Clergy

The clergy at All Souls are always accessible to meet with newcomers and members to talk about their faith journeys, doubts, questions, or life as part of the congregation. The quality of their care, compassion, and love for the members of All Souls is a big part of its spirit of acceptance and loving kindness.

During our search for a new permanent rector, our interim rector is James Richardson. He is assisted by Kristin Krantz, associate rector, and several ordained volunteer priest associates who lead, preach, and serve on Sundays and at other services, and by eucharistic ministers (EMs), who also serve on Sundays and at other services.

The Reverend James Richardson, Interim Rector
The Reverend Kristin Krantz, Associate Rector
The Reverend Alec Blair, Priest Associate
The Reverend Donald Brown, Priest Associate
The Reverend William Fay, Priest Associate
The Reverend Paula Nesbitt, Priest Associate

The Reverend David Stone, Priest Associate
The Reverend Patricia Walker-Sprague, Priest Associate
The Reverend Mary Louise Hintz, Deacon

The Reverend James Richardson, Interim Rector

James Richardson is a native of California, from a family with deep roots in the Golden State. Before entering the priesthood, he was a journalist for 22 years, including stints as a reporter with The Riverside Press-Enterprise and the San Diego Union. He moved to Sacramento in 1985 to be the Capitol Bureau Chief for The Press-Enterprise and later joined the reporting staff of The Sacramento Bee as a state Capitol reporter and later as the Higher Education writer. He reported for The Bee for nearly a decade. He is the author of the definitive biography of former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (Willie Brown: A Biography, University of California Press, 1996), and co-author with his Bee colleagues of three editions of the California Political Almanac. He was a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow in 1993, and was a visiting lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 1997. He has also completed summer course work in government at the University of Cambridge, U.K., and in Anglican theology at the University of Oxford, U.K. Richardson left The Bee in 1997 to enroll in the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley where he earned a Masters of Divinity degree in 2000. Richardson was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in January 2001. Email: revjimr@yahoo.com

The Reverend Kristin Krantz, Associate Rector

The Reverend Kristin Nelson Krantz was called as the Associate Rector in September 2006. She's a Hoosier, having grown up in Indiana, and attended university there, but in the last seven years called Chicago and Boston home before moving to California with her family.  She graduated from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA in 2006 with a Masters of Divinity degree and was ordained to the priesthood later the same year.  Prior to attending seminary she was a Jr. High School teacher and church youth group leader for several years. In some circles she is known as a scholar of pop culture Jesus kitsch.  One of her mottos is ‘take God seriously, but never yourself.’  She lives in El Cerrito with her spouse and son and their big brown dog.  Email: kristin.krantz@comcast.net

The Reverend Alec Blair, Priest Associate

The Reverend Alec Blair retired from five decades of pastoral work in New Mexico and California, and teaches Bible at the Diocesan School for Deacons. At All Souls, Alec leads the Bible study group and the healing service and lunch every Thursday.

The Reverend Donald Brown, Priest Associate

The Reverend Don Brown has been a religious leader in the greater-Sacramento community for past 19 years. He served as dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, from 1987 until his recent retirement. He and his wife Carol Ann now call Berkeley their home.

The Reverend William Fay, Priest Associate

The Reverend William M. Fay grew up at All Souls Parish, attended Virginia Seminary, and was ordained a priest in 1952. He served for 17 years in South Dakota on three Indian reservations and for 18 years in the San Joaquin Valley towns of Reedly and Woodlake. When he retired from active ministry in 1989, he returned to All Souls, where he now serves as an active volunteer priest, celebrating one or two daytime services each week and assisting at the Sunday services once or twice a month. Fr. Fay remains active in the ministry to Kyakameena convalescent home.

The Reverend Paula Nesbitt, Priest Associate

The Reverend Paula Nesbitt, Ph.D., has been a priest associate at All Souls since 2002. She came from the Diocese of Colorado, where she directed an ethics institute and taught at the University of Denver. A priest since 1992, her areas of interest include religion and society, ethics, spirituality, congregational studies, and social justice. Paula also teaches sociology at U.C. Berkeley.

The Reverend David Stone, Priest Associate

The Reverend David Stone joined the staff in early 2008. A graduate of CDSP in Berkeley in 1960, he served as a curate at a church in Portland before transferring to the Diocese of Idaho where he served in parish ministry. David and his wife Carol returned to live in Berkeley after a number of years in Idaho and he worked for the City of Berkeley, raised four children, and was foster parents to 25 youth. He recently received his License to Officiate from the Diocese of California.

The Reverend Patricia Walker-Sprague, Priest Associate

The Reverend Patricia Walker-Sprague grew up in Berkeley and spent 23 years working on federal government grants and in program management before attending California Divinity School of the Pacific, followed by her ordination in 1997. At All Souls her ministry is to our frail elders, but she is available to whoever needs to talk. She also serves as chaplain at Chaparral House (a nursing home) in Berkeley and regularly celebrates the liturgy on Tuesday mornings and assists on Thursdays and some Sundays.

The Reverend Mary Louise Hintz, Deacon

The Rev. Mary Louise Hintz was ordained a vocational deacon in June 1995 in the Diocese of California. She graduated in from the Episcopal School for Deacons with a Bachelor in Theological Studies in 1994. Mary Louise came to All Souls in October 2006 where she was called to serve as deacon and chair of outreach ministry. Previously, she served as deacon for 11 years at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Richmond, California. Mary Louise trained in a hospital chaplaincy receiving a Certificate in Hospital Chapliancy in 1994 after completing a three year training program with Sojourn Hospital Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital. She served as Director of Chaplaincy Services for six years at Doctors Medical Center, San Pablo. Currently, she is employed as Registrar and Director of Recruitment and Admissions at the School for Deacons at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. Mary Louise serves as clergy representative for the Alameda Deanery on Diocesan Council, is an elected member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, and a founding member of the Advisory Task Force for Providing Sanctuary, a collaboration of interfaith leaders and victim service agency providers providing training for clergy in ministry to victims of domestic violence.