The Rev. Cynthia Baskin, Rector

The Rev. Cynthia O. Baskin, who usually goes by “Cindy,” came to St. James’ as rector in August, 1999. Prior to that, she served as associate rector at a parish in Midlothian, Virginia. A native of Minnesota, Cindy received a B.A. from St. Olaf College, then spent two years serving on the foreign mission field as a teacher in the Territory of Papua New Guinea under the auspices of the Lutheran Church. Upon her return to the United States, she received a M.A.T. degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and then moved to Florida where she taught middle school science for 10 years. During these years, she found her way into the Episcopal Church and eventually became the full-time lay Director of Program in a congregation in Gainesville, a position she held for eleven years until she accepted a call to ordained ministry. She attended and graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1995 with an M.Div degree.

Cindy delights in working with others to develop a parish community life that enables Christ’s message of love and reconciliation to enter people’s lives. She believes the Church enacts Christ's mission through the ministry of all its members. Therefore she seeks to empower broad cooperative efforts among all members of St. James’, striving to develop a communal and spiritual life rooted in worship, nurtured by study, and celebrated in outreach to the world.

The Rev. James Isaacs, Assistant Rector

The Rev. James Isaacs began his ministry as Assistant Rector at St. James' in February 2011. James (as he prefers to be called), graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1999 and entered Virginia Theological Seminary the following fall. Upon his graduation in 2002 from seminary, James began his ordained ministry as an associate rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Naples, FL. He was called to be the rector at St. Andrew the Fisherman in Mayo, MD in 2005.

In 2009, he resigned from his position as rector to continue his education and an expansion of his ministry. He entered Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, VA, a university renowned for its conflict management curriculum. There he specialized in managing congregational change and conflict and interfaith peace-building. He graduated in December 2010. James wants to develop a congregational change and conflict management consulting business but retains a love and devotion to parish work, preaching, teaching and celebration of the Holy Eucharist. His part-time position on the staff of St. James’ allows him to be actively involved in parish life as a priest and also have time to build his consulting practice.

James possesses particular enthusiasm for social justice, pastoral care, and liturgical and spiritual leadership. He has been active in the Diocese of Maryland on the Bishop Transition Committee, the Diocesan Council and the Bishop Search Committee for the Diocese of Easton. He lives with his wife, Maggie, in Arlington, Va., and they have a dog named Sally.

Newton E. Lewis, Director of Music Ministries

Newton Lewis arrived at St. James' in November, 1999. He began playing organ and conducting choirs for churches as a freshman in high school in Huntington, Connecticut. He went on to Middlebury College in Vermont and received a BA in Religion. After school he pursued a career in real estate while substituting at several area churches including St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Burlington. While a close association with St. Paul's developed, he felt called to church music and went on to earning a Masters in Organ Performance at New England Conservatory in Boston and a Masters in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Since then he has held posts in Connecticut and Pennsylvania as well given organ recitals including Washington National Cathedral.

Don L. Mullins Jr., Director of Youth & Network Manager

Don Mullins has been the youth director at St. James’ since 1997. He has worked with youth for many years having served as a baseball and soccer coach and Cub Scout den and pack leader before handling the youth activities here at St. James’. Don is responsible for youth group weekly meetings and special events for middle and high school youth and a biweekly Bible study for high school juniors and seniors. Each summer he coordinates and leads the fundraising for a mission trip for the high school youth, which usually is to a work camp somewhere in the eastern U.S. to help repair houses for needy or elderly residents. Last summer’s trip was very special as it was broadened to an intergenerational trip to San Jose, Costa Rica, to assist an orphanage and day care center. In 2002, Don conceived, planned, and executed a work camp for Montgomery County, Maryland, at which 350 teens and 75 adults from across the country repaired 64 houses and raised $25,000 in donations for the effort. In addition to working with the youth, Don maintains the church’s computer systems.

Debbie Hokanson, Children’s Ministries Coordinator

Deborah Hokanson has been a member of St. James’ since 1982. As her three children grew up through the Sunday School she often volunteered to teach the different age groups.  As time went on she acted as an interim director for one year and then became a team director with Janice since 1999. Debbie has always loved children; while growing up she babysat and was a mother's helper. She graduated from college with a BS in education that focused on special and elementary education. Currently she is teaching a special education K/1 class. Our Sunday school is a warm and welcoming place for students of all ages and it is always so rewarding to see each class having students learning about God's word in an environment that promotes interactive and hands on activities to bring the Bible stories alive.

Parke L. Brown, Treasurer

Parke L. Brown, Children's Church

Parke L. Brown has served as leader of the Children's Church Service for ages 3-Kindergarden since he and his wife, Karen, arrived in Potomac on March 1, 1968. Prior to that they lived in Connecticut where his service as a Lay Reader for children's services began. He graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1957 and served in the Navy for 20 years. He then spent 17 years in the financial services sector. He and Karen moved to Potomac with seven children and added two more. All were confirmed at St. James'. He became treasurer in December 2003. He and Karen have five grandchildren.

Mary Lou English, Director of St. James' Children's School

Mary Lou English has been the Director of St. James' Children's School since September 1995. She has a degree in education from the University of Maryland, and taught home economics, family studies and child development for Montgomery County Public Schools for 12 years. With MCPS, she also had experience writing curriculum, planning budgets, and supervising other staff. For several years, Mary Lou owned her own meeting and event planning business. These skills serve her well as she currently oversees 100 children from 85 families, plus a staff of 30. Mary Lou and her husband, Craig, have two grown daughters who grew up as members of St. James' Episcopal Church.

Linda Knutsen, Facilities Administrator

Linda Knutsen has served as a part-time member of the office staff since March 2004, now as Facilities and Personnel Administrator.  Her service in our parish administration has drawn upon her many years of experience in that field.  Present responsibilities focus primarily on coordinating facilities maintenance and personnel payroll and benefits.  She also meets other general administrative needs, including personal assistance to the rector, benefiting from her active membership in the parish.  Linda has a B.S. degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Penn State University.  She and her husband, Richard Rosano, have one daughter, now in college.

Grace Lo, Parish Administrator

Grace Lo joined the parish staff in February 2008, assuming the role of Parish Administrator in our parish office.  She is responsible for coordinating all administrative functions, in collaboration with the clergy, other staff members, and lay leaders.  Grace is assisted by several office volunteers whose work she plans and oversees.  Grace received her BBA degree from the University of Texas — San Antonio, and her MBA degree from Mississippi State University.  In the past, she had long experience as a self-employed meeting planner working mostly on government contracts.  Grace and her husband, George, have two grown children -- a son and a daughter.

Jerome Childress, Sunday Sexton

Jerome Childress serves as the St. James’ Sunday sexton, organizing refreshments and taking responsibility for set-up and clean-up for all Sunday activities related to fellowship and education. In the process he performs troubleshooting and gives advice aimed at smoothing our complicated Sunday morning schedule. During the week Jerome handles billing for a group of attorneys at Hogan Lovells, and he worked previously in publication sales at the Alban Institute. The oldest of eight children, Jerome grew up in Kentucky and holds a degree from the University of Cincinnati in political science and history.

Jerome lives in Takoma Park. His hobbies include philosophical reading, with a particular interest in theodicy, the study of how an omnipotent, benevolent God can allow the existence of evil. Other interests include a passion for baseball, a love of good food, and a determination to master the names of everyone he meets at St. James’.