Clergy
The Reverend Minerva Camarena Skeith
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The Rev. Minerva Camarena Skeith has joined St. John's as our Rector, effective January 1, 2021.
Mother Minerva is a native of Laredo, Texas and is fluent in both English and Spanish. She moved back to Austin in 1998 and married her husband Paul Skeith in 1999. They have two sons. Samuel and Augustin. Her husband Paul was ordained a priest in 2017 and has been leading the “SoCo Episcopal Community” in south Austin for the last six years. She enjoys jigsaw puzzles, detective novels, running, and spending time with her family. Mother Minerva graduated from the Seminary of the Southwest in 2019. While a seminarian, she did her field education here at St. John’s Episcopal Church in 2018-2019. After graduating she served as a curate at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. As the curate of St. Michael’s, she worked with the Outreach Commission. She also helped create Picnic Church as a way to allow in-person services during the pandemic. Mother Minerva was a member of the Austin Interfaith strategy team for over 10 years and over the last year has been a leader with Central Texas Interfaith. |
The Reverend Victoria Mason, Deacon
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Deacon Victoria Mason was born in Seattle, Washington, but she claims Austin as the closest to being her home town. She earned her B.A. in History and English from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.S. in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Wisconsin – Stout. Her first career was as a vocational rehabilitation specialist. Her second career was in the Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General where she served as a trainer, policy developer and software development manager. Victoria completed the Iona School for Ministry of the Diocese of Texas in preparation for ordination as a Deacon in February 2007. “I was drawn to the ordained ministry for all my adult life, but I never felt I should ‘leave the world,’ she explained. “I was first attracted to the diaconate because of its being simultaneously in the world and in the church.” She is married to Roy Larsen; has three grown children and two adorable granddaughters.
Victoria is bilingual, having learned Spanish while living in Lima, Peru during her childhood. She served as Deacon at San Francisco de Asís Episcopal Church and El Buen Samaritano in Austin for four years. She served at St. David’s Episcopal Church prior to this. She is constantly amazed at God’s economy, finding that the work skills and experiences from her first two careers are assets in her ministries as a deacon. Deacon Victoria’s current diocesan level ministries include serving on the Commission of Hispanic Ministry and the Discernment Process Team for the Commission on Ministry. |
Luis Rivas, Seminarian
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Luis is a Middler (second-year student) at Seminary of the Southwest here in Austin, TX. He is married to Marie, and they live in North Austin with their 2-year-old poodle, Bear. Aside from being a seminarian, Luis is a craft coffee aficionado, a tech enthusiast, and when it is not too hot outside, an enjoyer of hiking trails and disc golf.
Before going to seminary, Luis worked as the Youth Minister at St. Michael’s in West Austin, where he first worked with Mother Minerva. “I am excited to join St. John’s community and experience a multi-cultural, neighborhood parish. I believe the future of the church is as an expression of local community-building and as reflective of the growing diversity in our society, so I am honored to walk alongside St. John’s for the next two years and learn from the ways in which this community embodies these two characteristics.” |
