Ministry Team
Stipendiary Staff
Craig Loya
The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya is the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota, which comprises one hundred faith communities, spread across rural, suburban, and urban contexts, regularly worshipping in six languages. He was consecrated on June 6, 2020. Early in his time as bishop, he led a process of priority-setting for the diocese, together identifying four core areas of focus: discipleship--daily practices that help us follow Jesus as our whole way of life; faithful innovation--joining the spirit in new ways to proclaim and live out the Gospel; justice--becoming the beloved community; and congregational vitality--thriving faith communities of all sizes and in all places.
From these priorities, the diocese is working to cultivate a diverse church ecology by focusing on the basic practices of Christian discipleship. In 2024, Loya announced the creation of a new center for lay formation designed to deepen discipleship for every Minnesota Episcopalian, nurture leaders of existing congregations, and seed the future by planting new, intentionally small, lay led and clergy-supported communities.
Loya is a third generation Mexican-American. He was born and raised in North Platte, Nebraska, and graduated from Hastings College and Yale Divinity School.
He was ordained priest in the Diocese of South Dakota in 2003. His first ministry was serving four congregations on the Rosebud Reservation. He later served congregations in Massachusetts, on the bishop’s staff in the Diocese of Kansas, and as Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha before being elected the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. He is married to Dr. Melissa Tubbs Loya, a Hebrew Bible scholar, and they have two children.
Aidan W. Owen
The Very Reverend Aidan W. Owen was elected the 8th Dean of Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in June 2026. A native of Dallas, Texas, he was baptized and formed at The Episcopal Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, at that time the only mainline church in Dallas that was welcoming of LGBTQ people. He earned his BA from Yale University and his M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary, then completed a residency program for hospital chaplaincy. In 2014, he followed a call that he had sensed from childhood and entered Holy Cross Monastery, an Episcopal Benedictine community in New York's Hudson Valley.
In 2023, Aidan accepted the call to be first Priest-in-Charge and then Rector of Ascension Holy Trinity Church, a small parish next door to the Monastery. At AHT, he shepherded the transformation of the parish, including a growth in membership, the revitalization of Christian formation, renovation of the church building, and a tripling of the endowment funds. By late 2025, Aidan felt the Holy Spirit calling him to a deeper expression of his priestly ministry outside the context of monastic life. The community at Holy Cross dispensed his monastic vow in January of 2026. In June, after five months of prayer-filled conversations with the SMEC Dean Search Committee, the Vestry, and Bishop Loya, the Vestry elected Aidan as the 8th Dean of Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.
Aidan is beyond delighted to join the Saint Mark's community. He puts prayer and people at the center of his approach to leading Christian community. He comes with a listening heart, eager to guide the people of Saint Mark's in discerning the future to which God is calling us. He believes that good administration is good pastoral care and seeks to combine faithful stewardship of our common resources with an attentive and caring pastoral presence. Aidan is also a serial-hobbyist and loves to read, garden, cook, bake, knit, quilt, play games of all kinds, and hike. He loves meeting with parishioners and warmly welcomes opportunities to connect.
Raymond Johnston
Raymond Johnston was born in Kent, England, beginning his musical life as a chorister in Folkestone Parish Church. He read for a degree in music at Cambridge University where he was Organ Scholar at Peterhouse, and studied organ with Peter Hurford.
In 1991 he was appointed Assistant Organist at Worcester Cathedral where he accompanied the choir in the daily services and on numerous tours and recordings. He participated in six Three Choirs Festivals, and was privileged to conduct the festival premiere of Spring from The Seasons by Haydn at the 1993 Festival.
Following a 5 year period as Head of Music at Kent College, Canterbury, in 2000 he was appointed Canon Musician at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Minneapolis. In addition to directing the Cathedral Choir and Choral Society he is responsible for the Cathedral Music Series as performer and administrator. Active as a recitalist, composer and arranger, he directed the World Premiere of Vexilla Regis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in Minneapolis in 2009
He holds degrees from Cambridge University, a performance diploma from the Royal Academy of Music, and a Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists.
Tina Kraby
Born and raised in the Episcopal tradition, Tina has always found deep meaning in the rhythms of liturgy, community, and sacred space. She is a seasoned Executive Administrator with more than 24 years of experience providing high‑level administrative leadership and operational support.
