Clergy |
Fr. Gary Dixon Hill is the 25th Rector of Christ Church, the 4th oldest Episcopal congregation in the State of Texas. Coming to us on February 1, 1997, he is now in his twelfth year. Previously he served as Rector of Trinity Church and School, Jasper, Texas, Vicar of Church of the Ascension, Springfield, Missouri, and Curate at St. Paul's, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Gary was born on August 9, 1948, in Norfolk, Virginia. As his father was an active Naval Officer, Gary has lived in many places including Sangley Point Naval Station in the Philippines. Upon his father's retirement, the Hill family moved to New Orleans. Sensing a call to the ordained ministry from an early age, Gary, then a Methodist, was accepted by the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church and sent to Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana, a Methodist college, were he began a degree in Pre-ministerial Studies. While at Centenary he was drawn to The Episcopal Church and Confirmed by Bishop Iveson Bachelor Noland at St. Mark's Church, Shreveport, in 1970. He earned his M.Div. cum laude, from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Gary is an avid artist whose work is carried in galleries in Nacogdoches and New Orleans. He is active in the Cursillo movement in the Diocese of Texas, having served as Spiritual Director on many occasions. He has been married to Nancy Hunter Hill for thirty-five years. They have two daughters, Leah and Amy, one son, Zachary, and two grandchildren, grandson, Kendall and granddaughter, Lauryn.
Wanda was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons at Diocesan Council in February 2007. She was in the first graduating class of the Iona School For Ministry, a program of the Diocese of Texas. She has been a member of Christ Church since 1985, and served in various ministries as an active layperson prior to her ordination.
As a deacon, Wanda has liturgical responsibilities, which include preaching and assisting at the altar. She also directs a training program for lay pastoral caregivers called The Community of Hope. She supervises volunteer lay chaplains at Nacogdoches Medical Center and coordinates pastoral care for the parish. She is a trained spiritual director and an oblate in the Order of St. Benedict. She leads a weekly Christian meditation group, and is Christ Church’s liaison with Love in the Name of Christ, a ministry to the needy of our community. She also serves on the Diocese of Texas’ Committee for the Diaconate, which is charged with the selection and mentoring of new deacons for the Diocese. As a deacon, Wanda is charged with a particular ministry of servanthood to all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely. She is to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns and hopes of the world.
Wanda is a graduate of the University of Texas with a master’s degree in library and information science. She has worked in libraries of all types for over 30 years. She is married to Troy Cuniff, and is librarian of Christ Episcopal School. She and Troy have two grown and married children, Joe Cuniff and Claire Ripper, and one beloved grandchild, Judson Ripper.
From Sept. 2008 until Sept. 2009, Wanda will be doing a residency in Clinical Pastoral Education at Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler, Texas.
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