The Rev. Katherine Baginski Doar, Associate Priest
As the Director of Community Development and Outreach, Katherine's ministry is to empower the members of St. Francis to share the Love of Christ with each other, our neighbors and our world. Her goal is to develop better communication, wider connections and deeper caring so that we can be a reconciling presence in Willow Glen and beyond.
Katherine's journey toward becoming an Episcopal priest started at a very young age. "I felt that God wanted me to do something with my life that helped others, but as a Roman Catholic girl, I didn't see the priesthood as an option. I spent my young adult years looking for the place and way that God wanted me to serve: teaching in the Peace Corps in Africa, finding my denominational home in the Episcopal church, working for a homeless agency in San Francisco and a battered women's shelter in Boston, going to seminary to study feminist theology and instead ending up deeply engaged in pastoral ministry. Through all this, the pieces gradually came together for me, and I felt God calling me to be a priest in the Episcopal Church."
Katherine directed the children, youth and family ministries at St. Francis for nearly 20 years prior to moving into her current ministry. She was ordained in 2002. Her seminary education was at Harvard Divinity School and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, but she also credits her time in the Peace Corps, a stints as a Parish Secretary, and nine years as a co-op preschool parent as critical to her formation for ministry. Katherine has raised three children (now in their teens and 20's) in Willow Glen so one of her other hats is as a passionate advocate for our local public schools. She's also an avid skier, singer and "a big time musical theatre junkie."
Katherine's journey toward becoming an Episcopal priest started at a very young age. "I felt that God wanted me to do something with my life that helped others, but as a Roman Catholic girl, I didn't see the priesthood as an option. I spent my young adult years looking for the place and way that God wanted me to serve: teaching in the Peace Corps in Africa, finding my denominational home in the Episcopal church, working for a homeless agency in San Francisco and a battered women's shelter in Boston, going to seminary to study feminist theology and instead ending up deeply engaged in pastoral ministry. Through all this, the pieces gradually came together for me, and I felt God calling me to be a priest in the Episcopal Church."
Katherine directed the children, youth and family ministries at St. Francis for nearly 20 years prior to moving into her current ministry. She was ordained in 2002. Her seminary education was at Harvard Divinity School and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, but she also credits her time in the Peace Corps, a stints as a Parish Secretary, and nine years as a co-op preschool parent as critical to her formation for ministry. Katherine has raised three children (now in their teens and 20's) in Willow Glen so one of her other hats is as a passionate advocate for our local public schools. She's also an avid skier, singer and "a big time musical theatre junkie."