For seven years, Tina successfully owned and operated her own company, specializing in administrative support and meeting logistics. Prior to that, she served in executive leadership roles overseeing commercial cleaning, security, and janitorial operations—bringing strong organizational management and people‑centered leadership to every setting.
Tina had the privilege of working alongside the Rev. Tim Kingsley for 19 years before coming to the Cathedral, and since joining the staff at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in 2020, she has worn many hats—each one offering a new way to serve, connect, and grow. Whether coordinating events, crafting communications, or simply greeting someone at the door, her guiding principle is radical hospitality: ensuring every person feels seen, safe, and free to worship as they are.
One of Tina’s greatest joys is meeting people from all walks of life. She believes every encounter holds the potential to teach her something new, and she strives to approach each day with openness, curiosity, and care. At Saint Mark’s, she has found a spiritual home where tradition and transformation walk hand in hand, and she is grateful to help others discover that same sense of belonging.
Mary Lusk
Canon Mary Lusk is a life-long Episcopalian, growing up as a “preachers’ kid” in the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri. The congregation at Calvary Church, Sedalia MO, was part of her extended family, during the 25 years that her father was the rector there. Interesting that there were many other P.K.’s in the same age group, so there was nothing too unique about that role. As the middle child and only daughter, Mary is thankful for her brothers and the close connections they share.
After college, and then a few years in Kansas City MO, Mary moved to Minneapolis where she worked in retail management with roles that included Communications, Operations and Customer Relations. (With those positions all focused on people and messaging, the skills she uses today at St. Mark’s are long-established in her background.)
Welcoming people into St. Mark’s family, helping them find what they are searching for even when they don’t know what it is, and connecting them with others is Mary being her natural self as a disciple. That brings her great joy.
As Canon Community Developer, Mary’s role is broad – focusing mainly on people and programs to help grow disciples and maintain a community that is full of vitality! Knowledge of people’s skills and interests, and matching those with a program that will bring personal excitement and development, is part of continuing to build a vibrant community such as St. Mark’s.
Having worked at St. Mark’s, since 2003, Mary’s children Maddie and Matthew grew up in the children and youth programs, including choristers and acolytes, and of course ECAD! (Episcopal Creative Arts Daycamp) This is a place of families, no matter that description, and as it was since her beginning in Missouri, church is family with no exclusions. Mary is thankful for the many years she has been able to be a part of ministry here.
Neptali Rodriguez
Bio coming soon!
Non-Stipendiary Ministry Leads
Neptali Rodriguez
Bio coming soon!
Clara Sanders
Clara is the Cathedral's Curate for Community Engagement. She focuses on supporting the lay-led teams for partnership ministries, equipping Saint Markans for social witness, and deepening Saint Marks' connections with our neighborhood and with other faith groups. You may also see Clara leading children's worship alongside a stuffed dinosaur, convening family potlucks at the sculpture garden, and occasionally teaching songs from the pulpit.
Clara holds degrees in piano performance and intercultural studies from Houghton College, as well as a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and a Master of Social Work from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She has worked in membership and communications at the Land Stewardship Project since 2017 and began discerning a call to the priesthood in late 2020. Clara is passionate about connecting - connecting people with each other, humans with the land, communities with care, and the story of our life together with the story of God's love in Jesus Christ.
Clara lives in south Minneapolis with her three children and a menagerie of pets, many of whom make it into her sermons. Besides the joy of being at Saint Mark's, some of her delights include gardening, backyard parties, practicing yoga, making music, and creating a plethora of baked goods to share. Clara also maintains a regular writing practice that includes daily Advent and Lenten meditations; you can follow along with these reflections at https://substack.com/@revclarasanders.
Kent Rahm
Kent is a retired Episcopal priest who volunteers to help in a few ministries at St. Mark’s. He serves as the convener for St. Mark’s Men’s Ministry that meets on the 4th Saturday of most months from 9 to 10 a.m. in St. Mark’s Library. He has also spent some time working on classes for adults seeking baptism and/or confirmation. Liturgically, Kent presides and preaches occasionally on Sunday mornings and regularly for the 12:15 p.m. Wednesday Eucharist on the 2nd Sunday of the month.
Being retired, Kent is enjoying sports, concerts, and the theater in ways that he was not able to indulge while working. He is diligently trying to move from being a mediocre guitarist to a slightly better mediocre guitarist.
When he is in town he usually attends the Sunday morning 10:30 Eucharist.
