On May 11, 2016, the Reverend Sara Palmer, Assistant Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, High Point, NC, in the Diocese of North Carolina, formally joined Holy Trinity Oxford as Rector. Prior to being called to Saint Mary’s, Sara attended Virginia Theological Seminary, graduating in May 2010 magna cum laude with her M.Div. degree.
Sara grew up in the county of Surrey, England, gained her B.A. with Honors in French and Latin from Bristol University, and her Post-Graduate Certificate in Education from King Alfred’s Teachers’ Training College in Winchester.
After two years, Sara left her job teaching French and German in a junior high/high school to train to become a missionary in South America. She attended Cliff Bible College, Sheffield, and the Lebanon Missionary College in Berwick-on-Tweed before a three-month orientation in Sevilla, Spain. She met and married her American husband, David Palmer in 1986 in Bolivia, South America, where they planted a new congregation in Santa Cruz. They moved to the USA in 1987. Sara and David have one grown son, Steven. Both Sara and David are fluent in Spanish in addition to Sara’s fluency in French and Latin and her capabilities in German, Hebrew, and Biblical Greek.
From 2002 to 2007, Sara served as Lay Hispanic Missioner for the Yadkin Valley Cluster, in Salisbury, North Carolina, before attending Virginia Theological Seminary. Sara was Assistant to the Rector for six years at Saint Mary's in High Point, North Carolina. At St. Mary’s, she was active in many kinds of outreach as well as in-reach--from human trafficking and prison ministry to the organization of a Bible study for mothers of young children. She was in charge of pastoral care and began a new Eucharistic Visitors program. She was a Stephen Ministry trainer and has been involved in interfaith, inter-racial, and social justice issues in the local community. In several venues, she has founded youth groups, a food and clothing bank, and prayer groups.
Not only did the Rector Search Committee find Sara Palmer’s background and preparation for ministry at Holy Trinity to be superior, we also found her to be warm, welcoming, outgoing, interested in others, and deeply spiritual.
Sara Palmer was the unanimous choice of the Search Committee; and the Holy Trinity Vestry likewise approved her nomination by acclamation. Sara began her work at Holy Trinity on July 1, 2016. The Search Committee, Vestry and congregation continue to work together with our Rector in theOxford and Hamilton community. Our vision is to strengthen and grow the Body of Christ as we worship, learn, and serve together.
