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The Very Reverend Barkley S. Thompson

Since February 2013, Barkley serves as the eighth dean and twentieth rector of historic downtown Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in Houston, Texas, and the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. A vibrant, growing parish of 3,000 members, Christ Church has served for more than 175 years as a testament to the presence of God in the midst of the city.

Prior to Houston, Barkley served as the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. Barkley began his vocation as rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Collierville, Tennessee (a suburb of Memphis). A “re-start” parish that moved from the city to the suburbs, Holy Apostles grew from 40 to over 400 members and constructed the first new Episcopal church in West Tennessee in over a decade.

Barkley is an avid writer and has published essays in The American Journal of Philosophy & Theology, The Journal of Pastoral Theology, The Anglican Digest, The Living Church, and Ratherview. He is the author of two books, Elements of Grace (2013) and In the Midst of the City: The Gospel and God's Politics (2018). Barkley also preaches and teaches around the country and serves on interfaith panels with leaders from other religious traditions. Barkley chairs the board of The Beacon, Houston’s largest empowerment day center for the homeless. He also serves on the North American Committee for St. George’s College - Jerusalem, the Anglican Center in the Holy Land, and on the board of Episcopal High School in Houston.

Barkley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy & Religion, magna cum laude, from Hendrix College; a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from The University of Chicago; and a Master of Divinity from The Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, on whose board of trustees he serves. He is married to Jill, and they have two children.

Read the Dean's blog for his reflections on Life, Faith, and the Gospel.

The Reverend Edward L. Stein

Canon Stein attended the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, and the Virginia Theological Seminary, in Alexandria, Virginia. He was ordained a Priest on June 19, 1973. He is a native Houstonian and grew up at Christ Church Cathedral. He has served as Assistant Rector and Acting Rector at St. Martin’s, as the Episcopal Chaplain at Rice University, and as Rector of St. Bede’s Chapel, Autry House. He served as Canon Precentor at the Cathedral from 2000 until his retirement in 2013.

KariAnn Lessner

KariAnn Lessner was born in Lansing, Michigan, but did most of her growing up in New Mexico. She studied at McMurry University in Abilene with a concentration in Christian education. KariAnn has served in four parishes in the Diocese of Texas since 1997, and currently serves on the Episcopal Diocese of Texas Formation Advisory Board and the Camp Allen Summer Camp Advisory Board.

In the past, she has served as the director of Y.E.S. (a diocesan middle-school retreat), as a convocational representative, and on the youth and children’s ministry assessment team of the diocese. She is also a Safeguarding God’s Children master trainer and directs Session E at Camp Allen. Her husband, Ron, and her daughters, Keatyn and Karsyn, enjoy cooking as a family and epic lip-sync battles in the kitchen. (Spatulas make great microphones!)

Listen to her podcast You Brew You here.