Clergy and Staff
The Reverend Charles R. Cowherd – Rector
JOB DESCRIPTION: Charles serves as St. Timothy’s liturgical leader on Sundays and leads the administrative tasks of the church during the week. He helps coordinate with the ministry heads and the church staff to fulfill God’s mission here in Herndon. He is usually in the office Tuesday through Friday and is available for pastoral care via phone-call or by appointment.
BIOGRAPHY: Charles came to St. Timothy’s in April 2022 after serving as Associate Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, VA. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2018 after a rewarding decade-long career as a high school history teacher in Virginia and Louisiana. He grew up at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Culpeper, VA while also having rich faith experiences at Shrine Mont, the Diocese of Virginia ’s Camp and Conference Center. Charles and his family live in Herndon and are excited to be at St. Timothy’s!
Favorite Bible Verse: 1st Corinthians 12.12-27. ‘The Body Passage’ is the foundational text for St. George’s Camp at Shrine Mont. Paul’s message of unity and diversity within the Body of Christ serves as a model for all Christian communities.
Favorite Hymn: Hymn #661 ‘They Cast their Nets in Galilee’ was written by William Alexander Percy, the Southern poet and memoirist. Set to the haunting tune ‘Georgetown’, the four short verses provide a stunning image of the joys and perils of Christian discipleship.
Fun Fact: Like the poet George Gordon Byron and the soccer star Mia Hamm, Charles was born with club feet and had casts on both feet for the first few months of his life!
The Reverend Mother Marycelis Otero – Associate Rector
JOB DESCRIPTION: As Associate Rector, Mother Marycelis walks alongside our Rector and lay leaders as a true partner in caring for our whole parish family, with a special love for growing and deepening our connection with our Spanish-speaking community. My heart will be in a few places: offering pastoral care and presence to those going through joy, grief, illness, or transition; nurturing discipleship and lay leadership across both our Anglo and Spanish-speaking members so that everyone feels called into deeper belonging and service; supporting our families through milestones like Baptism, Confirmation, and marriage preparation; and sharing the pulpit with our Rector throughout the year.
BIOGRAPHY: Mother Marycelis comes to St. Timothy’s in September 2026 as Associate Rector, after serving as an Associate Priest at Emmanuel’s Episcopal Church in Athens, GA, and as a Bilingual Chaplain/Bereavement Specialist for Women & Children’s Services and Human Trafficking Rescue Intake. She was ordained a priest in June 2025 in the Diocese of Atlanta, becoming the first Puerto Rican woman ordained a priest there. She holds a Master of Divinity, with a certificate in Anglican and Episcopal Studies, from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and is currently completing a Leadership Post-Master’s Certificate at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, following a B.S. in Television and Radio Broadcasting Technology with a Minor in Strategic Communications from the University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo Campus. Her sense of calling took root at age eight before the Blessed Sacrament in the rainforests of Puerto Rico and has carried her through a bilingual, multicultural ministry ever since. Mother Marycelis and her husband, also an Episcopal priest, are raising their two teenage sons and are excited to join the St. Timothy’s community.
Favorite Bible Verse: John 21:15-17. The Scripture that most shapes how I hope to walk with you comes from the 4th Gospel where the Risen Christ asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and answers each reply with a charge: feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep. That threefold call to love made visible in care for the flock is, to me, the whole of pastoral ministry, and I feel it was reading these verses where I discovered my vocation to become a mother to God’s people.
Favorite Hymn: Hymn #9 (from The Hymnal 1982) “Not here for high and holy things” I love this hymn because it reminds me that God isn’t only found in grand or perfect moments. God is right here, in the simple things: sharing bread, standing on common ground, showing up in everyday life. That’s how I try to live out my priesthood; walking with people through the real, human moments of their lives.
Fun Fact: Mother Marycelis is an alumnus of the same school of communication as the artist known as Bad Bunny, and we both share the same mentor. Mother Marycelis holds a special place in her heart for pop culture and how it interweaves with theology.
