Mother Anne E. Kitch came to St. Luke’s as rector in May of 2019. She grew up in the Episcopal Church and experienced a call to ministry as a young adult while serving as a youth minister. Her ministry is grounded in the joy of nurturing lifelong Christian formation and she exercises leadership through collaboration and mutual discernment.
Ordained in 1995, Anne began her ministry at St. Peter’s Church in Peekskill, NY then moved to PA to became the Canon for Lifelong Christian Formation at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. She then served eleven years on the staff of the Diocese of Bethlehem (now the Diocese of the Susquehanna), ending her time there as the Canon to the Ordinary. She holds a degree in English from Carleton College, an MA in Education from the University of St. Thomas, and an MDiv from the General Theological Seminary.
Anne serves the wider Episcopal Church as a consultant for governance and transitions, including as a Bishop Search Consultant. She is a six-time deputy to General Convention, has served on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, and also on the joint committee for finance. In the Diocese of Newark, Anne is a Title IV intake officer and a member of the Anti-Racism Commission. She is the author of several books in the area of Christian Formation including The Anglican Family Prayer Book and Taking the Plunge: Baptism and Parenting and blogs at Stumbling into the Sacred.
Her spouse, James Peck, is a Professor of Theatre at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and a mandolin player who often accompanies worship. Together, they enjoy hiking, good food, rooting for the Iron Pigs, spending time with friends and family, and comparing notes on the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. They have two adult daughters, Sophie and Lucy.