One of this city’s oldest churches has a new priest. The Rev. Thomas C. Jackson is the new Vicar of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit. As Vicar, he will serve on a quarter-time basis leading a congregation that was organized in 1723. Today it worships in the brownstone church facing the Green and is set within the West Haven Historic District.
Fr. Jackson will celebrate the Eucharist here at 9 a.m. two Sundays a month. On other Sundays at 9 a.m. the church offers Morning Prayer with hymns and a homily. In addition to presiding during worship and assisting our lay leaders in administering this parish, he plans to hold office hours once a week and provide pastoral care in his new role. Since November he has been frequently preached and led worship at CHS as the supply priest.
“I am looking forward to serving in this diverse worshiping community as we find our way through these dark and troubling times,” he said. “We welcome the same people some churches shun, offering a community of diverse races, ages, and orientations. This is a safe place to nourish your spirit whether you are Black or White or Asian or Latino or transgender or straight or lesbian or gay. All are welcome at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit.”
“We are blessed and fortunate to have Fr.Thomas Jackson join us as our new vicar. We are grateful to have him at the helm of our parish family and look forward to a fruitful and meaningful time with him. We treasure our diversity and welcome all at the Church of the Holy Spirit. We value Fr. Tom’s commitment to diversity,” Senior Warden Kati Guthrie Tilove said.
In the past, Jackson served as the priest at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in New Haven and The Episcopal Church of St. Cyprian’s in San Francisco. He also worked as the Episcopal Chaplain at the Stanford Hospital and Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA as well as community chaplain at the Los Gatos Hospital in that California community.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Mary Wade Home, which offers a full continuum of residential and medical care for senior citizens. He was a co-founder of the New Haven Land Trust and what is now the New Haven Pride Center.
While working for a regional utility, he founded Hazwaste Central and the Whitney Water Center. He has served on the Boards of the Connecticut Audubon Society, the Long Island Sound Taskforce, and the St. Thomas Day School as well as on the vestries of several Episcopal Churches.
His career began as an award-winning environmental journalist and continued with work in development at a national ocean conservation group. He also served in public relations roles for government and for-profit organizations. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and an EMBA from the University of New Haven.