Saint John’s Church Staff

The Rev. Anthony Gaboton, Jr., Associate Rector

Anthony helps to plan and lead worship services and plays a key role in nurturing our Young People’s Ministry, providing support to families, children, and youth. He also contributes to adult faith formation and pastoral care ministries, as well as to the leadership of our Outreach and Justice ministries.

In addition to serving half-time at St. John’s, Anthony is part-time Vicar at Calvary Episcopal Church in Hanover County and assisting the Diocese of Virginia with the Phoebe School for Deacons.

Anthony entered into the priesthood in January 2024. Although newly ordained, he has several years of ministerial experience, including a residency at Richmond Hill (a spiritual retreat center and monastery), hospital chaplaincy, and youth ministry.

In 2023, Anthony completed a year of Anglican Studies at Virginia Theological Seminary. He is also an alumnus of Oral Roberts University and holds an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in New York and a Th.M. from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

As the son of a military veteran, Anthony has lived in many places but spent most of his life in Virginia. In his spare time, he enjoys bike rides, chess, sports, yoga, sunsets, and has recently started DJing as a hobby.

The Rev. Dr. Mary Thorpe, Long-term Supply Priest

The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe comes to St. John’s as Long-Term Supply Clergy in September 2025, bringing gifts of healing, administration, teaching, pastoral care and preaching as well as a northern accent that sometimes surprises her congregation! 

Her journey to ordained ministry came after careers in public policy, in entrepreneurial ventures in high-technology, and in public education as a music teacher. Thorpe served as Interim Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Southern Virginia, following a stint as Interim Rector at Christ and Grace Episcopal Church (Petersburg) and Epiphany Episcopal Church (Oak Hill). Prior to that, she served as Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Virginia, addressing areas ranging from transition and clergy formation to conflict and disciplinary matters, as well as coaching of parishes and clerics. Her prior role in the diocesan offices was Director of Transition Ministry for the Diocese of Virginia, assisting parishes and clergy in search. Until her call to diocesan work, she was Rector of The Church of the Epiphany (Episcopal) in Henrico Virginia; she also served as Chair of the Diocese of Virginia’s Committee on the Diaconate and as Dean of Region XI. Mary holds degrees in music from New Jersey City University and the University of Hartford, and has carried on post-graduate studies in business at Stanford University through the American Electronics Association. She holds a Master of Divinity with honors from Virginia Theological Seminary. She received  the Doctor of Ministry degree in Church and Ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the author of "On the Emmaus Road: A Guide to Transitions in Ordained Leadership" (Church Publishing, 2020). An iconographer for almost thirty years, her icons hang in churches across the United States and in Europe and the British Isles. She is married to The Rev. Douglas M. Thorpe, Ph.D., who is Executive Director of the Virginia Institute for Pastoral Care, and is a mother of five and grandmother of six.