Garry L. Sloan – Seminarian
JOB DESCRIPTION: Seminarians usually come to St. Tim’s in the process of being ordained as a priest into the Episcopal Church. For 1-2 years, they serve at a parish (or another setting) as a part of their “Contextual Ministry” requirements. During the Academic Year, you will see our Seminarian(s) at the Altar serving, preaching, and helping out in other areas around the parish.
BIOGRAPHY: I am originally from Bonne Terre, MO, a small town roughly 60 miles south of St. Louis. I attended the University of Missouri–Columbia (Go Mizzou!), earning degrees in Music Education and Performance. After graduating, I taught choral music for two years in Kansas City, then returned to school for a Master of Music at the University of Central Oklahoma. During my master’s program, I met my wife, Erin, who hails from Edmond, OK. We married in 1999 and have two adult children, M and Garrison.
While in Oklahoma, I continued my music studies, worked as a Minister of Music for a Disciples of Christ congregation, and sang some opera. I was a studio artist with Tulsa Opera and did numerous student productions while working on a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
This is our second time living in the DC area. We first moved here in 2005 so that Erin could complete a Master of Classical Theatre degree through George Washington University’s Academy for Classical Acting. During that time, I transitioned from music into fundraising work, and in 2008 we moved to Williamsburg, VA, where I became a major gift fundraiser for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. It was in Williamsburg that we found the Episcopal Church, and we were received in 2012.
We relocated to Illinois in 2016, where I served as Director of Individual Philanthropy and Dean of Advancement for Lake Forest Academy, a boarding school north of Chicago. There, we worshipped at Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, and it was through that congregation that I discerned my call to ordained ministry. I am currently a postulant through the Diocese of Chicago.
Favorite Bible Verse: Matthew 37-39. “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Wrestling with scripture can be difficult and our understanding should evolve as we study and learn more. No matter where I may find myself at any point in my study and exploration, I always come back to these verses as Christ’s core teaching. Love is where we start, and love is where we should end.
Favorite Hymn: This might change every time I’m asked because I love the Anglican musical tradition that includes originally composition and borrows from the best of other traditions. I especially love a rich, polyphonic hymns. One that comes immediately to mind is “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” Hymn 390 in Hymnal 1982, which is borrowed from the German tradition. It is a great example of grounded theology set to a rousing tune with rich harmony, capped off with a glorious descant on the fourth verse.
Fun Fact: My wife and I are big dog lovers. Our current pooch is a Shar-pei/Bassett Hound mix named Walter.
Todd Grivetti – Organist/Choirmaster
JOB DESCRIPTION: Todd works part-time at St. Tim’s and his duties include: choosing the hymns with Charles for Sunday worship, preparing the adult choir for the offertory anthem, and playing a prelude and postlude each Sunday. In addition, Todd prepares special music, instrumentalists, and guest vocalists for festival services throughout the church year. Todd oversees the entire music ministry and looks forward to collaboration with future handbell and children’s choirs.
BIOGRAPHY: Todd grew up Southern Baptist and has had experience playing for and planning worship in nearly every mainline denomination. Todd graduated (2007) from the Conservatory of Shenandoah University with a Bachelor of Music Education degree with emphasis in choral/general music and certification in church music and organ performance. Todd then received his Master of Music Education degree with emphasis in choral conducting from Florida State University in 2017. He has been teaching elementary general music in Loudoun County Public Schools for 16 years and at Horizon Elementary in Sterling since 2010. Todd proudly married the supportive and doting Geoffrey Bloomfield in October 2022. They recently bought their first home in Reston where they reside with their 2 cats.
Favorite Bible Verse: I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6.
Growing up, I had a lot of Bible verses thrown my way, but this one always stuck with me especially when I got to sing these words set to music in church during high school. I was always getting into trouble in school and just look at me now. I’m a perfectly normal functioning adult in society, right?! Music really helped me find my way and settle down to focus. I also remember this scripture verse often while I’m teaching and frustrated with a student. I’ll often see students later in their lives and it’s so fruitful to see what they’ve become! God works wonders…all in God’s time.
Favorite Hymn: I have many favorites. I’ll share 3 that always choke me up:
1) “Take my life and let it be.” (#707) My favorite verse is: Take my voice, and let me sing, always only for my King; take my intellect, and use every power thou shalt choose.
