Clergy

The Rev. Zac Koons, Rector

Fr. Zac accepted the call to be the Sixth Rector of St. Mark’s in July 2018. He was previously the Associate Rector at St. Richard’s in Round Rock. He attended Wheaton College and Duke Divinity School. Zac was born in Indiana, grew up in Arkansas, and is still surprised that he’s ended up in Texas—and still more that he loves it. On a day off, Zac likes to hike, climb, and take pictures. To blow off steam, Zac plays soccer and guitar. He’s a passionate supporter of Duke basketball, Arsenal Football Club, and tacos. He’s married to Anna, a global health policy nerd, with whom he shares the deep joy of living with a crazy dog named Watson.

Zac is also a regular contributor at The Living Church’s Covenant blog. You can read his writing here.

You can email Fr. Zac here: zac@stmarksaustin.org.

The Rev. Mary Keenan, Curate

Mary joins us from St. Matthew's, Austin, where she has been serving as part-time assisting clergy over the last year. She knows Austin well. For many years, she was an active member of St. David’s, and it was there where she discovered a community that helped her discern a call to ordained ministry. With an MDiv from Yale Divinity School already under her belt, she completed a year of Anglican Studies at Seminary of the Southwest and began her ordained ministry in 2018. Mary has a son, Asher, a freshman at UT, and a daughter, Maggie, in middle school. Her pet rabbit, Fidget, sometimes joins her in the office. You can check out some of her writing on her blog maryology.com.

You can email Mary here: mary@stmarksaustin.org

The Rev. Dr. Nathan G. Jennings, Theologian in Residence

The Rev. Dr. Nathan G. Jennings is a native of Austin. He returned to his hometown when he joined the faculty of Seminary of the Southwest in 2005, where he currently serves as the J. Milton Richardson Associate Professor of Liturgics and Anglican Studies and Director of Community Worship. He serves St. Mark’s as Theologian-in-Residence, which means that he teaches adult formation classes, and occasionally preaches and presides too.

In his academic work, Nathan is interested in liturgical theology, Christian Platonism, Ancient Near-Eastern studies, asceticism, hermeneutics and the way these disciplines intersect and inform one another. He’s written two books, Theology as Ascetic Act: Disciplining Christian Discourse (2010) and Liturgy and Theology, Economy and Reality (2017).

BA, The University of Texas at Austin
MDiv, Yale Divinity School
MA and PhD, The University of Virginia

Staff

Joanne Foote, Parish Administrator

A native Austinite, Joanne came to the role of Parish Administrator in 2010. Her work encompasses a wide range of duties, from drafting, formatting, and printing all worship service bulletins, distributing Parish-wide communications, welcoming parishioners and visitors, managing office volunteers, maintaining the church database and website, and working with vendors.

Joanne graduated from UT Austin, earning a Bachelor of Journalism degree with a focus on Photojournalism. Prior to working at St. Mark’s, she worked in a variety of positions: free-lance reporter/photographer, researcher, production assistant, the local public library, and in between jobs worked as a full-time parent for a decade (this role is ongoing!). She is married and has two sons.

You can email Joanne here: office@stmarksaustin.org.

Mark Reed, Organist, Director of Music, and Bookkeeper

Mark Reed is the Organist and Director of Music, and in January 2018, added the role of Church Treasurer, after working at St. Mark’s Day School as the bookkeeper the last five years. Mark grew up in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Theory from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida in 1996. He pursued graduate studies at Indiana University, in Bloomington, earning a Master’s Degree in Organ Performance in 1998. After completing his M.M. degree, Mark lived in Bloomington for a few years to continue organ study and to take courses in Sacred Music, Music Theory, and Musicology. Mark’s principal teacher at IU was Dr. Marilyn Keiser. While in Bloomington, Mark taught in the IU Music Theory department for five years and served as Dr. Keiser’s assistant at Trinity Episcopal Church for three years. Prior to his arrival in Texas, Mark served parishes in Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

Mark came to St. Mark’s in the fall of 2010 from Pittsburgh, PA. He and his husband Matthew relocated to Austin to be close to Matthew’s family. Mark directs the Adult Choir and Choristers, plays the organ and piano for services, and chooses the hymns and anthems. You are always invited to stop by the choir loft after the Sunday service to find out how to get involved in the music ministry.

You can email Mark here: mark@stmarksaustin.org.

Casey Bushman, Director of Christian Formation

Casey grew up in a small town in west Texas, graduated from high school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has been involved in diverse Christian ministries in Illinois and Connecticut. He is married to Sarah, a native Arkansan, whom he met during their freshman year of college. They have three daughters--Hattie (6), Grace (4), and Charlotte (2)--who always seem to keep them quite busy yet thoroughly entertained. Casey has received degrees from Ouachita Baptist University (B.A.) and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.Div.) and is excited to join the team at St. Mark's. He has long been passionate about the local church's role in the formation of children and youth. Casey enjoys listening to (too) many podcasts, talking about scripture, being outdoors, and playing backyard Wiffle ball with his daughters.

You can email Casey here: casey@stmarksaustin.org

Barbara Gausewitz, Seminarian

Barbara is St. Mark’s seminarian intern. She is sponsored for ordination by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California. Barbara is currently a Master of Divinity student at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, where she also serves as a sacristan in Christ Chapel. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Prior to starting seminary, she worked in energy and utilities policy for the California State Legislature. She shares her tiny apartment with one very impious feline named Polka Dot. Barbara’s interests include liturgy, Church history, the impact of technology on faith and culture, travel, and Irish and Welsh poetry. She is a member of two Anglican devotional societies: The Guild of All Souls and The Society of Mary.

Eric Panter, Assistant Youth Minister

Eric Panter has served as the Youth Minister of St. Mark’s since the spring of 2012. Eric came to St. Mark’s by way of the music department, joining the parish choir in 2010. Falling in love with the Episcopal Church at large and the spirit of outreach and service that the parishioners of St. Mark’s showed, Eric dove more deeply into his own service with the Church. When the need arose for someone to lead the Youth of St. Mark’s, Eric knew that this was the direction he was being called to. Eric also served as an Episcopal Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) missionary to The Philippines in 2015 – 2016, bringing his love of music and serving youth to the indigenous people of northern Luzon.

Irma Glover, Sexton

Irma has been in Austin since 1985, and has been St. Mark’s sexton for about 20+ years. She is married, and has three sons and one grandson. In her spare time, she enjoys softball and golf. Irma works behind the scenes to keep the church, parish hall, and Day School clean and tidy, and is also hired to clean up the premises for special events.