The reverend j. gary eichelberger, rector
Father Gary began his tenure as the 15th rector of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in October 2016. Prior to accepting the call to come to Saint Andrew's, Father Gary served as an Associate Priest at Christ Church Greenville for two years. A native of Upstate South Carolina, Father Gary received his undergraduate degree from Furman University in 1994 and then went on to Duke University, where he completed a joint degree in law and theology. When he later entered the ordination process, Gary spent an Anglican studies year at the School of Theology at the University of the South, where he ultimately completed a Masters in Sacred Theology with a Certificate in Anglican Studies.
Gary and his wife, Kacey, have three school-aged children and live — along with their dog, Newman, and several backyard chickens — in the North Main neighborhood of downtown Greenville.
Gary can be reached by e-mail at rector@standrewsgreenville.org.
THE REVEREND TYLER PROCTOR, CURATE
Father Tyler was born and raised in Gaffney, SC. After graduating with a BA in English from North Greenville University in 2015, he spent a year of volunteer service in Chicago, where he began to discern a call to ordained ministry. This was also the time in which he discovered the Episcopal Church and the richness of the Anglo-Catholic tradition. After returning to SC from Chicago, he worked as a librarian in Cowpens and explored discernment for the priesthood. He earned his M.Div from the School of Theology at Sewanee in TN, graduating in May ‘23.
He now lives in Greenville’s North Main neighborhood and is likely to be found taking advantage of the city’s walkability and choice of prime reading locations.
He can be reached at curate@standrewsgreenville.org or by calling the church office at (864)-235-5884.
JOHN GILBERT, ORGANIST/CHOIRMASTER
John Ezra Gilbert was born in 1945, in Dayton, Ohio. He attended the public schools of West Alexandria, Ohio, graduating in 1963 as class Valedictorian. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude and as Valedictorian of the class of 1967, from Ashland College (now Ashland University), Ashland, Ohio, where he majored in music and English. In 1971, he received the Master of Sacred Music degree in organ performance from the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he studied organ with Vernon deTar and harpsichord with Eugenia Earle. It was in New York while in graduate school that John was confirmed in the Episcopal diocese of Long Island by Bishop Jonathan Sherman in 1968. For over twenty years John taught organ, music history, and harpsichord at his undergraduate alma mater, all the while serving area churches—Presbyterian, Congregational, and Episcopal—as organist and/or choirmaster. In 1993, John was called to become full-time Organist/Director of music at All Saints Parish, Waccamaw, in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and served there until 2003, when he was called to Greenville to serve as Organist/Choirmaster at Christ Church Episcopal upon the retirement of Robert J. Powell. John retired from Christ Church in September of 2008, and was hired by the Rev. Trey Garland to serve St. Andrew’s Church as Organist/Choirmaster beginning in January of 2009. John is the proud father of two adult children: Sarah Gilbert Murray, who with her husband Dr. Douglas Murray of Atlanta are the parents of John’s three grandchildren (Thomas, Julie, and Elizabeth), and Drew Joseph Gilbert of Charleston, SC.
John Gilbert has composed numerous hymns, hymn-tunes, canticles, metrical psalm settings, organ solos and instrumental arrangements for use in his various parishes and by commission.
John can be reached by e-mail at choir@standrewsgreenville.org.
Marie Ridolfo, PARISH ADMINISTRATOR and Concert Series Director
Ms. Ridolfo received her B.M. in Music Media from Capital University (Columbus, OH) and her M.M. in Performing Arts Management from Florida International University (Miami, FL). Marie then began her professional career in arts management and production, and later church administration.
Most recently, Marie served as Director of Communications (interim) at Christ Church in Greenville. Prior to that, she served as Director of Communications at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Delray Beach, Florida.
An accomplished musician specializing in early music, Marie has also held professional positions as a mezzo-soprano soloist and section leader, and as a viola da gamba player for renaissance and baroque ensembles. Marie and her husband Brian have a daughter, Siena.
Marie can be reached by e-mail at office@standrewsgreenville.org.