2) “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
3) “In the Bleak Midwinter.” (#112) My favorite verse is at the end: What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a wise man, I would do my part; yet what I can I give him give him my heart. Just wow. In my mind, that’s what it’s all about!
Fun Fact: Todd grew up on a small 12-acre farm just east of Richmond, VA. His father bought him a wild pony when he was in kindergarten and he helped tame her (Bitsy) and they become like best buddies. Todd was kicked in the head by a very mean, old, Palomino when he was 9. He required seven stitches just above his left eye and immediately to the right of his temple. Doctors said he was lucky, but his parents said it was God.
Allison McMullin, Director of St. Timothy’s Preschool
JOB DESCRIPTION: The Preschool Director is responsible for the oversight and/or performance of all functions associated with the St. Timothy’s Preschool to ensure that its operation is in accordance with the St. Timothy’s Preschool Bylaws and the Commonwealth of Virginia Licensing Standards. Duties include the day-to-day operation of the Preschool, hiring of all staff (subject to final approval by the Rector), maintaining a sound financial program, recruitment of students, publicity, purchase of materials, record keeping, contracts with clients and collection of fees.
BIOGRAPHY: Allison is a proud, native Virginian, growing up in Vienna. Allison attended Brigham Young University in Utah for her Bachelor’s in Political Science and Master’s in Public Administration. She has had several jobs, but was blessed to be home with her 3 girls as they grew up. Allison has worked in schools in a variety of positions including as a volunteer, as a school librarian, as an administrator for a special education team and as a Preschool Director for a different school in Herndon, VA. Allison has 3 adult children and she and her husband live in Ashburn. She loves hosting and feeding her family and friends and being outdoors as much as possible.
Favorite Bible Verse (and why): One of my favorites is the story in Mark 2:1-12 about the boys lowering their sick friend through a thatched roof to see Jesus who then heals the man. I love the example of helping others come to Jesus, that Jesus can heal us, that sometimes we need to push through the “press” or throngs, and that we all need to do our part.
Favorite Hymn (and why): Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It gives me a lot of peace to know many of us wander, but He can rescue and save me. And I think we all want an Ebenezer or “Stone of Help” to remind us of His goodness.
Fun Fact: I once sailed in a race from Annapolis, Maryland to Bermuda. My dad was very proud to say there were 3 generations of women on that sailboat – my mom, me, and my 13-year-old daughter. We came in 3rd place! Just behind 2 boats sailed by professional sailors.
Deb Angerman, Bookkeeper
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Deb runs all things financial at St. Timothy’s She works with our Church Windows system, oversees input of weekly deposits, expenses, and check issuance, and helps the treasurer prepare monthly financial statements for St. Timothy’s Finance Committee and Vestry as needed and as requested by the Rector. She manages the church’s health insurance and pension plan and keep employee information in the payroll service up to date. She also collaborates with other staff and volunteers for the input of financial records and membership information into the church database. Deb assists the parish administrator in data entry of annual pledges and prepares pledge reports as requested. She prepares mid-year and annual giving statements for members and assists the lay and clergy leaders with creating financial projections. Support Treasurer in preparing the annual parish budget.
BIOGRAPHY: Deb is a Certified Lay Servant in the United Methodist Church. She spent 14 years working with youth and young adults in a local church and district setting. She is also the founder of ‘Debbits & Credits Bookkeeping Service’ and serves as the Parish Finance Administrator for two Episcopal churches in Northern VA.
Favorite Bible Verse: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28.
I have many favorite passages that have carried me through many storms in my life, such as Jeremiah 29:11-13 and Philippians 4:13, but Paul’s assurance to the Romans is what I cling to when the world seems to be spiraling. It reminds me that God can take even our ugliest messes and turn them into something beautiful.
Favorite Hymn: “Here I Am Lord” The ultimate servant song, it reverberates in my bones. It brings me back to my early days as a Christian, time spent with the Emmaus community, and reminds me that there is a calling on my life.
Fun Fact: I love all things music, and play both the hammered dulcimer and Appalachian lap dulcimer – poorly but with spirit!