Alleluia, Thanks Be To God!
Our transition is nearing an end! The vestry has called a new rector, the Reverend James Croom. Rev. Croom
is currently interim rector at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Kalamazoo. He will become our new rector on
September 1, 2008. Jim's career began in professional music, where he performed over 60 operatic roles as a
tenor with opera companies that included the San Francisco Opera, Scottish Opera, Glasgow Grand Opera and
others. A native of North Carolina, he received his Master of Music-Performance at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC in 1975. His experience also includes musical comedy, folk-rock, as well as
teaching voice and music appreciation at the collegiate level. He received his Master of Divinity at the
Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California in 2001. His pastoral care background began
well before his ordination among his colleagues in the San Francisco Opera before he came to Kalamazoo in
March 2007. While in California, Jim served in parishes in Martinez and in Mill Valley. He was an adjunct
instructor in Preaching and Homiletics and in Field Education at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and he
served as the Director of Spiritual Care for the Episcopal Homes Foundation.
As a priest, he has served such functions as worship leadership, liturgical design, preaching, pastoral
counseling and church school curriculum development. A man who is skilled at identifying gifts and
encouraging personal growth, Jim has a sense of humor about him that we are sure you will enjoy when he joins
us in September.
Jim is married to Stephanie, an ordained Presbyterian minister, and has one daughter, Rosanna from a previous
marriage. Stephanie is serving as the Associate Director for Ministry Formation at Western Theological
Seminary in Holland. Jim has expressed great excitement about joining his ministry with ours here at Holy
Trinity, and is planning several meetings with the parish community before August in order to begin the
process of getting to know us all.
