The Reverend Canon Robin D. Dodge
Rector
Sometimes, the difference between a subtle call and a recurring tug is disarmingly imperceptible. So it was for Fr. Robin Dodge, who became Holy Faith’s rector on October 30, 2016. “The choice of being drawn to the ministry never really left me, even from a young age,” says Fr. Robin. “The concept of being drawn to church and being ordained was always with me.”
But not unlike many clerics before him, he wrestled with the angels in finding a pathway. After a church-oriented upbringing in Vermont, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University focused on the history of England during the Tudors and Stuarts and a doctoral degree in jurisprudence from Boston University. He launched his legal career in Chicago and then moved to Washington, DC, where his practice concentrated on trademarks, copyrights and unfair competition.
Throughout the years the perceived call to the ministry remained. He initially responded by serving as secretary to the vestry at Christ Church in Georgetown, and thought about combining the best of both worlds by becoming a parish administrator. Finally, his rector pointed out the obvious: “Have you ever considered the priesthood?” “I kept feeling a tug. I was happy doing work for the church. It was invigorating to me. God calls us to be happy, and God wants us to be fulfilled in our careers,” he said in an interview after his institution.
But in the mid 1990s, and spurred on by the gentle encouragement of his mentor, the late Fr. Sanford Garner of Washington, DC – and a week of prayerful reflection — Fr. Robin arrived at a decision: “Well, the ‘pros’ for going into the priesthood filled a very long, long list, while the ‘cons’ made for a very short one,” Fr. Robin said. “Maybe God is trying to tell me that I should go into the priesthood.”
The rest is history. Yet, he likes to point out, it was not a “late call” to the ministry. “I’m a second-vocation priest. I can’t say it was late in life because I was only in my thirties,” he said. “In fact, I was actually a youngster in my seminary classes, where half the men and all the women were older.” He earned his master’s degree in divinity in 1999 at Virginia Theological Seminary. Following that, he was appointed associate vicar of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA. In 2002, he was appointed associate vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol, England, and upon the vicar’s departure in 2004, served as priest-in-charge.
After 11 years as rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, Fr. Robin has been a priest longer than he practiced law. But his legal career gave him a skills set and real-world experience that he brings to the priesthood and uses daily in his interaction with parishioners. “A lot of the skills of a lawyer are certainly transferable in the ordained ministry: public speaking, counseling, giving advice, administration – these are all skills a lawyer uses and a priest needs as well,” he said. “I like to joke that now as a priest, I just go before a different judge.”
Fr. Robin comes to Holy Faith grounded in core beliefs fundamental to our parish. “I see myself on the Anglo-Catholic side of things as an affirming Catholic, as an Anglo Catholic who can embrace the great Anglican heritage we have in the Reformed tradition, as well as continuing in the Catholic tradition. What we have here is the best that Christianity has to offer.”
This means a reliance on the authority of scripture, the Word of God, embracing and upholding the sacraments, and being bound in the holiness of worship. That said, he adheres to a centrist, moderate approach to change. He preaches from the pulpit, Anglo-Catholic tradition notwithstanding. “I consider myself to be an evangelist, because that’s what God calls us to be. God wants us to share the good news of Jesus Christ … and we have good news to share,” he said. “ The story of Jesus, his ministry, death, resurrection and ascension is absolute great news. I don’t want to keep it to myself. I want to share it with everyone. That means transforming our lives. The church can help us do that.”
Fr. Robin Dodge Full Biography
Ed. Note: Fr. Robin was made Canon for Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs at the annual convention of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, on October 19, 2017.
The Reverend Lynn Finnegan
Associate Rector
Mother Lynn Finnegan joined the staff of The Church of the Holy Faith on July 1, 2022, after serving here for nearly a year during her transitional diaconate. Her ordination to the priesthood, held at Holy Faith on June 14, 2022, was a glorious celebration of both a call to new ministry and a new relationship with Holy Faith. Born into an Irish Roman Catholic family, Mtr. Lynn’s first calling to ordained ministry came through an intense spiritual experience in college. Discerning this as a call to the convent, she met with a very wise nun who encouraged her to finish college first. Sure enough, by graduation, she not only no longer felt a calling to be a nun, she embraced serious doubts about the Catholic Church and organized religion in general.
