Pat joined the St. Francis community in September 2014. Prior to coming to Holden, he served as the Associate Rector at St. John’s Church in West Hartford, Connecticut for five years. He currently serves as a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese; he is the Diocesan Disaster Coordinator and is a member of the Diocesan Disaster Planning & Recovery Team; and supports the local community through the Holden CERT, and is involved in various emergency communications through VOAD and local volunteer groups. Prior to being ordained,  he worked in various positions of quality and operations management, following more than ten years of service as a Nuclear Submarine Officer in the United States Navy. Pat and his wife, Carol, live in Holden, and Carol works for the town of Holden.

Jane came to St. Francis in January of 2017. She was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2008 and assigned to St. Luke’s, Worcester. Some years later she was assigned 1/2 time each at St. Matthew’s/St. Luke’s; then full-time at St. Matthew’s. Jane worked at Saint Vincent Hospital as a medical photographer for many years. She also serves the Diocese as the Archdeacon. She is currently involved with urban ministries in Worcester – Worcester Fellowship, Laundry Love, and Walking Together. She’s also involved with St. Francis mission partners: Dismas Family Farm, Oakham, and Abby’s House in Worcester. Jane grew up in Queens, NY, and now lives in Charlton, MA, with her two dogs and two cats.

Beth Keusch grew up in rural southwestern Indiana and is a daughter of music teachers/church musicians. Following the family vocation, Beth enjoys performing, teaching and sharing music.

She plays piano, organ, and guitar. As a classical soprano, she has been a soloist with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and has also performed avant garde operas with Paris Opera and Stuttgart Opera, among many others. While being an international soloist for a number of years, Beth still kept working with spiritual music, as vocal soloist and then organist at First Baptist Church Waltham, with the intention of transitioning more fully to worship music. Currently, in addition to her ministry at St. Francis, Beth is a cantor at St. Leonard's Catholic Church in Boston, and Vocal Soloist and choral conductor at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley. Beth has a Bachelor of Music from University of North Texas,

and a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory of Music

Amy started attending Saint Francis in 2016.  She volunteered in the church school ministry as a teacher last year and is very excited to be Church School Coordinator this year! She has earned her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Worcester State College and currently works with children aged birth to three for Early Intervention.  She is also a dance instructor at Premier Dance Academy in Auburn, MA where she loves teaching children of all ages.  Amy, her husband, Andy, and their two children, Addison and Jacob live in Leominster and love being a part of the Saint Francis community.

Elena joined the St. Francis staff in February of 2018. She holds a bachelor's degree from Clark University and prior work experience in medical and corporate offices. Elena, her husband Mike, their two children, Andrew and Katy, alongside Esme the cat and Westley the dog, reside in Holden.

Susan grew up in Seekonk MA and was raised in the Roman Catholic church. She and her family (husband Michael, son Joe, daughter Jena) started attending St. Francis when they moved to Holden in 1990. Soon after joining she volunteered to be a Sunday School teacher. She was received into the Episcopal church in 1992 and was hired as the Church School Coordinator in 1994. She joyfully served in that position for twenty-five years. During that time, she completed the four-year Education for Ministry program and served as a mentor for several confirmands. Her involvement in these ministries provided experiences and led to relationships that helped deepen her faith and strengthen her connection to the St. Francis community. She appreciates the opportunity to learn more about the many ministries of St. Francis while serving as Senior Warden.

Jennifer and I have been members of St. Francis since 2000. I was received at St. Francis into the Episcopal Church in 2004. Both of our children, Chelsea and Nicholas, have participated in Church School as well as both being confirmed at St. Francis. After previously serving on the Vestry, and also serving as both Junior and Senior Warden, I have had the privilege of chairing Stewardship for the last several years. In addition, in conjunction with our Rector, I was honored to lead an outstanding RenewalWorks mission team – focusing on the importance of spiritual growth at St.
Francis. I have also been a member of the Vestry since 2020 and have served as the Usher Coordinator for the last decade. As an Usher Coordinator, it has been my pleasure to greet St. Francis members at the 10:00 AM service as well as welcome visitors. I am honored to again be nominated for the Junior Warden as the faith community of St. Francis is a vital part of my life. My hope is to continue to welcome and invite folks into participating in our ministries so that they, too, can experience the blessings that have been bestowed on me at St. Francis.

