Canon Ellendale Hoffman earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Andover Newton Theological School in 1978. She retired from Grace Episcopal Church, Old Saybrook, where she served over thirty years. She attended the Episcopal Divinity School and Manhattanville College and was ordained to the priesthood in 1977.

One of the first women to be ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, Ellendale has also served in bivocational ministry. She is licensed as a mental health clinician and has served as parish priest, clinical director in community mental health centers, clinical therapist in private practice, seminary teacher, and in transitional ministry. She has also been involved in local community outreach programs and mission trips to Africa and Paraguay.

The Rev. Chuck Hoffman earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Andover Newton Theological School in 1979 and has served for fifty years as an ordained minister in parishes located in Massachusetts and Connecticut. In Connecticut, he was rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Old Saybrook for 25 years, and he retired in 2013. He has since served as interim rector and Sunday supply priest in various congregations in Connecticut

Before graduating from Andover Newton, Chuck earned degrees from the Episcopal Theological School and Trinity College. In addition to serving in parish ministry, he has been appointed to various diocesan and national church committees. In the local communities in which he served as pastor, he has served on town boards and many community outreach groups.

Originally trained in chemistry and physics at Harvard and Caltech, Paul left academia to pursue a call to ministry. He joined InnerChange (a Christian order among the poor), moved into a marginalized immigrant neighborhood in Los Angeles, and came alongside local leaders to help them transform their community. After many years in Los Angeles, Paul relocated to New Haven, where he works on InnerChange’s Staff Formation and Care Teams, tutors math and science, and serves as Pastoral Associate at St. John’s. 
Paul is a widower.  He enjoys birdwatching in Connecticut, across the U.S., and in far-reaching parts of the world.

Sexton: The words “sexton” and “sacristan” both derive from the Medieval Latin word sacristanus, meaning “custodian of sacred objects.” A sexton is a functionary of a church, charged with the maintenance of its building and surrounding grounds. Historically, they were responsible for the order and upkeep of the house of worship, including the care of the church buildings, its furnishings, and sacred relics, used in the liturgy and other public acts of worship.