1 in 8700: Father Terence Gleeson

A native of Sydney, Australia, former resident of New York City, and current reverend at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Middlebury, Terence Gleeson is gearing up for his next big move: future Rector of All Saints in Palo Alto, Calif.

“Palo Alto is one of the most exciting and creative zip codes in the US and really in the world,” said Gleeson, who noted its connection to the high-tech industry of Silicon Valley, and to Stanford University, located within the parish.

Still, Gleeson finds it hard to leave Middlebury, as he has lived here since 2005 when he was elected rector of St. Stephen’s. For six years, he has worked hard to uphold the church’s outreach programs, “a very, very strong tradition here.” At the international level, the church works with an orphanage in Mexico, and with a group of  parishioners also traveled on a mission trip three years ago to an orphanage in Honduras.  Gleeson has kept in close contact with the organization and hopes the group will return next year to continue its charitable work. Last year, the church also donated clothing and diapers for 32 AIDS orphans in Zambia.

He also deeply values the St. Stephen’s local outreach programs. In 2010, the church provided nearly 3,400 pounds of food to local food shelves, prepared and served over 1,500 community lunches and volunteered at the Charter House shelter and HOPE food shelf, among numerous other endeavors. Every year, the church holds the Peasant Market, which takes place in July and is usually followed by the town’s Festival on the Green. It brings together parishioners and other community members who sell anything from clothing to books to household items in order to raise funds for charities in the state and abroad. Last year, the church raised $25,000.

Gleeson, who was ordained 30 years ago, can appreciate life in a small rural town particularly well, as he compares it to his experiences in New York City. Working as a priest in the city, Gleeson became involved with the not-for-profit agency PSCH (Professional Service Centers for the Handicapped), and he worked with developmentally disabled and mentally ill people. After being promoted numerous times, Gleeson found himself director of the agency, the fourth largest agency in the city. Throughout his years in various parishes in NY, Gleeson remained dedicated to charitable programs.

“The parish I was in had a major feeding program,” said Gleeson. “We do the same thing at St. Stephen’s, but obviously on a smaller scale.”

Gleeson said that another difference between working in New York City and in Middlebury was the relationship to the community.

“In a small town you are much more connected not only to your whole parish, but to your whole community,” he said. “There are just as many people from the community of Middlebury that are contacting us and wishing us well as [people from] our own parish.”

Still, Gleeson said that, “some things are always the same: you’re always preaching, you’re always celebrating sacraments, always visiting the sick.”

Another thing that has remained constant in Gleeson’s life has been his desire to become a priest.

“There was never really anything else I wanted to do,” he said. “It was easy. I did not have a huge drama, no great decision making.”

Gleeson spent a third of his priesthood in Australia, before he came to the U.S. about 20 years ago. He worked in parishes and served as University Chaplain for students at what is now called University of Wollongong. In addition to “celebrating liturgy on campus, leading bible study [and] being available for students for counseling,” Gleeson also received his graduate degree in education, “just for fun, to keep me busy.”

Having grown up in a Roman Catholic household, Gleeson was ordained a Catholic priest in Australia. He said that the switch to the Episcopal Church was relatively easy.

“They have almost identical liturgy and ceremonial aspects,” said Gleeson. “The faith is the same, but the role and use of authority is different.”

While undoubtedly excited for his new position in California, Gleeson and his partner, who got married in Vermont and adopted a daughter together, are finding it difficult to leave the Middlebury community.

“I will miss that human contact to people that I have grown to know and love, people that have been very encouraging and supportive and delightful,” he said.

The church’s connection to the College is clearly strong, as many parishioners are members of the faculty and staff, and John McCardell, president emeritus of the College, was a senior warden at St. Stephen’s before he became president of Sewanee, an Episcopal college in Tennessee. Similarly, Gleeson has fostered many valued relationships within the College community.

“For a small town it [Middlebury] has such a concentration of talent and creativity and intelligence. That is pretty amazing,” he said. “I had dinner with two New York Times best-selling authors last night, which is more unusual in N.Y.”

Not having grown up near mountains, Gleeson is also constantly amazed at “the sheer beauty of this state,” which he will miss dearly.

Still, Palo Alto offers an appealing next location.

“It has high energy, imagination and creativity,” said Gleeson. “And it doesn’t snow. For a boy from Sydney it does not get much better.”