Directory

The Rev. Stephanie+ Kopsch came to ministry as an outgrowth of her chorister experience as a youngster. She has led nine congregations through the interim process. Her parish experience includes those with pre-schools and very active faith formation programs. She sees continued support of lay ministries to be one of her major roles. Teaching and writing sermons are important aspects of her ministry. Working with talented clergy and staff gives her joy.

In addition, she brings to St. John’s an ecumenical viewpoint, having grown up in Germany in the United Church of Christ, studied at a Presbyterian seminary in Texas, been for almost 30 years a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and most recently completed two interim calls within the Episcopal Church in Colorado.

“…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Pastor Julia Joyce-Miesse is the Associate Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado. Julia graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, where she received the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership for her service to the seminary community where she was the COVID-19 Response Coordinator. Other recipients of the Dean’s Cross include Madeleine Albright, Barbara Bush, and Wendell Berry. Julia served as the deacon at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Georgetown, D.C. Before seminary, Julia served as an emergency room registered nurse for 20 years. Julia has a passion for social justice and living into our Baptismal Covenant. In that passion, Julia has worked as a protest chaplain and helped start a program that serves our unhomed siblings living in tent cities in the District of Columbia. Julia has spent many years working with National Episcopal Church Youth programs as a youth leader and medical lead for Episcopal Youth Events. Julia enjoys kayaking, hiking, theater, and singing in her free time.

The Rev. Dr. Marc Smith is the priest-in-residence at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado. Previously, he served two parishes in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to his ordination, he had a 35-year career in academic medicine and health care executive leadership, retiring in 2010 after 12 years as the president and chief executive officer of the Missouri Hospital Association.

The Reverend Dr. Smith earned a B.S. from the University of Missouri, M.Div. from the Lutheran School of Theology, and Ph.D. from Saint Louis University. He completed a Certificate in Anglican Studies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and post-graduate studies in theology at the University of Oxford.

Smith is the recipient of numerous research grants and a widely published author. His most recent work is Each Other’s Keeper: The Church’s Response to Violence, a web-based curriculum for adult Christian formation. He also has served as a consultant to numerous domestic and international governmental entities and not-for-profit organizations.

The Reverend Dr. Smith resides in Longmont, is married to Debra Schuster, an eldercare and disability attorney, and enjoys cooking, fly fishing, golf and college football.

To the extent of my power, because I am a priest, I wish from now on to become conscious of all that the world loves, pursues and suffers…I want to become more widely human than any of the world’s servants.
—Teihard de Chardin

Ordained a Roman Catholic Mission Priest on Jan. 7, 1967, for the Divine Word Missionaries, Will’s first assignment was to teach spiritual development and provide spiritual direction to college and seminary students.

In 1972, he began a four-year assignment of parochial work in remote areas of Papua New Guinea, including training catechists and conducting retreats. In 1976, he was appointed Dean of Students at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

In 1983, Will resigned from the Roman Catholic Church and was received into the Episcopal Church by the Episcopal Bishop of Chicago. He received orders by the Anglican Church of Canada in 1984 and worked in three Swampy Cree Native villages in Northern Manitoba.

In 1987, he arrived in Colorado, became Vicar of the Chapel of the Resurrection in Limon, and the Chaplain at Boulder Community Hospital. He left Boulder Community Hospital in 2002 to serve as a Hospice Chaplain, where he continues to serve. In 2011, the Chapel of the Resurrection closed after he had served 24 years as vicar.

Will joined the clergy of St. John’s in 2012 and was given the title “Pastoral Care Chaplain” by Fr. Ted Howard. He visits members unable to attend services and many Episcopalians on the
fringes.

Will’s wife of more than 30 years, Irene F. Sullivan, is an artist. They live at 9,000 feet in the mountains outside of Boulder with our two dogs and horse.

Barbara Cawthorne Crafton is a priest, teacher and author of many books.  She was rector of St. Clement’s Church in Manhattan’s theater district. She was also a chaplain on the waterfront of New York, and served both historic Trinity Church, Wall Street and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Greenwich Village. She was a chaplain at Ground Zero during the recovery effort after the WTC bombing. Most recently, she was interim rector of St James, the American Church in Florence, Italy and of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Metuchen, NJ. She was an adjunct professor of pastoral theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York.  For many years, she has led retreats in churches and dioceses throughout the country and abroad, and heads an online spiritual community called The Geranium  Farm; her meditations on The Farm have been read by thousands of people worldwide. 

In retirement, she likes to cook, read and enjoy grandchildren.