Reverend Angela H. Rowley, Priest Associate

The QEII, The English Patient, Mitten Hill Nursery School, the Ford Motor Company. These are but a few of the subjects that develop into fascinating detours you take when walking through Angela's life history with her.

That Angela became a priest is a miracle in its own right.  Or maybe her courage is the miracle. The story starts with her running a nursery school in Wilton, called Mitten Hill (named after the mitten shaped leaves of the Sassafras tree on the property). Angela established the school in 1986, and, not surprisingly it quickly attracted scores of families. In 1999, one of her students became seriously ill. Angela visited the boy frequently in the hospital, and mercifully he eventually recovered. Sitting down with his seemingly stoic mother after the ordeal, Angela asked her how she made it through. The mother broke down saying that she wished there had been someone to support her spiritually in those moments of despair at the hospital. And at that moment, Angela realized she wanted to be that person.

With no qualifications (on paper) other than being a nursery school teacher, Angela looked into hospital chaplaincy and met with a woman at Bridgeport hospital who essentially told her she was crazy, but gave her an application for a training program.  Feeling called, but fraught with doubt, Angela consulted a Catholic priest friend for guidance.  He pointed to the sign on his wall reading "God does not call the qualified.  God qualifies the called." He then told her, "Now call Yale!"

It was the summer of 1999. Two Yale chaplains interviewed Angela and said the same thing everyone else had. "You have no qualifications or experience to do this."  However, after an hour interview, they decided to take her on and accepted her into a nine-month chaplaincy internship program. After finishing her Clinical Pastoral Education degree, her chaplain mentors prodded her to go further: "Now you are going to seminary!" She audited one class at Yale Divinity School and, sure she was getting in way over her head, announced there was no way she would do this. More prodding from another mentor, and she applied. Yale Divinity School accepted Angela with no undergraduate degree.  And after three years of commuting from Wilton, she earned a Master of Divinity in 2005. Angela was ordained to the priesthood in January 2006 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Branford.

Angela initially worked at Trinity Branford. After about three years, Yale asked if she would return to the hospital in the newly created position of Yale Emergency Department Chaplain. Once again, courage transcended doubt and Angela made the move. It is a full-time job, with responsibility for providing spiritual care to the patients, family and staff of the ER. The impact she is having is perhaps best exemplified by the award she received -- the first ever Yale "Nurse's Choice Award," for the Yale staff member who has provided them with the most support in carrying out their duties.

Angela also finds the time to be an active member of the St. Andrews Society of Connecticut (serving as its chaplain), and opens and closes the group's annual fair in Goshen.

When looking for a new place to worship after having to leave Trinity Branford (when she stepped down as a minister there to work at Yale), Angela began serving as supply clergy at St. Peter's.  It was the perfect fit, and Angela soon approached about both joining St. Peter's as a member, and "helping out once in a while."  The church was delighted to have her, and Angela has contributed to the St. Peter's community beyond anyone's expectations.