Lowell Johnson
Lowell Johnson was Ordained as a Deacon st St. Mark's in 2013 through the Shared Ministry Process along with two Priests, another Deacon, and a Commisioned Pastoral Care Minister. Liturgically he serves at the Wednesday Eucharist service and occasionally preaches at Sunday services.
For Pastoral Care Lowell receives prayer requests from St. Markans and the general public, updates the Prayers of the People with names of those with special needs, ongoing prayers, thanksgivings, and the Departed, coordinating with Intercessors for leading prayers at services.
Lowell seeks community connections and partnerships for St. Mark's as a mark of mission especially with Minneapolis College.
He is currently serving on the ECMN Council advising the Bishop on forming the budget presented at the annual convention and has served on several ECMN discernment committees for Diaconal candidates.
Additionally, Lowell completed training to become a Spiritual Director. Spiritual direction is a way of sharing your faith story and life experience in relation to God, others and yourself to hear the voice of God in your everyday life. Spiritual direction offers a place to explore ways of discerning the will of God with a Spiritual Director.
Go forth into the world in peace...Honor all.
Helen Hansen
Dr. Helen Hansen is a member of the Cathedral’s Shared Ministry Team. Her role at Saint Mark’s is to provide leadership and coordinate Pastoral Care Ministries. These ministries serve the congregation through: Eucharistic Visiting, Card Ministry, Encouragement for Caregivers, Prayer Station, Circle of Prayer, and pastoral care phone and mailings outreach. She coordinates the Benedictine grounded Community of Hope training for pastoral care ministers in collaboration with other churches in the Diocese. She is a member of the worship team.
Helen is a retired PhD faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. She has had a career in advanced nursing clinical practice and hospital administration. She and her late husband, Dr. Robert Collier (an emergency medicine physician), dedicated their lives to the care of others. Pastoral care provides an extension of that life-long commitment.
Mary Beth Farrell
Mary Beth was an Army brat as a child, living in many different places stateside, while her parents served as a physician and nurse. She was a part of an Evangelical church for many years but found her home in the Episcopal church and became a member of SMC in 2010. With a passion for pastoral care that grew from a career as a rehab specialist, she entered discernment a couple of years later after becoming permanently disabled. Following seminary, CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) and an internship, she was ordained a priest and went back to her beloved cathedral family. She delights in listening, presiding, preaching, and serving as chaplain for a number of ministries. As a child, she learned the verse, “Here am I, send me”. She experiences great joy in serving, reminding others who and whose they are, and walking with the community through the good and hard times.
John E. (Jay) Phelan
Jay is a Theologian in Residence and Assisting Priest at the Cathedral. He has been involved in planning, preaching, teaching, men' s ministry, and worship leadership. Jay was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His theological training includes a Master of Arts in New Testament from Trinity Divinity School and a PhD in Biblical Studies from Northwestern University/Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Jay served as President and Dean of North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois for 14 years and was on staff there as either administrator or faculty for a total of 25 years. He was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 2024 after nearly 40 years of ministry in another denomination. At North Park he taught courses in Bible, Theology, and Worship. He also served as a pastor at two different congregations and as an Interim Rector at a parish in this diocese.
Jay has a special interest in the American novelist, essayist, and farmer Wendell Berry. He has been involved in Jewish/Christian dialogue for many years and has published four books and many articles. Jay and his wife Dawn live in Bloomington and have two adult sons and two wonderful grandchildren.
Andrew (Columba) Stewart
Andy Stewart specializes in the history, theology, spirituality, and liturgy of the early and medieval church. He has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in theology and been a frequent presenter to both general and academic audiences. A Roman Catholic Benedictine monk and priest for several decades before being received into the Episcopal Church, he has published extensively under his monastic name of Columba Stewart.
His interest in Anglicanism dates back to his Harvard undergraduate thesis on the reestablishment of monastic life in the 19th-century Church of England and time spent with the brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at their original home in Oxford. His later doctoral work in Oxford brought him into regular contact with Anglican theologians and scholars, as well as parish priests working in a variety of contexts. He has a special interest in Anglican liturgies and their place within the liturgical traditions of both the western and eastern churches. He has also been very active in ecumenical work with the eastern churches.
Since 2003 he has been executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), a non-profit organization working globally to digitize and share endangered manuscripts from all religious traditions.
For questions about the ministry team and staff at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, contact us.
