During her 34 years of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, Cecily has served the Dioceses of Long Island and New York. Saint James the Less, Scarsdale, sponsored her for ordination. She began ordained ministry as associate priest at St. Martha’s Church in the Bronx and then moved on Saint Philip’s Church in Harlem. After this curacy, she became Canon Pastor at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. For 11 years she served as rector of St. John’s Church in Hempstead. Then re-turned to historic St. Phillip’s Church in Harlem to serve as priest-in-charge. For 13 years Cecily worked at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway for Episcopal Health Services as the Vice President of Mission Integration supervising the Clinical Pastoral Care and Education Program, Patient Relations, Volunteer and Guest Relations Departments. She currently serves as an Interim Minister, Search Consultant, Clergy Coach, and on the Faculty of the George Mercer School of Theology in the Diocese of Long Island.
Cecily has a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford and Oxford University in England, a Masters of Divinity from Yale and Berkeley Divinity Schools, and a Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She is a certified Franklin Covey Speed of Trust trainer, certified to administer Hogan Assessments, and a professional coach.
Colleagues and church members call her Mother Broderick, Mother B or Cecily.
William J. Stokes is a native North Carolinian and has served the church as a musician all his life. He was a choirboy for one year at the Church of the Holy Comforter, Burlington, North Carolina, and from high school years until the present, has played for liturgy and conducted choirs of all ages in the praise of God.
Bill (everyone calls him that except his late grandmother who always said, His name is William!) attended the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, where he assisted Dr David Craighead at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and became a confirmed Episcopalian. He holds a graduate degree from the School of Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary in New York City along with the Associate and Choirmaster certifications from the American Guild of Organists. Additional study has included the Aspen Choral Institute for three years and a summer intensive at New College, Oxford, England. He has served as organist and choir director of St. Luke’s Church Forest Hills since 2006.
Attendance at performances of choral masterworks with the choir and great organ of Duke University Chapel during his formative years along with a brief period of observation at Washington Cathedral gave him an appreciation of both the beauty and splendor of music in a grand space and the transforming power of music in the liturgy. It is hoped that our music in St. Luke’s, a beautiful and intimate space, will be similarly uplifting.
Joseph J. Occhiuto was born on an unseasonably warm Ash Wednesday at St. Catherine’s Hospital in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
He was raised with his younger siblings (two brothers and twin sisters); later his family moved to Middle Village, Queens.
Joseph was raised a Roman Catholic and was led by the faithful example of his parents. After 4 years of studies Joseph was ordained a permanent Deacon for the Brooklyn Diocese on April 25, 1987 and for the following 10 years served at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Williamsburg where he taught adult religious education, ministered to the poor, and counseled those in need.
In 1997 Joseph began his life as an Episcopalian at St. Paul’s in Whitestone, Queens, moved on to St. Paul’s in Carroll Gardens and finally discovered St. Luke’s in Forest Hills, Queens where he increased his involvement in service. Subsequently Joseph studied at the Mercer School of Theology and on December 5th, 2015 Joseph’s Diaconal Holy Orders were received into The Episcopal Church by Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano. Subsequently Bishop Provenzano assigned Joseph to Church of the Ascension where his ministry included the “Greenpoint Community Table” and the Angelmobile Meals of the North Brooklyn Angels.
Joseph is a product of New York City’s public school system, including Grover Cleveland High School and Hunter College. He began his 25+ year career in advertising at Grey Global Group where he was a Director of Finance. Joseph is now semi-retired, which permits more time for ministry, and is a manager at Trader Joe’s in Queens. Joseph’s motto is “Never give up. Never give in. Always keep going. Ours is not to question why. Ours is to trust in God and not be afraid.”