Dawn and her husband Brian have lived in Holden since 1990 and have attended St. Francis since 1991. They feel blessed to have been able to raise their three children in this wonderful church that places such a strong emphasis on supporting, nurturing and honoring its youth. During her years at St. Francis, she has been involved with the Newcomer/Fellowship Committee, Dismas Farm Ministry, and served four years on the vestry. She is currently serving as a convention delegate and has been the clerk of the vestry since 2006. She looks forward to continuing to serve the St. Francis parish.

Joel Wesson and Lisa Nicholas moved to Holden in November of 2022 from Mississippi, when we joined St Francis. Joel is a lifelong Episcopalian and has been Sr. Warden, Jr. Warden, and Treasurer for many years at St Paul's Episcopal Church in Picayune, Mississippi. He was also a choir member and Lay Eucharistic Minister at St Paul's. He is a member of the bell choir here. He has also been active in the Men's Saturday Morning workdays and has joined the Finance Committee and an ad hoc lighting committee. He has also worked with Steve Henning this year on some building maintenance items. Since August, Ann Tripp has been re-introducing Joel to Quickbooks accounting and the Treasurer's responsibilities.

Ann Tripp and her family have been a part of the St Francis community since they moved to Rutland about 30 years ago. She was a Sunday school teacher for about 10 years while her children were active in the program and for several years after. Ann has also been on the Finance Committee and Stewardship Committee. Ann and her family are best known for bringing Ali the donkey to Palm Saturday and several sheep and goats to the Christmas pageant every year. Ann’s day job is President of Opus Investment Management and Chief Investment Officer for The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. ("THG"), the parent company of Opus, as well as the company's operating subsidiaries where she has oversight of the portfolios managed by Opus or third-party managers for affiliated and non-affiliated accounts. She also serves on boards and sub-committees of area non-profit organizations, including Fallon Community Health Plan and the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts.

Jeremy was born and raised near Clemson, South Carolina. He grew up in the Baptist tradition, and as a young adult was involved in teaching and leadership within his church. Jeremy and his wife, Jenny, found the Episcopal Church several years ago when invited by a friend. They moved to Massachusetts in 2020, and landed in Princeton later in the year. As the pandemic eased, they found a church home at St. Francis. Now Jeremy serves as a reader for the 8 am service and Jenny serves on the altar guild.

Christina (Tina) Chen found a church home at St. Francis after being formed by her experiences in the Congregational Church (UCC) and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Tina was received in 2013. She is grateful for the worship and mission opportunities offered by the warm and welcoming members of this community. She has served as an usher, lector and lay eucharistic minister, reader for Morning Prayer at the Holden Nursing Home, and baker for the Mustard Seed meals. Since retiring from Holy Cross in the summer of 2022 she has become more involved, coordinating the bake sale for the recent Holiday Mini-Fair, serving guests at Mustard Seed, knitting prayer shawls, and ringing with the Bell Choir. With her husband, Hugh McElaney, she lives in Princeton.

When he’s not helping grill at the church picnic or teaching Sunday school for our littlest parishioners, Matt is probably working outside on his small West Boylston homestead with his wife Taryn, son Oscar, and daughter Saoirse. Work experience wise, Matt is co-founder of a technology consulting agency that helps large organizations with automation. He has previously served in vestry at Christ Episcopal church in Medway where he helped organize community fundraisers and enable the use of credit card payments for church events and annual giving.

Mary Cook has been attending St. Francis since 1999 and was received into the church in 2001, where her three daughters attended church school and youth group. St. Francis has been a comforting home of faith, strength and comfort to her over the past 22 years. Mary has been a Registered Nurse for 30 years working in maternal, newborn and pediatric healthcare and currently working in the NICU. She was commissioned as a Parish Nurse in December, 2002, and began her three year ministry at St. Francis, which included (but was not limited to) providing as a health resource for parishioners, blood pressure clinics, blood drives and wrote monthly “What the Health” newsletters for The Little Portion about current health issues and concerns. Mary is also part of the LEV and LEM ministries. She has completed Year Two of the EfM program and is now looking forward to serving the St. Francis community through the Vestry. Mary and her husband, Steven, reside in Holden and together share six children and 5 grandchildren.

Joy has been a member of Saint Francis for almost ten years. Joy is a native of Worcester and was raised Catholic. In 2012, she and her family moved to Holden and began attending St. Francis. For several years, she taught church school and enjoyed being part of the religious education program. Her children, Aila and Thomson were baptized at St. Francis. Joy is an elementary school teacher in Southborough and has been at the same school for over twenty years. She was honored to be asked to be part of the vestry and is looking forward to taking on a new role at St. Francis.