Our Clergy, Staff & Vestry

Rev. Leslie Hague

A message from Mother Leslie Hague and Katie Casteel

It is with great excitement and joy that I introduce myself to you as the new Rector of St. Matthew’s Pennington. My wife Katie and I are glad that through prayerful discernment by all, I have been called to serve you. 

I have been ordained as a priest for 25 years, and it has been my privilege to serve three churches in that time: St. Peter’s in Savannah, Georgia; St. Michael’s in Arlington, Virginia; and All Saints in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Each call has strengthened not only my faith, but my talents and skills in unique ways. I hope to bring all this knowledge to bear in my call to St. Matthew’s.

My wife and I will be moving into the beautiful rectory next to the church and will be bringing our four-legged children with us: Mr. Bennett, a 14 year old orange cat; Bellatrix, a 12 year old long-haired cat; and Buffy, a 6 year old chihuahua. We are so looking forward to making our home in Pennington amongst the people of St. Matthew’s and the surrounding community.

My first Sunday will be on June 30, which will be here before we know it! In the meantime, Katie and I will be moving, traveling to Nevada (both for a mini-vacation and to see Katie’s family who lives there), unpacking, and familiarizing ourselves with the area. 

I am so eager to meet each one of you and become part of St. Matthew’s parish family. I do have an important request of all of you: it's a great help for us if you wear name tags, and not just on our first Sunday. Katie and I learn names and faces best when we can see your name as we meet. We will wear our name tags as well. People often ask what to call me. I'm great with being called Leslie. If you prefer to use a title, I prefer Mother Leslie.

Until we can be together in person, know that I am holding you in my heart and praying for the St. Matthew’s community. Please pray for us as we move. 

Addendum: It is with heavy hearts that we must revise our list of pets as Mr. Bennett peacefully crossed the rainbow bridge this past week. We’re sorry you won’t get to meet that sweet kitty boy. 

Blessings,
Leslie+ (and Katie)

Mark Dolan, Director of Music Ministry

Mark Dolan, our Organist and Music Director, is responsible for recruiting, training, and directing our three music ensembles:  The Adult Choir, The Pennington Ringers, and The Junior Choir.  Mark concurrently serves as Choral Director for Newtown Middle School, Council Rock School District, where he leads the Young Men’s Vocal Ensemble, the Newtown Choraliers women’s choir, the auditioned Middlemasters mixed choir, and the CRAFTPlayers theatre program.

An active member of the American Choral Director’s Association, Mr. Dolan is a past chair and conductor of the Plainfield Area Children’s Choir Festival and is the founder and current chair of Vocal Thunder, Eastern Pennsylvania’s premiere choir festival for middle school boys.

Mr. Dolan enjoys work as a concert organist and accompanist, having given programs on both US coasts and in the UK.  Most recently Dolan was organist for Cantus Novus’ performance of the Duruflé Requiem under the direction of Mr. Edward McCall in Bucks County, PA, and in a performance of the Fauré Requiem under the baton of Craig Jessop, Conductor Emerita of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, at Carnegie Hall, NYC.

Mr. Dolan earned his Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and Music Education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where he studied with Gavin Black, Christa Rakich, Dr. Frank Abrahams, and others. Mr. Dolan also holds Masters’ degrees in Architecture and Human Resources Development from Tulane University in New Orleans and SUNY at Stony Brook, NY, respectively.

A native of New Jersey, Mark lives in Hopewell Boro with his cats, Tchoupitoulas and Vacherie!  Be sure to stop by his house on Halloween for extra treats, or drop by his annual crawfish boil on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

Cheryl Watterson, Director of Children's and Family Ministries

Cheryl Watterson is our Director of Children’s and Family Ministries at St. Matthew’s!  She has been an active member of the church since moving to the Pennington, NJ area with her family in 1999, serving on the Mission Committee, attending mission trips to Camden, NJ and Honduras, and assisting with many annual church fundraisers. She is the mother of four children, two girls and two boys, and all have grown up in this church.  The youngest is still attending classes here on Sundays in the Kairos Sunday school program.  Cheryl has taught in the program and is looking forward to the opportunity to help this wonderful ministry continue and grow.   

Cheryl is a former social worker with a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.  She also holds a BA in Sociology and Spanish from the University of Richmond where she met her husband, Scott. Cheryl worked as a social worker in Atlanta, GA before moving to Chapel Hill, NC and then Pennington, where she stayed home with the children for sixteen years.  She has been happily teaching in the Two’s class at St. Matthew’s Preschool for six years and has been the school’s Kids’ MusicRound-trained teacher for the past four years, working with all of the children in the school.  Cheryl recently earned her CDA (Child Development Associate) certification for working with young preschoolers. She plans to continue teaching in the preschool every morning throughout the school year. 

Cheryl has always wanted to work with children and feels fortunate to be able to oversee the Kairos program for St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.  She is also looking forward to interacting with our wonderful teachers, clergy, and parents throughout the year! You can contact Cheryl by email by clicking here: Kairos@stmatthewspennington.org.

Pam Worthington, Parish Administrator, began in July 2017 at St. Matthew's.
Pam can be reached at admin@stmatthewspennington.org or by calling the church office at (609) 737-0985.

Vestry

The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. Vestry members are elected at the annual parish meeting. Vacancies, if they occur, are filled throughout the year.

The presiding officer of the vestry is the rector. There are two wardens, a senior warden and a junior warden.

The basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation, to support the church's mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.

The Wardens:

Linda Bucher
Sr. Warden
llbucher@comcast.net

JC Kinnamon
Jr. Warden
jckinnamon@gmail.com