New Rector at St. James' Cambridge

A new rector arrives at St. James’ Episcopal Church (Cambridge) this Sunday, April 27. After undertaking a national search, St. James’ is welcoming Holly Lyman Antolini, formerly an associate rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond Virginia. She will be the first woman to be installed as the rector of St. James, a church that in 2014 will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding.

The Rev. Antolini is coming to St. James’ at a significant moment in its long history, for the church has recently completed a rebuilding of the tower and buttresses that face the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Beech Street in the Porter Square neighborhood of North Cambridge, a project supported in part by grants from the Cambridge Historical Commission and the Massachusetts Historical Commission. A strikingly beautiful architectural landmark, St. James’ also plays an important social role in the community with an active food pantry and a variety of other services.

“Maybe you’ve been wondering what’s inside those dramatic stone walls on Mass. Ave? Imagine a church that is on a mission to make love palpable in its own neighborhood and around the world; where you can find really vital worship, with music from Orlando Gibbons to a drumming circle; whose community embraces all comers, no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what your questions are. The congregation of St. James’ is a place to offset any “hope” deficit! I couldn’t dream of sharing ministry with a more diverse and warm group of people. They defy the old joke about “frozen chosen” Episcopalians! At St. James’, faith isn’t just talk; it’s action.” says the Rev. Antolini.

Before moving to Richmond, the Rev. Antolini served a number of Episcopal churches in Maine, where she also offered a contemplative environmental ministry with unchurched young adults. She graduated with honors from Yale in 1974 with a degree in history. After writing for Sunset Books in Menlo Park, California, she earned a Masters in Divinity with honors from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in 1991. She has two daughters: Tina, a radio reporter with NPR affiliate WFCR in Amherst, MA, and Tessa, an aspiring actress in New York City with a Boston University BFA.

St. James’ has services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Learn more about the church on its website, http://www.stjames-cambridge.org/.