Clergy
The Reverend Peter Walsh
RECTOR | 203.966.4515 X101 | pwalsh@stmarksnewcanaan.org
Peter Walsh has been the Rector of St. Mark’s since 2008. During that time there has been a great mutual thriving in the congregation. He has devoted his life to realizing the congregation’s mission to live a deeper life in Christ, a more holy communion with one another, and a greater love for the world.
Previously, he served as the Rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Day School in Phoenix, Arizona; Associate Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio; and Chaplain at Kent School. He is a graduate of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
Before going into the ministry Peter worked in New York City as an account executive at Geer DuBois Advertising, in corporate finance at Kidder, Peabody, and as a bus boy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During that time, he was searching for the meaning of life and a meaningful job and had a conversion experience in his brother’s basement during which he felt called to the priesthood.
He grew up in a small town in upstate New York where he worked for the sewer department in the summer and hoped to be professional athlete, novelist, and philosopher – aspirations that did not come to pass. He is a graduate of the Harvard College, where he was a varsity soccer goalkeeper and mightily devoted to the first seven albums of Bruce Springsteen.
Peter is married to Jennifer White Walsh and has five grown children. He likes to do yoga and exercise and have fun.
109: St. Thomas
The Reverend Elizabeth Garnsey
Senior Associate Rector | 203.966.4515 x102 | egarnsey@stmarksnewcanaan.org
Elizabeth joined the clergy staff in September 2018. A native of Colorado, Elizabeth lived in New York for almost 25 years working as a journalist at George and Travel + Leisure magazines before earning a Master of Divinity degree at Yale. She was ordained to the priesthood in the diocese of New York in 2006 and went on to serve as an Associate Rector at both St. Bartholomew’s Church and the Church of the Heavenly Rest, and as chaplain and religion teacher at an Episcopal school.
She has a degree in history from the University of Colorado and, long ago, she studied Spanish in Costa Rica, archeology in Wales, and the European Union at the Sciences Po in Paris. She stayed for a couple of years in France where she got her start in journalism at the Associated Press. Elizabeth swims, bikes, runs, and loves to engage with nature. She strives to read and write regularly, and to keep pace with her young son. After the wisdom of Jesus, she says the next best advice in life comes from her mother, “Just do the next right thing.”
The Reverend John Kennedy
Associate Rector | 203.966.4515 x105 | jkennedy@stmarksnewcanaan.org
John came to St. Mark’s as an Associate Rector on Palm Sunday, 2023. Previously, he served at St. Paul’s in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and at Kent School in Connecticut. He was ordained to the priesthood in February 2020, and was sponsored for ordination by St. Mark’s.
Before attending seminary at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, John served in youth ministry here at St. Mark’s. He also worked in the world of music and advertising in New York City. He holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
John has an abiding love for the spiritual life and the St. Mark’s mission of making disciples who live a deeper life in Christ, a more holy communion with one another, and a greater love for the world. John also loves music, playing guitar, movies, meditation, yoga, practicing the Wim Hof Method, attempting to improve his golf game, hiking, and spending time with friends and family. He was born on Long Island and raised in New Canaan. John’s wife, Emma, is an Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Villanova University. They were married at St. Mark’s in June, 2023.
