The new priest at St. Mark's Episcopal Church is an Oregon native who went to college in Oregon, graduated from seminary in Virginia, and for her first position, was one of five priests on staff at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, Tex.
The Rev. Mary A. Royes, whose first Sunday at St. Mark's was Nov. 30, says she's glad to be back in Oregon.
"I missed the beauty of our state, the easygoing nature of the people, and the sense of small town hospitality," says Royes, who grew up on a farm near LaGrande. Her family settled in the Grand Ronde Valley in the 1860s.
Royes, who played basketball in high school and college, coached basketball and taught English and drama at Weston-McEwen High School before attending Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Coming back to a small town to be a parish priest, she says, was a comfortable next step after Houston.
Royes says she likes Hood River's "wonderful blend" of farming culture and youthful vitality.
"The people of St. Mark's have a strong sense of ministry to the larger community of Hood River," she says. "I was impressed with all the services of outreach and hospitality being offered by a relatively small number of people."
An experienced priest told Royes that the joyous season of Advent, when Christians prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, "is the sweetest honeymoon period a priest could have, and I am finding that to be true."
Royes will celebrate Holy Eucharist at St. Mark's on Christmas Eve at 7 p.m., a service that begins with a half-hour of carol singing.
Hood River is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon, as is Klickitat County. St. Mark's is the Episcopal church for the Mid-Columbia area.
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