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| On this page we are pleased to present profiles of those who serve St. Paul Parish in roles of leadership. We also list the members of committees (the Parish Council, the Finance Committee, and the Liturgy Commission) who participate in parish governance. |
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Rev. Robert J. Congdon, Pastor
Fr. Congdon was appointed Pastor at St. Paul Parish and Senior Chaplain at the Harvard Catholic Chaplaincy as of August 1, 2007. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1987. After having completed his philosophy degree at St. John's Seminary College in Brighton, he was sent to Rome to study theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Athenaeum Saint Anselm. He received his doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Gregorian University in 1997. Fr. Congdon has served in several parishes in the Archdiocese as parochial vicar, team minister, and pastor. As a faculty member of St. John's Seminary, he taught Sacramental Theology and Foreign Languages from 1997 to 2004. He is currently a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy..
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Rev. James W. Savage, Parochial Vicar
Fr. Savage attended St. John's Seminary and was ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston in 1970; he received a graduate degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. He has served at St. Zepherin in Cochituate (while also teaching liturgy at Pope John XXIII Seminary in Weston), then at St. Peter in Plymouth and St. Eulalia in Winchester. He also spent a year's sabbatical at Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota. In 1995 he was appointed parochial vicar at St. Paul in Harvard Square, an assignment that dovetails well with his keen interest in liturgy. Fr. Savage coordinates the religious education program for children and the preparation of adults for Christian initiation; he conducts workshops and discussion groups on spirituality and liturgy.
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Mr. John Dunn, Director of Music
John Dunn has been associated with St. Paul Church since 1960, when he came to Cambridge as a Harvard freshman. A graduate of Harvard College in music, he also holds a Master's Degree in organ performance from Boston University. In addition, he holds the Fellowship and Choirmaster Diplomas of the American Guild of Organists. Upon graduation from Harvard, he joined the Choir School faculty full time, becoming Principal in 1974, and upon the retirement of Dr. Theodore Marier, John became the Choir School's second music director. In the field of music education he has conducted workshops and demonstrations on teaching children how to sing, both at the Choir School and at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. He has given many organ recitals and, in addition, is the author of 32 hymn texts included in the hymnal used at St. Paul's, many of which have been included in hymn collections in this country and abroad.
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Ms. Jennifer Lester, Parish Adult Choir Director
In 1999 Jennifer Lester became Associate Music Director of the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School and Director of the BACS Handbell Choirs. She is also the director of the St. Paul Parish Adult Choir and Associate Organist of St. Paul Church. She was formerly the Music Director at St. Mary's Church in Holliston, Massachusetts. Jennifer earned a Bachelor's degree in organ performance with Honors from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Master's degree in choral conducting from Yale University. She completed additional organ study in Vienna under a Fulbright grant. She has conducted workshops on choral conducting and has given recitals throughout New England. She is the founder and director of "The Seraphim Singers," a chorus specializing in sacred music.
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Mr. James Swist, Assistant Organist
James Swist joined St. Paul's in 1992 as rehearsal accompanist for the Parish Adult Choir and since then has become Assistant Organist at the church as well as Assistant Director of the Parish Adult Choir. Prior to St. Paul's, Jim held several positions with the Bedford Choral Society, the MIT Chapel, at St. Augustine's Church in Lawrence, and at St. John's Church in Tervuren, Belgium. His teachers have included Roy Kehl, John Cook, and John Dunn. Jim attended MIT (BSEE, 1970) and has recently retired from a 30-year career as a software engineer. In addition to his musical duties, he runs a pipe organ maintenance business, which services the organs at St. Paul Church, among others.
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Mr. Robert Doolittle, Youth Group Minister
Bob Doolittle has been Youth Director at St. Paul Parish since 1993. Along with the Parish Youth Board, he has designed a program for parish young people in grades 7-12. The youth meet weekly from 6:30 to 8:30 every Sunday where they are coached to develop a satisfying prayer life, know the Catholic faith, create an experience of church among them, undertake service and justice projects, and enjoy the abundant life of Christ. Bob has an M.Ed. from Boston University. He served for 15 years as Youth Ministry Coordinator at St. Agnes Parish in Reading and for a year as National Youth Director at Medjugorje in America. He has written four books for youth ministers: Be Alive in Christ, Create Community in Christ, Searching Young Hearts (on adolescent sexuality and spirituality), and Home Made Retreats.
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Mr. Andrew Griswold, Operations Manager
Andrew Griswold, who became the parish's second operations manager in November 2002, has been a parishioner at St. Paul's with his wife Dierdre since 1991. Holding a master's degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard, Andy spent fifteen years in the private sector with Boston-based subsidiaries of Japanese corporations, first in international transportation and most recently in biotechnology. In addition to the experience gained in business across the very different cultures of the U.S. and Japan, Andy brings to his new position a strong grounding in customer relations, marketing, general management, and finance. He is excited at the chance to apply his experience to continue building up our parish community. Andy and his wife are long time members of the Parish Adult Choir, and they are active in ongoing parish lay leadership activities. A past participant in St. Paul's RCIA program, Andy was baptized into Christ at Easter, 2000.
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Ms. Patty Chung Lee, Director of Religious Education
Patty Lee and her family have been members of St. Paul's Catholic Church since 1991. Ms. Lee's post-secondary education includes a B.A.
from Tufts in English Literature, an MM from the New England Conservatory of
Music in Musicology and Violin Performance, and a MTS (Master's Degree in Theological Studies) from Weston Jesuit School of Theology, focusing on Church History and Scripture. Ms. Lee has taught Theology, History, English, and Music at the collegiate, high school, and elementary levels and has been an active contributor to liturgy and music at St. Paul's
Church, Our Lady of Pity Haitian Chaplaincy, St. Mary's of the Annunciation, and Weston Jesuit School of Theology. Having experienced the family Liturgy with her husband and her own children, and knowing
first-hand the impact it can have on the spiritual life of the family, Ms. Lee is
committed to helping Father Savage to foster an appreciation for Scripture, Sacraments, Tradition, and Prayer in the lives of those involved in the Christian Education program at St. Paul's.
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Ms. Joan Tolentino Dunton, Office Manager
An actress by trade and inclination, Joan Dunton has been at the parish center front desk since the new building's dedication in 1991. She is responsible for the orderly day to day running of the "front of the house." She has spent much of her life in the theater, appearing in over 200 productions, doing commercials, theater, film, and television; coaching, directing, publicity; teaching costume, makeup, and drama. Joan made her professional acting debut at the Brattle Theatre in Chekhov's Ivanov. She has worked with many Harvard/Radcliffe alums including: (actors) Stockard Channing, Kathryn Walker, Tommy Lee Jones, and John Lithgow; (health guru) Dr. Andrew Weil; (composer) Robert Levin; (former governor) William Weld; and (Pulitzer Prize winner) Lloyd Schwartz. In theater she has appeared with Colleen Dewhurst, Ben Gazzara, Shirley Jones, Faye Dunaway, and James Woods, to name a few. Joan brings all her theater skills to St. Paul's. Her biggest job is the weekly bulletin, which she assembles, edits, and prints. She also tracks parish membership details, including weekly offertory envelopes, and tends to whatever else pops up during the always-busy day. A long-time parishioner, Joannie is a Eucharistic minister, an occasional lector, mother of daughter Katie, and wife of Men's Schola member David Dunton.
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