The Rev'd Stephen C. Holton - Rector

Fr Stephen Holton is the XIII rector of Christ Church. A native of middle Georgia, Fr Holton earned his BA at Emory University and prepared for the priesthood at Yale Divinity School (MDiv). During seminary Fr Holton served as intern at Christ Church and subsequently was appointed curate. He was ordained to the priesthood in the parish on the Feast of St Ambrose. Immediately prior to returning to Christ Church, he served as associate rector of Grace Church in New York, where his portfolio included outreach and service as lower school chaplain and adjunct religion faculty in the high school division of Grace Church School. Prior to ordination, Fr Holton worked in fundraising and nonprofit management in the arts, education, and human services sectors. He is a past convener of the Society of Catholic Priests for the greater New York region and is a past board member of The Society for the Increase of Ministry and The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. He presently serves on the board of the Community Soup Kitchen at Christ Church and is an associate fellow of Branford College.

The Rev’d L. Jett McAlister - Curate

Fr Jett McAlister was raised outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, and studied English and creative writing (BA, Rice University; MFA, University of Virginia; MA, University of Chicago) before discerning a call to Holy Orders. Fr Jett graduated from Yale Divinity School (MDiv) and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He was ordained to the priesthood in the parish on the Feast of Ss. Timothy and Titus. He trained in hospital chaplaincy at Bridgeport and Danbury Hospitals, completing four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). He also served for two years as the chaplain to St Hilda’s House. In addition to his ministry at Christ Church, Fr Jett works in graduate medical education at Norwalk Hospital. His interests include incarnational theology, the history of liturgical traditions, and spirituality and medicine. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing piano, long- distance running, and viewing contemporary art.

The Rev’d Armando Ghinaglia - Priest Affiliate

Fr Armando Ghinaglia (BA Yale College - Political Science, MDiv Yale Divinity School, JD Yale Law School) was ordained a priest in 2018 and served as curate at St. John's, Bristol, and Church of Our Savior, Plainville, before coming to Christ Church. He is a native of Venezuela and was raised in Texas. At Yale Law School he engaged in litigation and advocacy on behalf of fellow immigrants and workers. Presently he clerks for the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson, US District Judge for Connecticut. Informally, Fr Armando studies and teaches about how patristic interpretation of the psalms might inform Christian spirituality and living in the modern day. He is married to Abigail (Abbie) Storch, whom he met in divinity school and who serves on the vestry at St. John's, New Haven.

The Rev’d Teresa Morgan - Priest Affiliate

Mtr Teresa Morgan (BA., M.A., Ph.D. Cambridge; B.A., M.A. Oxford; LRAM, Dip.RAM) is the inaugural McDonald-Agape Professor in New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. Immediately prior to Yale she served as Professor of Graeco-Roman History and Nancy Bissell Turpin Fellow and Tutor at Oriel College, Oxford. She ministered at Ss Mary & Nicholas, Littlemore, and St Andrew, Sandford-on-Thames, both in the Diocese of Oxford. Former Chair of Oxford’s Faculty of Classics, Mtr Teresa focuses her work on ancient history, biblical studies, patristics, and theology. Among her books are Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds (1998), Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire (2007), and Roman Faith and Christian Faith (2015). Her most recent work, The New Testament and the Theology of Trust: “This Rich Trust,” was published in summer 2002. In addition to her priestly and scholarly work, Mtr Teresa is a musician and published poet.

The Rev’d Andrew G. Osmun - Priest Affiliate

The Rev. Andrew G. Osmun graduated from Lenox School and then Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1971. Baptized as a child, he experienced a personal conversion to faith as a young adult and subsequently received his call to ordination while at St. Columba’s, Inverness, California. He graduated in 1975 from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford (UK), and was ordained in the Diocese of Pittsburgh the same year. He served St. Stephen’s, Mckeesport; Transfiguration, Clairton; St. Luke’s in Chester, Vermont; St. Peter’s, Milford, Connecticut; Christ and the Epiphany, East Haven; and St. Mark’s, Bridgeport. He is a trained Spiritual Director, Member of the Fellowship of St. John (SSJE), Trustee of the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, and active in criminal justice reform and advocacy.

The Rev’d E. Bevan Stanley, priest affiliate

Fr Bevan Stanley came to New Haven as an undergraduate at Yale. He and his wife Alinda ran a bookstore for ten years. They joined Christ Church in 1976, where their daughters were among the first “boat girls.” The parish sponsored Bevan for ordination, and following graduation from Yale Divinity School / Berkeley Divinity School at Yale in 1983 he was ordained to the priesthood at Christ Church and served as Curate in the parish. The bishop appointed him Vicar of St. Peter’s on the Hill in Hamden, and in 1990 he led the merger of St. Peter’s on the Hill with Grace Church. After fifteen years in Hamden, Fr Bevan served several other parishes, ending with almost ten years at St. Michael’s Church in Litchfield. He has served as a spiritual director, consulted in parishes, and coached parish leaders. Trained in community organizing by the Industrial Areas Foundation, he worked for change in New Haven with Elm City Congregations Organized in the 1990’s. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Hartford Seminary in 2003. A deputy to four General Conventions, he served on its Prayer Book and Liturgy Committee three times. For five years he served as a Reader of the General Ordination Exams for the national church. Currently Fr Bevan is Chaplain to the retired clergy of the South Central Region of the diocese.

