Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am filled with great excitement and joy as I look forward to joining you at St. James Episcopal Church and School to serve as your next Rector. I look forward to formally arriving in the office in mid-July and worshiping with you on Sunday, July 22. I am also excited for you to meet my wife, Casey, and our two children: Carolena (6) and Nils (4).

St. James is a wonderful parish full of faith, hope, and love. During my on-going discussions with the search committee and Vestry, I heard of the love you have for Christ, St. James Church, the Day School, and the Baton Rouge community at large. St. James has a distinguished history of faithful ministry that transforms lives, and together we will build upon that legacy as we look forward to the future God has in store. Together we will step out in faith in the name of and for the sake of Christ so that all might know the love of God.

In this season of transition, I ask for your prayers for my family as we prepare to move and say goodbye to dear friends. I also ask your prayers for the good people of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Katy, Texas as they now begin their own search process. Finally, please know that the St. James parish family remains in my prayers daily.

Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Chris Duncan

The Rev. Ralph F. Howe, Jr. returned to St. James in August 2014 to serve as Senior Associate Rector and Day School Chaplain. St. James is the church where Fr. Ralph was baptized; he is the son of the late Anne & Ralph Howe.

Since his ordination, he has served in various capacities in the Diocese of Louisiana and Western Louisiana, including 12 years as rector of Trinity Church, Baton Rouge, and, from 2004-2014 at Episcopal School where he was Senior Chaplain & Chair of the Religion Department.

Fr. Howe received his BS from the University of the South, and his Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York.

He and his wife, Suzette, have four grown children and two grandchildren.

Sylvia Rabalais is likely to be one of the first faces you see in the office, or the first voice you hear over the phone (and surely will be if you get the answering machine!). She joined the St. James staff as Administrative Secretary back in the olden days, when we were just moving to computers, and has a handle on everything St. James. If you have a question, want to schedule an appointment with one of the clergy, need to schedule a room for an activity, she is the go-to person. And, if she can't answer it or do it, she knows who can!

Sylvia adopted Baton Rouge as home years ago when she and Craig married and settled here. Craig is retired and devoting time to his many works of art. They both look forward to enjoying as much time as possible with their grandson, Hunter.

Sylvia and Craig also own Made by TOF, creating one-of-a-kind home and beauty items that are also works of art!

Mary Hunt Boutwell joined the staff at St. James in June 2014, jumping right into the deep end!

Mary and Steve Boutwell, along with their daughter Rosemary, have been members of St. James since 2006. Mary served on the Day School Board of Trustees for three years, and also served as Board President. She served as Director of Development of the Day School in 2010. Mary, also, has been active in several of St. James lay ministries including Altar Guild and Gumbo.

Annie Knazs Jung is excited to join our staff as Youth Director in February 2018. She has been a parishioner at St. James for 12 years, and active in youth ministry for churches since she was a teen herself, including volunteer and staff positions at local churches and the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

Her passion for youth ministry stems from wanting parishioners of any age, to know they have an integral place in their church home. She loves helping teens grow in their faith through fun, fellowship, prayer, worship, discussion, service, encouragement, and shining their Light of Christ.

Annie is thrilled to bring mission trips and other experiential Christian community to our youth. She looks forward to lively gatherings, relational connections, and providing ministry opportunities for our youth to know and share the unconditional love of God.

Annie graduated from LSU with a BA in mass communications and public relations, and an MA in community counseling. She is married to Stephen Jung, and they have 3 children.

She loves travel to explore nature and cultures, fantastic costume design, and all things Harry Potter. You might find her wearing a time-turner necklace on very busy days!

Jacques Pourciau joined the staff at St. James as Business Manager in January 2018. Jacques grew up in Baton Rouge, where he graduated from Catholic High School in 1990. He is a very active member of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, where he serves as cantor. He served as president of the STM Men’s Club and scoutmaster of the parish’s Boy Scout troop.

He is married to Anne Scott Bahlinger Pourciau and they have two children, Jacob, 21, who attend LSU, and Mary Scott, 18, a senior at St. Joseph’s Academy. Both he and his son are Eagle Scouts.

Jacques most recently served as Director of Liturgy at St. Thomas More since 2008, and was previously in management at Kornmeyer Furniture Store in Baton Rouge. He keeps very busy as a Financial and Insurance Broker with MassMutual Louisiana, a public-address announcer for LSU Soccer and Swimming and Diving, visitor locker room security with LSU sports, and his own voiceover business, Voicesbyjacques.

