Pastoral Note from the Rev. Shane Scott-Hamblen

Dearest sisters and brothers of Saint Michael’s:

First of all, let me thank all of you for electing the people you did to serve on the Vestry and Search Committee. My time getting to know them was amazing and I’m so humbled that they chose me to serve all of you.

Second of all, I hope you’ll join me in thanking God for the wonderful calling that we will serve together for the foreseeable future. I am so excited!

As you probably know, I’ve had a bold and exciting life. I became a Benedictine monk and school teacher when I was a teenager (for 10 years); studied organ in Austria; studied Theology and Liturgy in Rome; then converted to the Church of England and eventually transferred to the Episcopal Church; got married and had three boys; single parented the boys for 10 years while serving a wonderful little parish in the Hudson Valley, NY; I was professor of Church History, Music, and Liturgy at the General Theological Seminary in NYC; then I took a much needed sabbatical helping the Holy Cross monks in Santa Barbara before it closed. Then the Presiding Bishop asked me to assist in the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. When Covid started my oldest son and I were living in Paris and decided it would be safer to come back to the US and we landed in San Francisco where I’ve served as interim priest at two parishes.

I fell in love with SoCal when I was in Santa Barbara and I’m so excited you’ve given me the opportunity to come back. I’m so looking forward to hearing your stories now that you know part of mine - and creating our own stories together for the foreseeable future.

See you on the 15th!

Devotedly in Christ,
Fr Shane

The Rev’d Shane Scott-Hamblen, ThD