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Our Staff

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Fr. Peter Wallace

The Rev. Peter Wallace was ordained in June 2014 and served as assisting priest at St. Paul's in Newnan until coming to St. Gabriel's as Interim Priest in Charge in April 2016. Fr. Peter is executive producer and host of the national ecumenical Day1 radio and internet ministry (Day1.org) and president of the Alliance for Christian Media, based in Atlanta. The weekly Day1 radio program, the voice of the mainline churches including The Episcopal Church, is distributed to 200 radio stations across America and overseas. Before coming to Day1 in 2001, Fr. Peter was senior copywriter and broadcast producer for Larry Smith & Associates Advertising in Atlanta for eleven years, and earlier served as editorial director for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism/advertising from Marshall University and a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas. He took courses in the Episcopal Studies program at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Fr. Peter is the author of nine books, including The Passionate Jesus: What We Can Learn from Jesus about Love, Fear, Grief, Joy and Living Authentically (from SkyLight Paths Publishing); Connected: You and God in the Psalms; Living Loved: Knowing Jesus as the Lover of Your Soul; Out of the Quiet: Responding to God’s Whispered Invitations; and TruthQuest Devotional Journal. He has contributed to numerous books, study Bibles, devotional guides, magazines, teaching curriculums, video series, and other resources. He blogs regularly at HuffingtonPost.com and Day1.org. Fr. Peter and his spouse, Daniel Le, a librarian at Georgia State University/Perimeter College, live in Midtown Atlanta.

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Our Parish Administrator,
​Michele Cholewinski

Michele is our latest addition at St. Gabe's and we are elated to have her!  She comes to us with great experience and incredible personal skills. Michele is the primary contact at St. Gabe's for calendar or event scheduling, parish communications, member questions, organizational functions, and everything in between!  If you need to contact her please do so at parishadmin@saintgabriels.org

Gregory Thompson, Choir Director

Gregory Thompson was born on the tiny 37 square mile Caribbean island of St. Maarten, Gregory’s talent as a pianist was identified at an early age and he began receiving formal piano lessons at the age of 8. Although he developed an appreciation for various genres of music, Gregory’s earliest performances were at his church where he played both the piano and organ for various services. In 2003, Gregory moved to the United States to further his studies. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Technology at Lagrange College in 2007. During his
time at Lagrange he also completed an internship with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as a productions assistant. After completing his undergraduate work he went on to complete a Masters in Music at Florida Atlantic University, with a focus on Jazz piano performance.
Gregory has a passion for Church Music but also is an educator at heart. Before completing his Masters degree, Gregory spent a year teaching piano lessons and worked with small groups and young learners at the Community Music Centers of Atlanta. He further developed his teaching skills as a Teaching Assistant and Instructor of several undergraduate courses at Florida Atlantic University. After
completing his work at FAU, Gregory returned to school to attend Mercer University in 2011 where he studied Church music with an emphasis in Organ performance. Gregory currently serves as the Organist/Choirmaster of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Oakwood, GA and as the music teacher of Saint Anne’s Day school. His other interests include writing music, recording music and occasionally playing sports. As a lifelong learner Gregory is committed to
improving his skills both as an educator and performer.

Padre Samuel Porras

 The Rev. Samuel Porras was born in Medellin, Colombia. He entered the seminary when he was 16 years old, completed his philosophy studies in Bogota, Colombia, at the Universidad de San Buenaventura. When he was 26 years old he arrived to Atlanta with the Catholic diocese of Atlanta to complete his theology studies. He completed his Master’s degree in Theology from Mount Saint’s Mary Seminary and College in 1997 and was ordained in the Catholic Church in the same year. He served as a priest in the Catholic Church for about seven years and then he left the active ministry because I wanted to begin a family. He has been working in the insurance industry as an adjuster since he left the active ministry and during the years he has completed additional studies related to the insurance industry. He was officially received as a priest for the Episcopal Church on May 15, 2016. He has been working at Saint Gabriel’s since the end of January when the community opened the doors to the Hispanic ministry and began working together to build one community formed by both Hispanic and American parishioners. 

Fr. Robert Fessler, Retired

Fr. Fessler was ordained a priest on May 29, 1965.  He served his last parish, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, WI, for 22 years when his retirement was required by the Canons of the Episcopal Church.  He and his wife, Pat, moved to the Village of Deaton Creek in Hoschton, Ga. in July, 2012 and was licensed as a priest in the Atlanta Diocese on December 5, 2012.  They were warmly adopted by God's people at St. Gabriel's just prior to that and now is happy to help us all progress in our spiritual journeys through his commitment to pastoral care, enlightening sermons, and warm liturgical services.

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Our Patron, Saint Gabriel

According to the Bible, there are seven archangels who "stand in the presence of God". (Tobit 12:15).  Four of these are named at various placed in the Bible or Apocrypha: Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel.  Gabriel first appears in the book of Daniel when he explains to Daniel the vision of the ram and the he-goat and the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.

In the book of Revelation, the seven angels in turn blow their trumpets.  When the last trumpet sounds, voices from heaven proclaim, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.  And he shall reign for ever and ever."  Although not directly stated in the Bible, according to legend, it is Gabriel's trumpet that will announce the end of time.

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Our Vestry

The Vestry of any Episcopal Church is the lay governing body of the church.  The 'vestry' is named for the room in which vestments were stored in English churches long ago.  The governing body used to meet in that room; hence the group became known as the "vestry."  Because the Episcopal Church practices a representative governance (much like our congress), vestry members are elected for three year terms.  At St. Gabriel's, we have seven vestry members.  Each year, three members rotate off of the vestry and three new members are elected.  The election of new members happens every year at our Annual Meeting in December.

The work of a vestry member is manifold.  They oversee the financial administration and health of the parish.  Each member serves as a liaison to a particular aspect of the church's life and they communicate with the parish about the ongoing joys and challenges of the parish.  The Senior Warden is often called the "rector's warden" and serves as a confidant for the rector. The Senior Warden also serves as a liaison between the rector and the rest of the vestry.  The Junior Warden is the "people's warden" and serves as a liaison between the congregation, the rector, and the rest of the vestry.

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Jim Waller, Senior Warden

Brenda Petrey, Junior Warden

Daniel Graham

Juan Mercado

Debbie Swanson

Bert Willingham

Brigitte Pedersen

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