The Rev. Meredith Tobin Heffner was raised as a Navy Junior and spent her youth moving up and down the East Coast from naval air station to naval air station. She graduated from Smith College with a BA in Government in 1985, after which she moved to Washington, D.C. Prior to entering the priesthood, she held various positions in banking, sales and management.

Rev. Meredith earned her MDiv degree from Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in May 2008. She was ordained to the Priesthood the following December, and then served as Associate Rector at St. Mark’s, Alexandria, Virginia. She began her ministry at St. James’ in January 2017.

A cradle Episcopalian, Rev. Meredith’s passions include mission, preaching, teaching, and pastoral care. She is especially enthusiastic about family ministries and the many ways we share God’s love from generation to generation.

Rev. Meredith is currently a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington Standing Committee and Dean of the Central Montgomery County Region. She is a Preaching Fellow at VTS’ Deep Calls to Deep program and has served as a seminarian supervisor and colloquy mentor.

On a personal note,  Meredith is a cancer survivor. She loves boot camp, dancing, and a good cup of coffee with milk. She is married to Doug Heffner and they have three grown children, a cat, and a dog. Their favorite time is when the family is gathered at the table—whether at home, or at St. James’.

James (as he prefers to be called), graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1999 and entered Virginia Theological Seminary the following fall. Upon his graduation in 2002 from seminary, James began his ordained ministry as the Associate Rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Naples, FL. He was called to be the Rector at St. Andrew the Fisherman in Mayo, MD in 2005.

In 2009, he resigned from his position as Rector to continue his education and an expansion of his ministry. He entered Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, VA, a university renowned for its conflict transformation expertise. There his coursework included, among other things, managing congregational change and conflict and interfaith peacebuilding. He completed his studies in December 2010 with a Masters degree in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. James now has a consulting practice helping congregations through issues of change or conflict and coaching organizational leaders; yet he retains a love and devotion to parish ministry including preaching, teaching, and celebration of the Holy Eucharist. In August 2019, he also began serving St. Andrew's Episcopal School as its Acting Chaplain to the Middle and Upper Schools. His position on the staff of St. James’ allows him to ground his priestly ministry in parish life while engaging in other domains of ministry.  

James possesses particular enthusiasm for social justice, pastoral care, and liturgical and spiritual leadership. He had served in the Diocese of Maryland on the Bishop Transition Committee and the Diocesan Council, and on the Bishop Search Committee for the Diocese of Easton. He now serves on the Diocese of Washington's Diocesan Council. He lives in Potomac with his wife Maggie and their four children: Jimmy, Joseph, Helen, and Raha.

Catherine spent her childhood in the Pacific Northwest but traded one Washington for another when she moved to DC to attend American University. Catherine majored in International Studies, with a focus on the Middle East—including a year abroad in Morocco. After graduating in 2011, Catherine remained in Washington, DC and worked as an administrative assistant at a small lobbying firm.

Catherine also found a spiritual home at St. Thomas’ Parish, Dupont Circle in 2011 and quickly became involved in parish life. When she realized she enjoyed her church activities more than her actual job, Catherine joined the staff of the Church of the Epiphany in downtown DC, where she served as the parish administrator for five years.

After discerning a call to ordained ministry, Catherine attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA. While in seminary, Catherine interned at another wonderful St. James (in San Francisco) where she designed and led adult formation programs, co-facilitated a Sacred Ground Circle, and participated in faith-based community organizing efforts. Catherine graduated from CDSP in May 2022 and was ordained as a priest here in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in July.

In her free time, Catherine enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy, knitting, baking, and table-top role playing games.

Newton arrived at St. James' in November, 1999. He began playing organ and conducting choirs for churches as a freshman in high school in Huntington, Connecticut. He went on to Middlebury College in Vermont and received a BA in Religion. After school he pursued a career in real estate while substituting at several area churches including St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Burlington. While a close association with St. Paul's developed, he felt called to church music and went on to earning a Masters in Organ Performance at New England Conservatory in Boston and a Masters in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Since then he has held posts in Connecticut and Pennsylvania as well given organ recitals including Washington National Cathedral.

Grace joined the parish staff in February 2008, assuming the role of Parish Administrator in our parish office. She is responsible for coordinating all administrative functions, in collaboration with the clergy, other staff members, and lay leaders. Grace is assisted by several office volunteers whose work she plans and oversees. Grace received her BBA degree from the University of Texas — San Antonio, and her MBA degree from Mississippi State University. In the past, she had long experience as a self-employed meeting planner working mostly on government contracts.

Jerome serves as the St. James’ Sunday sexton, organizing refreshments and taking responsibility for set-up and clean-up for all Sunday activities related to fellowship and education. In the process he performs troubleshooting and gives advice aimed at smoothing our complicated Sunday morning schedule. During the week Jerome handles billing for a group of attorneys at Hogan Lovells, and he worked previously in publication sales at the Alban Institute. The oldest of eight children, Jerome grew up in Kentucky and holds a degree from the University of Cincinnati in political science and history.

Jerome lives in Takoma Park. His hobbies include philosophical reading, with a particular interest in theodicy, the study of how an omnipotent, benevolent God can allow the existence of evil. Other interests include a passion for baseball, a love of good food, and a determination to master the names of everyone he meets at St. James’.

Kirsten has been a member of St. James’ since 2009, along with her husband Eric and daughter Zoe. She prepares email communications, updates the St. James' website, and formats Sunday bulletins, flyers, and other documents for St. James’. As a parishioner, she live streams worship services and serves on the altar and flower guilds. In her free time she designs and publishes knitting patterns, drinks tea, and plays with Zoe’s art supplies.

Maddie joins St. James' as Youth Director in the summer of 2023. She is a University of Alabama alum with a Political Science degree. While studying at Alabama, she worked as a camp counselor and coach, sparking her passion for working with youth. She's been baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. Her faith is foundational to who she is, and she's thrilled to continue working with kids in a faith-based way.

Marisol is a teaching assistant in the fours’ classroom at St. James’ Children's School where she has been employed for 15 years. She is married and the mother of three children. She served as co-coordinator of the St. James’ Sunday School Program in the summer of 2015. Marisol also oversees the childcare staff serving infants and toddlers.

Astrid has been a part of  St. James' Children's School since it opened in September of 1993. The school began with just nine infants, and she spent the first few years in charge of the Infant Room and enrollment for all classes. With the school's expansion in 1997, Astrid began working full time as Assistant Director. Now as Director, she has helped the school achieve Maryland EXCELS quality rating Level 3, as rated by the Maryland Department of Education, and she strives each day to support the school's families and staff. Astrid is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and received a degree in Psychology from the University of California at Davis. Astrid studied Human Development and Family Studies in Graduate School at Penn State.

She and her husband live in Gaithersburg and they have two grown boys who both attended St. James' Children's School. In her time off, Astrid enjoys reading and planning adventure trips with her family. Some of their favorite trips have been traveling cross country by RV, backpacking in the Sierras, and ski trips in Utah.