He and Alinda share interests in pre-Norman Britain, reading, the Adirondacks, theater, and travel. In 2005 he and a friend paddled the Hudson River 313 miles from its source at Lake Henderson in the Adirondacks to New York City. Fr Bevan and Alinda’s two grown daughters live in Anchorage and Minneapolis.

Alex Whittington - Director of Music

Alex Whittington serves as Director of Music for the parish where they work collaboratively with the Rector, organists, and choristers. They earned an M.M. in Choral Conducting at Yale University, where they also received their M.A. in Music History and B.A. in Music. A New York native, Alex’s musical background was primarily shaped by their upbringing as a ballet dancer, pivoting later to voice, conducting, and composition. Their main area of study is Puerto Rican choral music, focusing on edition-making and reconstructions of works by Felipe Gutiérrez y Espinosa and Esther Alejandro de León. For the 2023–2024 academic year, they served as the director of the Marquand Chapel Choir and the interim director of music at Christ and Holy Trinity Episcopal in Westport, CT. They served as the graduate Assistant Conductor of the Yale Glee Club in the 2024-2025 season. Alex's professional ensemble credits include the Yale Schola Cantorum and Puerto Rico-based ensemble Orfeón San Juan Bautista.

Thomas Williford - Principal Organist

Thomas Williford is the Principal Organist of Christ Church, New Haven, where he serves as primary organist for the parish’s services and accompanist for the Christ Church Choir. Prior to this appointment, he served as Choirmaster at Christ Church from 2019-2024, where he directed the auditioned chamber ensemble in collaboration with Prof. Thomas Murray. From 2018-2019 Thomas was Organ Scholar at Chelmsford Cathedral (Essex, UK) where he assisted with the preparation of the Cathedral’s choristers and participated in accompanying and directing the Cathedral’s choirs for daily rounds of choral services. He previously served as Director of Music and Organist at St John’s Lutheran Church in Stamford, Connecticut, and for the Episcopal Church at Yale. Thomas holds the Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music, where he graduated in 2016 as a student of Prof. Martin Jean. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he is a graduate of Mercer University, from the studios of Profs Jack Mitchener and Robert Parris.

JoEllen West - Organ Scholar

JoEllen West serves as Organ Scholar at Christ Church, playing services, accompanying the choir, and supporting the Principal Organist, Music Director, and Organist Emeritus. JoEllen is a master’s student in Organ Performance and Sacred Music at Yale in the studio of James O’Donnell. In 2025 she graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in Organ Performance and Music Theory, where she studied with Todd Wilson. From 2022 through May 2025 she was the Organ Scholar at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, where she accompanied the cathedral choir, assisted in leading rehearsals and playing services, and composed original music for the choir. Originally from Dallas, she studied organ with Bradley Welch and piano through the Southern Methodist University piano preparatory department for ten years and with Stephen Nielson for one year. She has held artistic leadership positions at the 2023 New ExplOratorio festival in Los Angeles, the 2024 Royal School of Church Music Midwest Residency and Interlochen Arts Camp, and has performed in numerous festivals throughout the United States and Europe.

Prof. Thomas M. Murray - Artist in Residence & Organist Emeritus

Thomas Murray, the Organist Emeritus & Artist in Residence at Christ Church, is also former University Organist and Professor Emeritus of Music at Yale University, where he taught and performed on the renowned Skinner organ in Woolsey Hall. Widely known for his interpretations of Romantic repertoire and orchestral transcriptions, his recordings are highly acclaimed. Professor Murray has appeared in recitals and lectures at six national conventions of the AGO, which named him International Artist of the Year for 1986. In 2003 he was named an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Organists in England, and in 2005 he was awarded the Gustave Stoeckel Award for excellence in teaching from the Yale University School of Music. He has made numerous recordings on the AFKA, Gothic, and JAV Labels.

Luke Plein - Assistant to the Rector

Luke Plein is an undergraduate student in Yale College, where he studies End-of-Life Medicine and Pastoral Care, focusing on the intersection between theology and medicine.

Luke believes Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est — that where there is charity and love, so is the presence of God. He researches The Rule of Saint Benedict and has previously spent time with a monastic community. He is currently writing on how we can apply Benedictine principles to daily life to serve our Blessed Lord and our communities better. 

God love you!

Ben Schober - Sexton

Ben has worked at Christ Church since October, 2012, and lives in New Haven with his daughter Roxy and their two kittens Reba and Daisy. He is very active in local sober communities. Ben is a 1993 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He may be seen running the streets of New Haven and surrounding towns while training for the New Haven road race or the Hartford marathon.