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Mother Karen was called by our church to be Rector in November 2021. She was ordained into the priesthood in December 2020, placed by Bishop Reed as Priest-in-Charge at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in January 2021. By November, the congregation formally asked Mother Karen to continue to lead the spiritual life of the church.

Born in Fort Worth to Southern Baptist parents, when she was 2 ½ years old, they became missionaries in Costa Rica. Mother Karen returned to the States (to Dickinson, TX) when she was 15 fluent in Spanish language and culture.  She attended Baylor and Texas State where she received her degree as a respiratory therapist. She spent 36 yrs at Central TX Medical Center in San Marcos until she retired in 2020. Precious in her life are a son, Stephen, his wife, Kimberly and her grandchild Gabriel who live in Georgetown.

Mother Karen was invited by a friend to visit St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Wimberly which led to membership and 22 years at that church, in the choir, as altar guild member and Eucharistic Lay Minister. In 2015, feeling a call for a new way to serve the church, she began her discernment process. In 2017, she joined the inaugural class of the 3-year IONA program for bi-vocational priests.


She remembers being touched by words from Bishop Curry, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about Jesus.” 

Mother Karen believes her spiritual life is about a personal relationship with the Almighty God; and “our primary job as Christians is to invite other people to have that same relationship that we have. Everyone can be in, and let’s love them until they find their place.”

Mother Karen lives in Lockhart in the Church Rectory. She works less than full time and is available officially on Sunday, Mondays and Wednesdays. She is on call for emergencies and celebrations the rest of the week.