jewish Education and studied for rabbinic ordination at Leo Baeck College, London.

Rabbi Shire is married to Rabbi Marcia Plumb, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Brookline. They have two adult children. Temple President Richard A. Daynard said, “The arrival of Rabbi Shire is a dream come true. He brings an extraordinary depth and breadth of knowledge, which he wears lightly, and has great personal warmth and kindness. With Rabbi Shire on board, we can bring new activities and new members to our thriving progressive Newbury Street congregation.” We look forward to getting to know Rabbi Shire and to learning from such an accomplished religious educator.

Vaughan Sherrill, Parish Administrator

Vaughan Sherrill

Vaughan joined the parish office in late May of 2022. She studied decorative arts at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London after high school and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design. Her career path has taken her from sales of eccentric jewelry at a boutique in San Francisco to Newburyport, MA, where she managed a jewelry and mineral shop. In her spare time she continues artistic pursuits through sewing apparel and drawing animal portraits and enjoys discovering flea markets and local bakeries.

In her recent administrative role at an animal shelter,  Vaughan found fulfillment working in the non-profit field in service to others. As Parish Administrator Vaughan enjoys the variation in her responsibilities and day-to-day life at the church. Grateful to be part of the Emmanuel community, she feels connected to her family’s service in its local Episcopal church.   Henry Knox Sherrill, ninth bishop of our diocese and 20th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, was Vaughan’s great-grandfather.

Robb Scholten, Events Administrator

Robb Scholten

Robb Scholten took over production of our newsletter This Week @ Emmanuel Church and numerous duties from Steve Bailey in 2023. He comes to us from Harvard University, where he had served as administrator for two decades.  Having sung and volunteered at the Church of the Advent for 35 years, he says he’s “familiar with the vicissitudes of ecclesiastic life”.

Ryan Turner, Music Director

Ryan Turner

Please see Emmanuel Music’s website for his biography and composer John Harbison’s tribute to him on the 10th anniversary of his tenure as our music director and their Artistic Director.

John Dilworth, PhD, Organist

John Dilworth’s first experience as an organist came as a teenager, playing hymns at his tiny home parish church in Clonoe, Northern Ireland.

He moved to England for a gap year as organ scholar at Chichester Cathedral, before taking up another organ scholarship at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he led a choir of 20 students during study for BA in Music.

He has also worked as organist at St Philip’s Church, Camberwell (South London), while studying for a Masters’ degree at King’s College London, and occasionally at the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard, where he received his PhD in Historical Musicology. His dissertation explored oratorio culture in nineteenth-century England, with a focus on print media and ideas of musical knowledge.

During the week, he works as Shop Manager at The Bike Connector, a Lowell-based non-profit that provides local people with bikes and a do-it-together workshop for bike repairs.