The Reverend Kim Turner Baker will be joining St. Luke’s on April 1, 2022, as the new Rector. Reverend Turner Baker is no stranger to St. Luke’s, having served as the Interim Priest and Priest Mentor at St. Luke’s from 2010-2012. She is delighted to be returning.
Reverend Turner Baker comes to St. Luke’s from service as Rector at St. John’s by the Campus in Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State University is located. She has strong family ties to Iowa, and both her grandfather and great uncle received degrees from Iowa State in the first quarter of the last century. Education has always been a priority for Reverend Turner Baker and her family. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a lawyer. Reverend Turner Baker herself holds an M.Div. from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, and a BA from the University of Michigan.
Reverend Turner Baker brings to St. Luke’s s a wealth of experience she has gained from ministries in diverse communities and locations ranging from Ames to Western New York to Austin, Texas, and the Maryland/Washington DC region. In each of her ministries, Reverend Turner Baker has always recognized the importance of pastoral care, community outreach, engaged leadership, sound administrative oversight, and strategic vision. Accomplishments include leading and sustaining the congregation through the myriad challenges posed by the COVID epidemic, collaboration on numerous civil rights focused initiatives, significant restoration of an aging church building, and establishment of a micro-enterprise run by parishioners.
On a personal note, Reverend Turner Baker has three grown children, Brendan (a lawyer and writer living in Denver); Justin (a lawyer working in D.C.); and Bethany (an occupational therapist working in D.C.), and two grandchildren living in Northern Virginia, Oliver (5) and Isabel (2). She is married to Gordon De La Vars, a rector of an Episcopal church outside of Frederick, Maryland. She also cannot fail to mention Tippet, her beautiful golden eyed cat. Reverend Turner Baker loves to sew, read and ride her bike, and she always enjoys a good conversation.
Reverend Turner Baker is sincerely looking forward to the ministry at St. Luke’s, and is eager to assume her new responsibilities with enthusiasm and commitment to the work.