The Rev. Meghan Carlson is the priest-in-charge of St James Episcopal Church in Wooster Ohio.  She is a graduate of Seminary of the Southwest in Austin TX.   Prior to seminary, Meghan worked as a freelance photographer, retail employee, and nun driver (she is considering writing a book about that experience).  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Ursuline College in 2019. Before joining the Episcopal Church, she was raised in the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic tradition and fell in love with iconography during that time. She has become an iconographer in recent years, finding the writing of icons to be a grounding spiritual practice.

Meghan discovered the Episcopal Church as an adult looking for a church space that welcomed those who felt outcast from other Christian churches, especially the LGBTQ+ community.  She is passionate about inclusion, liturgy, community outreach, and teaching.  She has a heart for ministry with the Hispanic/Latino community, and has been learning to speak Spanish.  Currently, she is involved with Open Arms/Brazos Abiertos in Wayne County as a volunteer tutor.  She is also very interested in the intersection between spirituality and the arts, especially visual arts.  She enjoys reading novels, playing video games, and nature walks.  Meghan lives with Essie, aka Queen Esther the black cat, who is her emotional support cat and best feline friend.

Catherine Harrison (Cathy to those that know her!) began her love of iconography in 2012 when she wrote her first icon – Christ Sinai. Since then, she has studied with Teresa Harrison, Christine Sheaffer, Kara Gillette, and Peter Pearson, learning technique and the history of the art form. Having completed several commissions and over 75 icons, she has found that teaching iconography adds a richness to the spirituality of the practice not found in simply writing. Sharing the joy of icon writing, as one of the Traditional Rules of Iconography implores, brings a spiritual depth that only grows with each class or retreat.

Cathy, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, came to the Episcopal Church in her early twenties. The opportunity to participate in The Great Thanksgiving at each service filled her with a profound feeling of not only knowing Christ but being one with Him. She went on to become involved in the Church by singing in the choir and serving as a Lector, an Acolyte, a Eucharistic Minister, and ultimately a Verger, which she has continued for the past 15 years. Outside of Mass, leading icon retreats has enabled her, the introvert that she is, to share her knowledge of Christ and his Saints with others, a kind of evangelism that fits her well.

Cathy lives in Matthews, NC, with her husband, Pierre. They have a daughter, Christy, who lives nearby with her husband, Daniel. While they love to travel in their RV and explore all that America has to offer, one of Cathy’s most exciting trips was a recent exploration of icons in Athens, Greece. The Chapels, Churches, Cathedrals and Monasteries have icons that simply take your breath away. To stand before icons that are hundreds and thousands of years old is both humbling and exhilarating. To walk where Paul preached and spread the Gospel is indescribable. All of this just adds to the joy of spreading icons throughout the world through writing and teaching.

At the end of the day, sharing her love of iconography with others brings a peace to her soul and a fullness to her heart, and that is not a bad thing.