Clergy, Staff & Ministries
St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Fayette, Alabama
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Episcopal Leadership
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, CIV
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, XXVI Presiding Bishop & Primate
The Right Reverend Henry Nutt Parsley, Junior, X Bishop of Alabama
The Right Reverend John McKee Sloan, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama
Our Bishop
The Right Reverend Henry N. Parsley, Jr., D.D.
Henry Parsley was born in Memphis on October 29, 1948, son of the Rev. Henry Nutt Parsley and his wife Barbara. He attended the Porter-Gaud School, an Episcopal college preparatory school in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his undergraduate education in English literature at The University of the South (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1970), and his Master of Divinity from The General Theological Seminary (1973). He has studied at Oxford University in the areas of spirituality and soteriology, and received an honorary D.D. from the University of the South (1998) as well as a D.D. from General Theological Seminary (1998). He served in a number of parish churches in South Carolina and North Carolina and was for five years headmaster of a parochial school. His last parochial assignment was as rector of Christ Church, Charlotte (1986-1996). Bishop Parsley served as Bishop Coadjutor of this diocese for two years (1996-1998), before becoming diocesan in 1999. He is the tenth Bishop of Alabama, and oversees 92 parishes, eight campus ministries, and several institutions that serve some 35,000 Episcopalians in the diocese, which encompasses the northern two-thirds of the state. In January 2006, he was nominated for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, coming in second in balloting to Nevada's Bishop Katharine Jefferts Shori during the General Convention of the Episcopal Church held that summer in Columbus, Ohio.
Bishop Parsley serves his undergraduate alma mater as Chancellor of the University of the South, the titular head of the institution, serving on the Board of Trustees and on the Board of Regents. He has been a preacher on the Protestant Hour (now Day 1) and active in many outreach ministries of the Episcopal Church including serving on the Board of the Presiding Bishops Fund for World Relief (now Episcopal Relief & Development). He served as a deputy to General Convention in 1982, 1985 and 1994. He is married to the former Rebecca Knox Allison (Becky). He and Becky are the proud parents of Henry III, a realtor who lives with his wife in Boone, North Carolina.
Known as a moderate in the wider Church, Bishop Parsley is highly respected among his peers in the House of Bishops, where he serves as Chair of the Theology Committee, and as a member of the Planning Committee. He has chaired the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development since 1998 and the Church Pension Fund's Abundance Committee since 2001. Passionate in his proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Bishop Parsley is committed to the Church as the Body of Christ, bringing reconciliation, hope and healing to the world. We are blessed indeed with his episcopal leadership.
Our Bishop Suffragan
The Right Reverend John McKee Sloan
John McKee Sloan was born in Vicksburg on November 13, 1955, son of Richard Crofton and Mary Elizabeth Sloan. He attended Mississippi State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976. He received his Master of Divinity from The University of the South in 1981. Bishop Sloan was elected to serve as bishop suffragan by the Diocese of Alabama at a special convention on September 30, 2007. Before his election, Bishop Sloan served for 14 years as rector of St. Thomas' Parish, Huntsville, Alabama. Sloan had previously served as chaplain to the University of Mississippi and priest in parishes in Grenada, West Point, and Olive Branch, Mississippi. Bishop Sloan assists Bishop Parsley in various duties including pastoral care of clergy, small church ministries, college ministries and multicultural ministry programs; and implementation of Alabama's ACTS II Capital Campaign objectives. He visits parishes for baptisms and confirmations, and participates in councils of the church on the national and international levels. Bishop Sloan is married to the former Tina Marie Brown, and he and Tina are the parents of two children.
Our Rector
The Reverend Timothy Hoff
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Timothy Hoff was born in Freeport, Illinois, on February 27, 1941, the elder son of Howard Vincent and Zillah Morgan Hoff. He attended St. Peter Cathedral School in Rockford, Illinois, and public schools there and in Sarasota, Florida, and received his undergraduate education in philosophy (minor in classics) from Tulane (Tulane Fellow, Phi Beta Kappa, 1963), having read most of the work in his major at King's College, London (1961-1962). There he was a student of John Niemeyer Findlay and of the classicist H. H. Scullard. He received his Juris Doctor from Tulane (1966), where he was a student of Mitchell Franklin, practiced law for three years in Sarasota, and received a Master of Laws from Harvard (1970), with a thesis in comparative law. Since 1970, he has taught at the University of Alabama School of Law. He is the author of three books on law, and numerous scholarly articles on law, literature, and culture. Ordained priest in 1984 by the late Bishop Furman Charles (Bill) Stough, Fr. Hoff has served in many parishes, but his primary ministry has been at St. Michael’s. He began a third term as rector here in 2003, having served the parish in the years 1987-1991 and 1994-1996. In 2002, he retired from the University as Gordon Rosen Professor Emeritus, but continues to teach on a part-time basis, offering a fall-semester course in Admiralty (maritime law) and an occasional spring-semester course in either Law in Literature or Law and Religion. He is the Secretary of the Diocese of Alabama, and chairs its Review Committee. His wife, Virginia (Ginger), and he have four children: Katherine, Guy, Brian, and Morgan, all of whom grew up within the St. Michael’s parish family, and all of whom have served or are serving as acolytes.
Rector's Personal Mission Statement: "My goal in ministry is to work cooperatively with others to build up the body of Christ, 'that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection.' That this goal is being realized in the small parish of St. Michael’s is a testimony to the unfathomable power of God working in this vibrant faith community. Christ is Risen indeed, and is working in and through His Church for our renewal and the renewal of our common life."
Curchwardens & Vestry
Toni Smith Robertson,Senior Warden, 2007-2009
Floyd Fulton Newman, Jr., Junior Warden, 2008-2010
Robert Avant, 2006-2008
Suzan R. Bell, 2006-2008
Herb Lowe, 2007-2009
Cecelia Hale, 2008-2010
Ralph Stewart Winton, Parish Treasurer
Suzan R. Bell, Clerk of the Vestry
Staff
Rhonda C. Landry, Organist
Dr. Paul W. Ashley, Assistant Organist
Caroline Byrd Sherry, Pianist
Suzan R. Bell, Parish Secretary
Judy Laubscher, Nursery Attendant
James Blackburn, Sexton
Ministries
Brenda K. Essary, Altar Guild Chair
Frances M. Lowe, Director of Christian Education
Cathy Lyons Robertson, President, Episcopal Churchwomen
F.F. "Trey" Newman, III, Head Acolyte & Acolyte EmeritusMary Catherine Robertson, Head Acolyte & Acolyte Emerita
Amanda Bell, Assistant Head Acolyte