A Very Special Announcement
On Sunday, August 25, the Vestry announced that St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Breckenridge has called the Reverend Elizabeth Blunt to be our new Rector and she has accepted our call with enthusiasm and confidence in our future together.
The decision to call Reverend Blunt and her decision to accept was made after much reflection and prayerful discernment. St. John’s benefitted from a 15 month search and was blessed with the experienced help of the Diocese and the Canon for Transition at every step in the process.
And, most importantly, we sincerely believe the parish and Rev’d Beth were guided and sustained by the collective wisdom, patience, compassion and courage provided by the Holy Spirit.
The Reverend Beth Blunt comes to us from Trinity Wall Street in New York City where she has been an associate Rector. Trinity is a large church and Beth has served as Director of Congregational Life, Liturgy and the Arts since 2016. In addition, she preaches and teaches regularly, provides pastoral care to the staff and is involved in children’s programs.
Beth has had a wide range of experiences and responsibilities at Trinity and is fully prepared for the position of Rector at St. John’s. Beth is a native of Michigan but she describes herself as a “small town girl”. She graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine where she majored in English Literature and Art History with an additional focus on music performance. After college, she lived in Breckenridge for 7 years working in hospitality.
She managed a spa and was also kitchen manager and head baker at Mountain Java on Ridge Street. She has fond memories of watching football games on Sunday afternoons at Eric’s on Main Street. At times, she has performed as a professional soloist and has experience as a “front woman” for jazz, bluegrass, country and sacred musical groups. She was raised in a reformed church tradition but joined the Episcopal Church after moving to Phoenix in 2004 where she worked in development for a well known museum. Following a discernment process, she attended Yale Divinity School and was ordained in Arizona on May 31, 2014. After ordination, she served as the associate Rector of Christ Church of the Ascension in Phoenix until her call to Trinity Wall Street in 2016.
Beth loves art, the outdoors, stories, poetry and dogs. She will be moving to Breckenridge with her black lab, Early, as soon as possible and hopes to be arriving in town sometime during the first week of October.
Once again, the Vestry wants to acknowledge the dedicated service of the profile and search committees during the past 15 months.
St. John’s owes those groups many thanks. St. John’s is very blessed to have found Reverend Beth Blunt and we look forward to an exciting and very bright future for St. John’s.