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Get to Know Our Staff

Reverend Leigh McCaffrey

Pastor

Rev. Leigh McCaffrey was born in Burlington, Vermont and was confirmed and ordained in the First Congregational Church of Burlington. Leigh attended St. Michael’s College, graduating magna cum laude in Elementary Education.

After working as a Christian educator at the Groton Congregational Church in Connecticut, she received a call to ministry that led her to Andover Newton Theological School in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated cum laude with a specialization in Liberation Theology. She was the 1988 winner of the Koinonia Preaching Prize.

Rev. Leigh served as student intern and gospel choir member at United Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain. She served churches in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Florida, both as an interim and as a settled pastor. She has also been adjunct faculty at Yale Divinity School in church polity and practical theology.

Rev. Leigh has served on many Conference committees for Church, Ministry, and new church development. She worked as a staff organizer with the Naugatuck Valley Project in Waterbury, Connecticut, and MESA Coordinator (ministerial credentialing and training) with the Florida Conference. She also worked remotely as the clerk of the New York Conference School of Ministry. Most recently, she has been a patient care secretary at VITAS hospice and pastor of First Congregational Church of Lake Helen, Florida.

Leigh and her wife, Susan Monaco, reside in East Barre, rejoicing in being closer to Hannah and Brad Provost and Sara McCaffrey and their children; Aiyanna, Brian and Athena of Plattsburgh, New York, and Sue’s many brothers and sisters.

Eric Tuper-Giles

Music Director

Eric has been the Director of Music since 2009. He grew up in Utah at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Alongside running the Reynolds House Inn, he and his husband, Jeffrey, enjoy gardening and cooking and spending time with their boxers, Tyler & Edgar.

Aly Marshall

Administrator

Alexandria Marshall is our administrator and bookkeeper. Having transplanted from Texas, she has happily made her home here in Vermont. In her spare time she enjoys writing, hiking, cooking, and singing. 

Reverend David Vanderlinde-Abernathy

Pastor Emeritus

Rev David was the Pastor of our church for 28 years. He now provides pulpit supply in area churches and provides spiritual direction for lay peaple and clergy. He still enjoys hiking and golf in his retirement.