Staff
A dedicated staff serves the St. Paul's community, along with a host of parish volunteers.
Greta Getlein, Dean and Rector
Welcome to the website of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul! We are glad you found us and pray that you find a warm welcome here, and a place to call home.
I grew up in Connecticut, pursued a B.S. in Nursing, and spent 20 years in that career, mostly in hospice work, first at the bedside and then in administration. In 2006, I entered Yale Divinity School/Berkeley Episcopal Seminary and graduated in 2009. I was ordained to the transitional deaconate in June 2009, and to the priesthood in January of 2010. My first call was to Christ Church in New Haven, CT where I served as curate from 2009 – 2010 when I was called to return to Berkeley Divinity School as Associate Dean for Anglican Studies and Formation. While there, I continued on at Christ Church as a Pastoral Associate. In 2014 I was called to serve as Rector of St. Paul’s in Pawtucket, RI where I remained until April of 2020, when we packed up our house and moved to Vermont so I could serve as the Dean & Rector of this wonderful Cathedral.
I have been a singer all my life (soprano, in case you are wondering) and spent much of my adulthood singing in choirs – city chorales, professional church choirs, and professional chamber choirs. Music and singing has always been my first access to God and God’s deep love for us. In support of that, I have served as chaplain to the Royal School of Church Music’s Newport summer course (Newport, RI) since 2016, thoroughly enjoying talking and working with young singers and adult musicians from all over the country. In addition to music, I love baking, cooking, reading, long walks in the woods, country drives, and quiet evenings with family and friends by the fire inside or outside.
I am married to Wanda Strickland who I met in 1995 while living and working in Northern Virginia. We have three grown children and two beautiful grandchildren. We live in Williston with our shelter dog, Joe, and our rescue kitty Mac, who we bottle raised from one week old.
Two practical things to note: my last name is pronounced Get-line, and it’s fine to call me Greta, though Mother Greta and Dean Greta are also fine, if that is what works best for you.
Greta can be reached at ggetlein@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
I grew up in Connecticut, pursued a B.S. in Nursing, and spent 20 years in that career, mostly in hospice work, first at the bedside and then in administration. In 2006, I entered Yale Divinity School/Berkeley Episcopal Seminary and graduated in 2009. I was ordained to the transitional deaconate in June 2009, and to the priesthood in January of 2010. My first call was to Christ Church in New Haven, CT where I served as curate from 2009 – 2010 when I was called to return to Berkeley Divinity School as Associate Dean for Anglican Studies and Formation. While there, I continued on at Christ Church as a Pastoral Associate. In 2014 I was called to serve as Rector of St. Paul’s in Pawtucket, RI where I remained until April of 2020, when we packed up our house and moved to Vermont so I could serve as the Dean & Rector of this wonderful Cathedral.
I have been a singer all my life (soprano, in case you are wondering) and spent much of my adulthood singing in choirs – city chorales, professional church choirs, and professional chamber choirs. Music and singing has always been my first access to God and God’s deep love for us. In support of that, I have served as chaplain to the Royal School of Church Music’s Newport summer course (Newport, RI) since 2016, thoroughly enjoying talking and working with young singers and adult musicians from all over the country. In addition to music, I love baking, cooking, reading, long walks in the woods, country drives, and quiet evenings with family and friends by the fire inside or outside.
I am married to Wanda Strickland who I met in 1995 while living and working in Northern Virginia. We have three grown children and two beautiful grandchildren. We live in Williston with our shelter dog, Joe, and our rescue kitty Mac, who we bottle raised from one week old.
Two practical things to note: my last name is pronounced Get-line, and it’s fine to call me Greta, though Mother Greta and Dean Greta are also fine, if that is what works best for you.
Greta can be reached at ggetlein@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
Robert Leopold, Canon for Adult Formation
I was raised in costal South Carolina and Upper East Tennessee, where I developed a love of storytelling, water, music, food, education, renovation, and the Episcopal Church. I played upright and electric bass for my first career, and I still enjoy playing for several local musical theatre productions in Vermont each year. By the time I returned to school to finish a Bachelor of Arts in Music, I was already discerning a call to ordained ministry, which led to another degree in Religious Studies, and working as a peer minister at the University of Tennessee’s Episcopal Campus Ministry.
I attended the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. While there, I continued my work on campus, serving at the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Howard University in Washington, D.C. After seminary, I was called to serve at St. Paul’s in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to remake the campus ministry at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. After St. Paul’s, I helped found a new and nontraditional Episcopal Church, called Southside Abbey, on the “Southside" of Chattanooga’s downtown. Along the way I finished a doctorate at Sewanee, and a master’s degree in Storytelling at East Tennessee State University and in conjunction with the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Before leaving Tennessee, I was a recurring guest lecturer at the School of Theology at the University of the South, as well as a Field Education supervisor, training seminarians to serve a changing Church. After almost thirty-five years, I moved north to serve in the Anglican Church of Canada as the rector of a large, multicultural parish in Ottawa’s bustling Chinatown.
