Ben and Linda, native South Carolinians, met as undergraduates and then continued studying together as newlyweds at Vanderbilt University, where Ben earned a Ph.D. in English literature while Linda taught high school English and earned two Master’s degrees. Ben then took a position as a professor in the English Department at UConn in Storrs, where he taught for 25 years, specializing in medieval English literature, Shakespeare, religion and literature, and literature for children.

After ordination in 1987, Ben served as a curate at St. Michael’s parish in Litchfield while continuing to teach at UConn. During these years, as their two sons were growing up, Linda went back to school and earned her doctorate in education administration at Harvard.

Ben became rector of St. Paul’s, Fairfield, in 1993 and served there until his retirement in 2008, while Linda taught ethics at Fairfield University, retiring from that position in 2009. Having begun his tenure here as Interim Rector on July 23, Ben says, “I have really enjoyed meeting and beginning to work with the staff and parish leaders at Christ and Holy Trinity Church. They are a wonderfully talented and committed group of people. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know the people of this parish, and I am excited about working together with the parish and its leaders to further the historic mission of this parish church, as that mission gets refined and expressed in ways that address the realities of the intersection of the Church and the surrounding culture”.