Fr. Dodge, who is the Rector of Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe, New Mexico will be inducted as Canon during the opening Eucharist of the 65th Annual Convention of the Diocese of the Rio Grande on October 19 at All Saints Episcopal Church, El Paso. A Canon on a diocesan staff assists the Bishop.
The Rev. Robin D. Dodge was called to be Rector of Church of the Holy Faith following the untimely death of the Rev. Cn. Kenneth J.G. Semon. Bishop Vono celebrated the New Ministry of Fr. Dodge and Church of the Holy Faith following Diocesan Convention on Sunday, October 30, 2016, with a High Holy Mass.
Fr. Robin Dodge was born in 1958 and grew up in Springfield, Vermont.
Sometimes, the difference between a subtle call and a recurring tug is disarmingly imperceptible. So it was for Fr. Robin Dodge. “The choice of being drawn to the ministry never really left me, even from a young age,” says Fr. Robin. “The concept of being drawn to church and being ordained was always with me.”
But not unlike many clerics before him, he wrestled with the angels in finding a pathway. After a church-oriented upbringing in Vermont, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University focused on the history of England during the Tudors and Stuarts and a doctoral degree in jurisprudence from Boston University. In the summers while a student he worked for the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, a Vermont historic preservation foundation; and on Capitol Hill in Washington for Congressman Jim Jeffords and Senator Bob Stafford.
He launched his legal career in Chicago and then moved to Washington, DC, where his practice concentrated on trademarks, copyrights and unfair competition.
Throughout the years the perceived call to the ministry remained. He initially responded by serving as secretary to the vestry at Christ Church in Georgetown, and thought about combining the best of both worlds by becoming a parish administrator. Finally, his rector pointed out the obvious: “Have you ever considered the priesthood?” “I kept feeling a tug. I was happy doing work for the church. It was invigorating to me. God calls us to be happy, and God wants us to be fulfilled in our careers,” he said in an interview after his institution.
But in the mid 1990s, and spurred on by the gentle encouragement of his mentor, the late Fr. Sanford Garner of Washington, DC – and a week of prayerful reflection — Fr. Robin arrived at a decision: “Well, the ‘pros’ for going into the priesthood filled a very long, long list, while the ‘cons’ made for a very short one,” Fr. Robin said. “Maybe God is trying to tell me that I should go into the priesthood.”
The rest is history. Yet, he likes to point out, it was not a “late call” to the ministry. “I’m a second-vocation priest. I can’t say it was late in life because I was only in my thirties,” he said. “In fact, I was actually a youngster in my seminary classes, where half the men and all the women were older.” He earned his master’s degree in divinity in 1999 at Virginia Theological Seminary. Following that, he was appointed associate vicar of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA. In 2002, he was appointed associate vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol, England, and upon the vicar’s departure in 2004, served as priest-in-charge.
After 11 years as rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, Fr. Robin, now 58, has been a priest longer than he practiced law. But his legal career gave him a skills set and real-world experience that he brings to the priesthood and uses daily in his interaction with parishioners. “A lot of the skills of a lawyer are certainly transferable in the ordained ministry: public speaking, counseling, giving advice, administration – these are all skills a lawyer uses and a priest needs as well,” he said. “I like to joke that now as a priest, I just go before a different judge.”
Fr. Robin came to Holy Faith Church in Santa Fe grounded in core beliefs fundamental to our parish. “I see myself on the Anglo-Catholic side of things as an affirming Catholic, as an Anglo Catholic who can embrace the great Anglican heritage we have in the Reformed tradition, as well as continuing in the Catholic tradition. What we have here is the best that Christianity has to offer.”
This means a reliance on the authority of scripture, the Word of God, embracing and upholding the sacraments, and being bound in the holiness of worship. That said, he adheres to a centrist, moderate approach to change. He preaches from the pulpit, Anglo-Catholic tradition notwithstanding. “I consider myself to be an evangelist, because that’s what God calls us to be. God wants us to share the good news of Jesus Christ … and we have good news to share,” he said. “ The story of Jesus, his ministry, death, resurrection and ascension is absolute great news. I don’t want to keep it to myself. I want to share it with everyone. That means transforming our lives. The church can help us do that.”
Since 1986 Robin has been married to Thérèse Saint-André, whom he met at coffee hour at Church of Our Saviour in Chicago. They have two sons, Cameron, age 24, a graduate of St. Albans School in Washington and the University of Virginia, who lives and works in Atlanta, and Barrett, age 21, who is pursuing vocational training.
BIOGRAPHY OF FR. ROBIN DODGE Fr. Robin Dodge was born in 1958 and grew up in Springfield, Vermont. He attended Cornell University where he studied history with a particular focus o n the history of England during the reign of the Tudors and Stuarts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell in 1980. In the summers while a student he worked for the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, a V ermont h istoric preservation foundation; and on Capitol Hill in Washington for Congressman Jim Jeffords and Senator Bob Stafford . Fr. Robin then studied law at Boston University, which conferred on him a Doctoral degree in Jurisprudence in 1983. As a lawyer he practiced corporate law concentrating in trademarks, copyrights, and unfair competition, first in Chicago and then returning to Washington to practice with Winston & Strawn (formerly Bishop, Cook, Purcell & Reynolds) and then Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti . After more than ten years as a lawyer and wrestling with a perceived call to ordained ministry while a pa rishioner at Church of our Saviour in Chicago and Christ Church Georgetown in Washington , Fr. Robin entered Virginia Theological Seminary and was awarded a Master's degree in Divinity in 1999. He was ordained in the Episcopal Church as a deacon in 1998 and a p riest in 1999. He spent more than three years as Associate Rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia. In 2002 he was appointed Associate Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol, England, and upon the Vicar's departure in 2004 s er ved as priest - in - charge. In 2005 , Fr. Robin was called to be Rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, where he served until October 2016, when he was called to be Rector of Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe, New Mexico . Fr. Robin wa s the President of the American Friends of St. David’s Cathedral in Wales, promoting support for and pilgrimages to that holy site. He wa s Chaplain to the British Embassy in Washington and continues to serve as Chaplain to the Board of the Friends of St. Benedict , for whom he has also facilitated Benedictine retreats and spoken at their annual symposium on Benedictine spirituality . He is seeking to become an oblate of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. He also is a member of the Order of St. John, an internationa l humanitarian organization that supports the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem. Since 1986 Fr. Robin has been married to Thérèse Saint - André, whom he met at coffee hour at C hurch of Our Saviour in Chicago. Thérèse , who studied history at Wesleyan Universi ty and holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago , worked for several banks, including the First National Bank of Chicago and Riggs Private Banking in Washington , was an international financial analyst with the Inter - American Development Bank , and served a s an adjunct professor of finance at the University of the West of England and at the Bristol Management Centre in England . She is the Executive Director of the Friends of St. Benedict. They have two sons, Cameron, age 2 4 , a graduate of St. Albans School in Washington and the University of Virginia , who lives and works in Atlanta, and Barrett, age 2 1 , who is pursuing vocational training .
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