Welcoming our New Curate: The Rev. Cal Payne-Taylor

Dear friends in Christ,

It is with great joy and profound hope that I share the news of the call of our new Curate, the Reverend Cal Payne-Taylor. Rev. Cal is currently a transitional deacon completing his final semester of seminary at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, he also holds an M.A. in Medieval and Early Modern European History from UC Berkeley. Rev. Cal has extensive experience in chaplaincy, youth ministry, creation care, and teaching. His passions include hiking and kayaking throughout the Bay Area, immersing himself in medieval mysticism and spiritual poetry, and building community through gardening and restoring native species. He serves as seminary intern to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walnut Creek, where he preaches regularly, develops creative adult formation programs, and offers pastoral care, with a focus on helping new members find connection and belonging in the life of the parish. He is being sponsored for ordination by All Souls Parish in Berkeley. Rev. Cal’s first Sunday with us will be June 9th, 2024.

This curacy represents a new and creative collaboration between our congregation, the Diocese of California, and CDSP. In the Episcopal tradition, a curate is a newly ordained member of the clergy who serves under a more experienced priest exercising a pastoral call while also being formed for ordained ministry. Both I, as Rector, and we, as a congregation, will share in responsibilities for Rev. Cal’s formation, even as he serves among us as a fully active priest. The curacy agreement is for two years of full-time service and will conclude on May 31st, 2026. 

The vestry and I have been in discernment for over a year around our evolving pastoral needs and they approved our participation in the curacy program in January. Many thanks to parishioners Sara Boadwee, Corrie Conrad, Grant Audet, and Adam McAfee, as well as staff members Rev. Julie Nelson, Head of Ventana School Amanda Stewart, and Director of Music Eric Tuan, who met with Rev. Cal as part of the mutual discernment that led to this call. I’m also tremendously grateful to the Diocesan Transition Minister Denise Obando for her support in making this possible.  

We at Christ Church have benefited from outstanding clergy over the years, but we have not enjoyed the gift of having multiple full-time priests on staff since the departure of the Rev. Jim McKnight in late 2010. It is with great excitement and gratitude that we prepare to welcome Rev. Cal to our community. More information on his priestly ordination and welcoming him to our congregation will be forthcoming in the months to come. In the meantime, I invite you to join me in praying for Rev. Cal as completes his degree and prepares to move to the Peninsula to begin his life anew among us. 

Christ’s peace,

The Rev. Claire Dietrich Ranna + 
Rector, Christ Episcopal Church