After receiving a B.A. in sociology and a minor in philosophy, Mtr. Lynn received her J.D. from Florida State University College of Law in 1986. Busy with a law career, sports, and her marriage to husband Tom Burr in 1988, there was little time devoted to a relationship with Christ, other than quick prayers of gratitude or for help. The spiritual encounter experienced in college lay dormant.
She moved to Los Alamos, N.M., with her husband in 1992 and started a family in 1993. They now have two adult married daughters, one grandchild, and three grandpups. In Los Alamos, Mtr. Lynn worked for a probate and estate planning attorney and then opened her own law practice.
A return to the Church came in 1995. A confluence of events brought her back to regular church attendance, including another deeply moving spiritual experience on Easter as the choir sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. In the ensuing years, Mtr. Lynn became involved in parish ministry, did a lot of wrestling with theology, and discovered what she loved most about her law practice was the opportunity to provide pastoral care. God was still persistently whispering his call.
A short-term move to Vienna, Austria in 2015 proved to be a pivotal point in the path to ordination. Here, she was given the gift of time: time to pray, reflect, study and discern. Working with the Anglican Chaplaincy in Vienna, Mtr. Lynn entered the discernment process for ordination in 2016. She credits her time with her discernment committee, consisting of two Canadians, a South African, Austrian, Scot/Japanese, Brit, and German, as influential to her commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the Church.
In 2018, Mtr. Lynn began her study with the IONA School for Ministry through the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas and graduated in June 2021. Prior to her transitional diaconate at Holy Faith, she interned at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Santa Fe and assisted with diaconal ministry at Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church in Los Alamos. In addition to assisting the rector with all areas of ministry, Mtr. Lynn’s work focuses on outreach and pastoral care. She also serves as volunteer Police and Fire Chaplain in Los Alamos and in the Diocese of the Rio Grande as a member of the Disciplinary Board and Pastoral Response Team. Lynn’s Rule of Life is grounded in the equal worth of mind, body, and spirit. She is a certified cycling and yoga instructor, loves to cook, and is happy to hike or bike just about anywhere.
The Reverend Madelynn K. Johnston
Assisting Priest
As a young girl, Mtr. Madelynn felt a call to seek and serve God. It was a call that was to grow clearer as she grew to adulthood. Nonetheless, she found it confusing as she was firmly told the church did not ordain “girls” to the priesthood. It was to be a long journey to ordination.
Growing up in Santa Fe, she attended public school through high school, then moved to San Francisco on scholarship to the San Francisco ballet school, and a year later to the Illinois Ballet. But, her heart was not in it, and she returned to Santa Fe, married and had two children.
In 1971 an opportunity came to attend part-time at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, where her husband was enrolled. The family left Austin 1974 when her husband was assigned Vicar to the Navajo Mission in Farmington. Then another move to Texas; her husband had accepted a position as a member of what was then called the Trans-Pecos Ministry. She continued her in nursing career and was busy raising two children. It was during that time, that the call she had felt earlier in her life came again – and, there was hope in the air for the ordination women.
In discernment with the Rev. Sandra Bess, she began further theological study. Although there was a possibility of ordination as priest, her family considerations at that time precluded it. A difficult decision, but one she believed necessary. Therefore, on 1977, September 23rd, she was ordained deacon at the Cathedral Church of St. John in Albuquerque by The Rt. Rev. Richard M. Trelease. She served as a part of the team ministry in the Trans- Pecos until 1983. Upon returning to Santa Fe, she served as deacon at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church. During her years at St. Bede’s, she left nursing, sought and completed a second degree, and eventually started a business in partnership with her husband.
As the years went by, the call to priesthood remained and grew stronger until there came a moment that clearly said, “now!” She began a two year conversation with the Rt. Rev. Terence Kelshaw. In 2001, she was ordained priest by The Rt. Rev. Terence Kelshaw, at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Santa Fe. She served there as associate rector to 2011, then a year as interim, and another year as associate until 2013. During this time, she concurrently served as part-time Vicar at St. Jerome’s in Chama 2011 to 2012. While at St. Bede’s she completed the College of Preachers core curriculum in preaching (a two year program), had two independent studies in the Readers Program (Mark’s gospel, the psalms), and was a Fellow of College Preachers. She retired from St. Bede’s December 31, 2013.
May of 2015, she was called as Vicar to St. Paul’s Peace, Las Vegas, NM and served there until she again retired August 9, 2020.