07/27/2026
Friends, our congregation has missed having a deacon on our staff team since the retirement of the Rev. Morris Goodwin in May 2025. I'm excited to tell you that the Rev. Margaret Thor will join our staff team as a deacon this fall — and — that we'll again have a deacon intern, Jean Dwyer, joining us. Read on for more about Margaret and Jean!
Introducing the Rev. Margaret Thor
Margaret (she/her) was ordained to the diaconate in 2014. She views her ministry as a deacon as one “to interpret...the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world” to the Church and to encourage, push, and pull the Church into serving in the world. After serving as a deacon for 6 years at St John the Evangelist in St Paul and another 6 years at St John in the Wilderness in White Bear Lake, she is delighted to cross the river to join Grace in the fall of 2026 (in part as the name of the community is much shorter than those she has served in the past).
Margaret is a life-long Episcopalian. She serves on The Episcopal Church Court of Review and on the board for the Fund the Diaconate. She is also the Chair of the Commission on Ministry for the diocese and a member of the board of the White Bear Area Food Shelf. Margaret and her husband, Eric, live in Arden Hills with their fourth basset hound. She enjoys traveling, reading mysteries, trying to knit and spending time with family and friends. She is up for most adventures as long as it includes a good cup of coffee.
Introducing Jean Dwyer, Deacon Postulant
"A beloved child of God. A wife of 49 years and a mother of three adult children: Jim 48, Julie 42 and John 39. My husband Joe and I are grandparents to eight grandchildren, ranging in ages from 18 to our youngest, twins who will be 4 in December. I am a dog lover and currently mom to Libbie, our standard poodle. I enjoy running and am a beginner knitter.
My husband and I found the Episcopal faith during Covid, joined Christ Episcopal Church in Woodbury in 2021, and were received by Bishop Loya in September of 2022. Prior to that trajectory, both my husband and I were Roman Catholic."
