The Reverend J. Barrington Bates

The Reverend J. Barrington "Barrie" Bates became the 19th priest and the 9th Rector of the Church of the Annunciation on July 1, 2007. Barrie was ordained in 1997 in San Francisco, after receiving his Master of Divinity degree from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, in Berkeley, California. Barrie initially served as the Episcopal Chaplain at San Francisco State University and as an assisting priest at St. Francis' Episcopal Church in San Francisco. He moved East in 1999 and served in several positions in Westchester and New York before joining the Church of the Ascension in New York's Greenwich Village in 2002.

In addition to the Master of Divinity , Barrie also holds a Master of Arts degree from Graduate Theological Union, an STM degree from the General Theological Seminary in New York, and a Master's in Philosophy from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and in 2009 earned a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from Drew.

Barrie's outreach background includes forming a separate outreach corporation for Ascension, serving on the Advisory Committee of the Food Bank for New York City, and service as a founder and continuing board member of Episcopal Response to AIDS. He also served as a volunteer chaplain at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terrorist attack. He co-authored a liturgy article based upon his work at the World Trade Center.

Prior to entering Divinity School, Barrie graduated from Boston University and worked for 19 years as a computer programmer and database administrator, mostly at Harvard University. He has also appeared as a priest in the NBC series Third Watch. Barrie's interests include music, gardening, reading, beer making, pickling things, and he is a fan of Star Trek Voyager.

Barrie and his partner, Jamie MacKenzie (a communications consultant), live in the rectory. See his personal web site (www.barriebates.com) to learn more about Barrie.

To contact Barrie via email: ()

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