He studied Business Management at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he graduated in 1994. He was very active in music there and studied voice. He enjoys going to Manresa Retreat House in Convent, Louisiana, music of almost all types, cooking, and sports. If you are a fan of any of his favorite teams -- Astros, Tigers, Cajuns, and Saints -- you are already his friend.

Cheryl Olinde posts gifts and payments, coordinates receipts and statements, and while bombarded with constant paperwork, still manages to keep one of the neatest desks you'll ever see. Cheryl holds the title for longest commute to the church, but she still arrives with a smile!

Jo has been in Baton Rouge and at St. James for over thirty years, having married a native and cradle Episcopalian, Rodger Green, way back then.

She joined the St. James church staff in February 2011, but had been handling communication and publication work for St. James and other non-profits from her own firm for 20 years.

Jo and Rodger are the parents of two adult children, Rory and Hallie (old-timers will remember them in the choir, or, at the cookie plate!), and just when they thought their child-free home would finally be clean and suitable for adult living, it has apparently been outed as a safe house on the stray dog circuit.

Sara joined the St. James staff in January 2016 as director of our Cherub Choir where she has encouraged and generated enthusiasm for singing among our youngest parishioners. She was named interim co-choir master in May 2017, and interim choirmaster in November 2018.

Susan Wallace Rothermel began organ lessons in the eighth grade while living in Denison, Texas. Her family moved to Baton Rouge before her senior year of high school and she continued studying with Genevieve Collins. She received the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from LSU as a student of Dr. Richard Heschke.

Having served several parishes as Organist/Choirmaster throughout her career, Susan is enjoying time back on the organ bench at St. James.

Married to her husband, Bill, for 30 years, they are the proud parents of Hannah.

In her spare time, Susan enjoys family time, LSU sports, and entertaining a very active English Springer Spaniel, Tillie.

Matthew Gardner is, at this writing, in the second year of his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Louisiana State University, where he studies with Dr. John Dickson and Dr. Trey Davis. In addition to this degree, he is also working to complete a K-12 Music Education Certification.

During his time at LSU, Matthew has served as Assistant Conductor of the LSU Tiger Glee Club and conducted the LSU Chamber Singers in a joint recital with fellow graduate student conductors.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Matthew completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance in 2017 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he was also an active member of the choral department. While in Huntsville, Matthew co-founded the Huntsville Summer Music program. This program was designed to give music education students practical teaching and conducting experience before they begin their careers. Matthew served as lead coordinator as well as conductor of both the chorus and wind band ensembles that comprised the program.

Matthew was hired in January 2019 to serve as Interim Director of Treble Choir at St. James and looks forward to working with the staff and youth who call the St. James music program home.

Lauren is a native of Baton Rouge. She and her husband, Richard, have been members of St. James since 2006 and were married here in 2007. They have three children: Alexander, Mattie, and Temple. Alexander has graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School. Mattie and Temple attend the Day School, and were both baptized at St. James.

Lauren received her bachelor’s degree from LSU in 2005 and her master’s degree from SELU in 2010. She had been a teacher at the Day School for five years before accepting the position as Assistant Head of School in 2014, serving under Linda C. Chauviere until the latter's retirement in July 2015, at which point Lauren (er, Mrs. Ray!) was appointed Head of School.

Lauren has volunteered as a Children’s Church teacher, on the Associate Vestry, and remains active in the Younger Adults group at St. James.

James is a Google-certified educator and Apple Teacher. He is a leader of EdTech professional development at the local, state, national level with a focus on virtual professional development models.

He has a background as a social studies educator and technology specialist, receiving his BS in history from LSU and the M.Ed. in technology integration from SELU, and joined the St. James staff in August 2017 after several years at Episcopal School, Baton Rouge.

James grew up in north Louisiana and moved to Baton Rouge after meeting his wife, Sarah, in 1998. They have two children, Jackson and Laney.

Mary Davis-Palms is the St. James dietician and food service manager. She joined the St. James parish staff in August 2009.

“I took on this new challenge at St. James to enhance what is in place; the goal is to build on the past,” says Mary. She had spent 35 years in the East Baton Rouge Parish School system and was supervisor for 25 schools in the Child Nutrition Program. This is where she met the St. James Head of School Linda Chauviere, former principal at Magnolia Woods.

Mary is a graduate of LSU with a degree in Food Service Management & Hospital Dietetics. She worked for Baton Rouge General before joining the school system. Her husband, Robert, is retired. They have two grown children.