Welcoming Our New Priest in Charge

We are overjoyed to announce that The Rev’d. Molly Jane Layton will join us as our new Priest in Charge beginning in late September, with her first service scheduled for Oct. 5th!

Reverend Layton brings with her a vibrant combination of pastoral gifts, teaching experience, and spiritual leadership. Most recently, she has served as Associate Rector at Calvary–St. George’s in New York City, where she designed innovative formation programs, oversaw liturgical planning, preached regularly, and launched ministries that deepened community engagement.

Her path to ordained ministry is marked by both academic excellence and pastoral experience. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (M.Div., cum laude), holds a Master’s in Private School Leadership from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Classics from Cornell University. Before her ordination, she taught in independent and international schools including Tabor Academy in Merion, Massachusetts, and the Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, serving as a history and classics teacher, department chair, and leader of international student pilgrimages and service trips.

Molly’s ministry has already been enriched by a wide scope of service: from launching a weekly ministry to feed the homeless in Washington, DC, to writing and editing resources for The Living Church, to leading devotions for young adult ministries and supporting major capital campaigns. She describes her call simply and powerfully: to share the gospel of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection by celebrating the Eucharist, preaching God’s Word, and offering pastoral care.

Molly Jane will join our community with her husband, Andrew, and son Caleb (18mo). Please join us in welcoming her to St. John’s, and we look forward to the ways her gifts will help us grow in faith, hope, and love.