I was the 2015-2018 William B. Given Fellow as part of Episcopal Church Foundation’s Fellowship Partners Program, which meant that I got to travel around the United States and Canada encouraging those attempting to do and be Church in new ways. For five years I taught how to develop innovative liturgies at the Episcopal Seminary in Berkley, California, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, as part of their Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership program.
Eventually I was called south to Vermont, serving as Interim Rector at Christ Church in Montpelier and Interim Rector and Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew’s in Colchester. My wife Lisa is a public school music teacher in Lamoille County. We live in a 1920s lake house we helped fix up with our two children, Woody and Denver.
I am the newest member of the wonderful team at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. I am blessed to foster adult (mutual) formation, as well as build on the vital ministry of young adults (18-35) in, through, and among the greater Burlington area. You can call my Bob, but my friends call me Bobby.
Bob can be reached at rleopold@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
I attended the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. While there, I continued my work on campus, serving at the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Howard University in Washington, D.C. After seminary, I was called to serve at St. Paul’s in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to remake the campus ministry at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. After St. Paul’s, I helped found a new and nontraditional Episcopal Church, called Southside Abbey, on the “Southside" of Chattanooga’s downtown. Along the way I finished a doctorate at Sewanee, and a master’s degree in Storytelling at East Tennessee State University and in conjunction with the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Before leaving Tennessee, I was a recurring guest lecturer at the School of Theology at the University of the South, as well as a Field Education supervisor, training seminarians to serve a changing Church. After almost thirty-five years, I moved north to serve in the Anglican Church of Canada as the rector of a large, multicultural parish in Ottawa’s bustling Chinatown.
I was the 2015-2018 William B. Given Fellow as part of Episcopal Church Foundation’s Fellowship Partners Program, which meant that I got to travel around the United States and Canada encouraging those attempting to do and be Church in new ways. For five years I taught how to develop innovative liturgies at the Episcopal Seminary in Berkley, California, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, as part of their Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership program.
Eventually I was called south to Vermont, serving as Interim Rector at Christ Church in Montpelier and Interim Rector and Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew’s in Colchester. My wife Lisa is a public school music teacher in Lamoille County. We live in a 1920s lake house we helped fix up with our two children, Woody and Denver.
I am the newest member of the wonderful team at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. I am blessed to foster adult (mutual) formation, as well as build on the vital ministry of young adults (18-35) in, through, and among the greater Burlington area. You can call my Bob, but my friends call me Bobby.
Bob can be reached at rleopold@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
David Neiweem, Interim Director of Music
On December 1, 2023, we were thrilled to welcome David Neiweem to the Cathedral as Interim Music Director at St. Paul's while we conduct a search for a permanent replacement for Mark Howe's position.
In addition to his skill at the organ and with choirs, David is a well-known fixture of the local music scene, having taught at the University of Vermont from 1982 to 2022. He is also the artistic director of the Aurora Chamber singers. With his extensive experience and musicianship, we are grateful to David for spending the next several months with us.
In addition to his skill at the organ and with choirs, David is a well-known fixture of the local music scene, having taught at the University of Vermont from 1982 to 2022. He is also the artistic director of the Aurora Chamber singers. With his extensive experience and musicianship, we are grateful to David for spending the next several months with us.
J. Stannard Baker, Deacon
I began my journey at the Cathedral in 1999. This was when my husband, Peter, and I were plaintiffs in the Freedom to Marry lawsuit and, after attending one service here, we knew it was the right place for us – we felt supported and surrounded by friends. I was ordained as a deacon in 2009 and assigned by Bishop Ely to the Cathedral after serving internships at Christ Church Montpelier and Calvary Underhill as well as chaplain training at Fletcher Allen hospital. As Cathedral Deacon my responsibility is to connect our faith to the needs of the world. I love reading the Gospel each Sunday but this diaconal role would be incomplete without attending to the needs all around us in our community. My major focuses are on the Social Justice and outreach activities at the Cathedral and on formation. I am proud that we are a designated Jubilee Center and look forward to our Cathedral’s continued involvement and growth through JUMP, VIA, Migrant Justice, support for the Sudanese Community, and many other ministries. For the Episcopal Church in Vermont, I serve on the Commission on Ministry (COM), the Standing Committee, and I am co-coordinator of our Safe Church training program with Deacon Peggy Mathauer, and Pamela Van de Graaf. I serve the wider Episcopal Church as a member of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM), and I am a Clergy Deputy to General Convention.
