Interim Rector

We are  delighted to announce that Bishop Lucinda Ashby has appointed The Rev. Erika Essiem to be the interim Rector at St. John's.  She comes to us from the Diocese of Missouri and will be with us for the next year. She has joined our Assisting Clergy in serving the Parish.

The Rev. Erika Essiem, (Mother Erika)

PictureThe Rev. Erika Jackson-Essiem
The Rev. Erika Jackson-Essiem was born and raised in South Bend, IN, home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mother Erika Essiem, as she prefers to be called, is a mother of two and grandmother of three. Her son, Micah, still lives in Indiana and her daughter, Achilles, will be living here in California with her. Mother Erika is married to Obed Essiem, who currently resides in Accra, Ghana.

Mother Erika was ordained to the Transitional Diaconate in January 2019, in the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast, Ghana, where she was the first woman ordained and canonically resident in the diocese. She was then ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Northern Indiana, where she was the first Black woman ordained to the priesthood in that Diocese.

She attended Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA before transferring to Boston University School of Theology where she earned her Master of Theological Studies.  Bishop Doug Sparks then sent her to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA to complete her Anglican Year. While in seminary Mother Erika discovered her passion for studying Black Liberation Theology and Womanist Theology.

Mother Erika strongly believes in the radical hospitality of Jesus Christ and that all are welcome to share in the love of God regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. She has done work with the unhoused communities in Indiana, Boston and Missouri. Mother Erika is excited about the work St. John’s is doing with the unhoused community in Santa Cruz County.

In her spare time Mother Erika enjoys reading, listening to music, knitting, and traveling.
Mother Erika is enthusiastic about her new role as Interim Rector at St. John’s and is looking forward to guiding the St. John’s community through this period of transition.