About Saint James

The Rector

The Rev. Dr. Raewynne J. Whiteley

 

Tel. (631) 584 5560
Email

Raewynne has been Rector of St James since Jauary 2007. Born and ordained in Australia, she came to the US in 1998 for further study and stayed! She loves preaching: it has been a passion since she took her first preaching class at the age of 19; other focuses in ministry are education (both adults and kids), liturgy, and pastoral care.

When not working, she enjoys knitting, kayaking, reading mystery novels, gardening, driving her Beetle, and spending time with her beloved cat, Bede.

Prior to St James, she served in the US as Vicar of Trinity Episcopal Old Swedes Church in Swedesboro NJ; Associate at Trinity Cathedral in Trenton NJ, Trinity Church, in Princeton NJ, and the Episcopal Church at Princeton University; and in Australia as Assistant at the Anglican Parish of Charlestown in Newcastle and the Anglican Parish of Hunters Hill in Sydney.

She completed a PhD in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2002; she also holds degrees from the University of Melbourne and the Australian College of Theology. She has published two books, Steeped in the Holy: Preaching as Spiritual Practice (Cowley, 2007) and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog (ed. with Beth Maynard; Cowley, 2003), as well as numerous articles and papers.

Who are we?

Like most churches, St James has a wide range of members. On any given Sunday you will find kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, single people and married couples. We include educators, contractors, engineers, nurses, schoolkids, artists, homemakers, doctoral students, retirees and administrators. We come from St James, Smithtown, Stony Brook, Nesconset, Hauppauge, Setauket, Commack, Centereach and further afield. Some of us have lived on Long island our whole lives; others (including the Rector) are newcomers to the area; some are cradle Episcopalians and others have joined us from other denominations.

What brings us together is our desire to worship God, and at the core of our life together is our Sunday morning worship, with its focus on preaching, music and the Eucharist. We enjoy one another's company, whether it's at a social event, a fundraiser, teaching Sunday School, caring for a parishioner in need, participating in committees, working in the Smithtown Food Pantry, in the gardens, or, of course, at coffee hour!

Rector

The Rev. Dr. Raewynne J. Whiteley

Vestry

Christopher Mauro, Warden

Debra LaMano, Warden

Douglas Dahlgard, Treasurer

Leslie Bengtson

Stephanie Coleman

Karen Douglass

Duncan Marshall

Lillian Moleti

Katy Sacher

Art Strassle

Colette Tarantino

Matthew Trump

Alec Douglass, Youth member

Karen Douglass, Clerk of the Vestry

Staff

Laurie Mannix, Parish Administrator
Dara Linthwaite, Choir Director
Istvan Dioszegi, Organist