I grew up as a Quaker. Silent worship, with its direct connection to the Holy Spirit, helped me form my early relationship to God, but my spiritual home is here in the liturgy and deep and powerful sacramental worship of the Episcopal Church. My “day job” is as a private practitioner psychotherapist (BTR Psychotherapy). Previously, I worked as Clinical Director for Howard Center Developmental Services, and before that as Mental Health Director for the Counseling Service of Addison County. I have a background in child development and am a child and family therapist as well as Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor. I play the cello and guitar and love music of all kinds. I love to read, take long walks and be by the water. I collect nativities, fountain pens, and books. My husband, Peter Harrigan, is a Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at St. Michael’s College.
Stan can be reached at sbaker@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
I grew up as a Quaker. Silent worship, with its direct connection to the Holy Spirit, helped me form my early relationship to God, but my spiritual home is here in the liturgy and deep and powerful sacramental worship of the Episcopal Church. My “day job” is as a private practitioner psychotherapist (BTR Psychotherapy). Previously, I worked as Clinical Director for Howard Center Developmental Services, and before that as Mental Health Director for the Counseling Service of Addison County. I have a background in child development and am a child and family therapist as well as Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor. I play the cello and guitar and love music of all kinds. I love to read, take long walks and be by the water. I collect nativities, fountain pens, and books. My husband, Peter Harrigan, is a Professor of Theatre and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at St. Michael’s College.
Stan can be reached at sbaker@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
Jennifer Sumner, Office Administrator
I joined the staff at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2016, after a few years of searching for a position that would be fulfilling, make a positive difference in my community, and enable me to be present for my very busy family including myself, my husband and our three daughters.
I graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and have held a variety of positions, most recently as an Administrative Assistant in the Burlington School District. I enjoy swimming, reading, music, and the fantastic community we’ve come to know here in Burlington.
Jennifer can be reached at (802) 864-0471 or at admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
I graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and have held a variety of positions, most recently as an Administrative Assistant in the Burlington School District. I enjoy swimming, reading, music, and the fantastic community we’ve come to know here in Burlington.
Jennifer can be reached at (802) 864-0471 or at admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
Barbara Comeau, Financial Administrator
I became a member of St. Paul's in 2009 when we moved from Atlanta back to Vermont with our three girls in tow. The girls' grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins were already members of the Cathedral and we quickly adopted St. Paul's as our church home. The girls joined the choir, and as a family we jumped right into parish life: hosting start up Sunday, working on the Wreath Project and performing the annual audit.
I graduated from Stonehill College with a degree in accounting and worked for 10 years with IDX Healthcare, managing their revenue budget and sales forecasting process. For the last 14 years, I have worked as a Research Director for KLAS Enterprises conducting healthcare IT research.
Based on my experience with the annual audit and financial background, it was a natural fit to join the Cathedral staff in supporting their financial processes and reporting.
Barbara can be reached at bcomeau@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
I graduated from Stonehill College with a degree in accounting and worked for 10 years with IDX Healthcare, managing their revenue budget and sales forecasting process. For the last 14 years, I have worked as a Research Director for KLAS Enterprises conducting healthcare IT research.
Based on my experience with the annual audit and financial background, it was a natural fit to join the Cathedral staff in supporting their financial processes and reporting.
Barbara can be reached at bcomeau@stpaulscathedralvt.org.
Katie Gonyaw, Children's Formation Coordinator
Katie joined the St. Paul's team in July, 2021.
Ian Lawler, A/V and Social Media Coordinator
I became a member of St. Paul's staff just recently after graduating from Champlain College with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Filmmaking.
During my time at Champlain College, I studied and worked alongside other students to create films as well as other creative media. I am very passionate about finding interesting stories and sharing that with others, especially within my local community
Based on my experience with Videography and Creative Media, it was a good fit to join the Cathedral staff in supporting their Broadcasting and Social Media operations.
During my time at Champlain College, I studied and worked alongside other students to create films as well as other creative media. I am very passionate about finding interesting stories and sharing that with others, especially within my local community
Based on my experience with Videography and Creative Media, it was a good fit to join the Cathedral staff in supporting their Broadcasting and Social Media operations.
Adam Skiff, Property Steward
I became involved with the Cathedral Church of St. Paul back in 1974. In my early life at St. Paul's, I was an acolyte and sang in the choir. I truly love supporting this great Cathedral every day, acting as a lay minister in the two services, keeping the property secure, and participating faithfully in the weekly vigil to end racism.
I am an avid photographer and piano player. As property steward, I hope to ensure the Cathedral is a welcoming place for all.
I am an avid photographer and piano player. As property steward, I hope to ensure the Cathedral is a welcoming place for all.
