Clergy & Staff
THE REV. JEFFREY AUSTIN ROSS
RECTOR AND PASTOR
As the Rector and Pastor of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, I would like to welcome you to our parish webpage! We are glad you have found us and want you to know that if you are looking for a spiritual home, you would be most welcome in our community. Here is a little about me. Since August of 2005, I have served as the Rector of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church which has been in existence for over 300 years and is an active and growing community. We have a strong ministry reaching out to youth, young families, and newly retired adults. We are passionate about our local outreach ministries. I am a life-long Episcopalian and have been ordained since 1998 (my sister is also a priest!). Prior to ordination, I worked as a family therapist as well as on Bishop's staff for Christian Formation. I am a graduate of the General Theological Seminary and I also hold a Master of Science degree in Pastoral Counseling from Neumann University. My wife has a PhD in Corporate Leadership and she currently serves as the Executive Director of the Delaware Alliance for Non-Profit Advancement. We have a grown daughter and a son. We enjoy swimming, skiing, and traveling. Personally, I am trying to enhance my novice skills in photography and playing the penny whistle as my official hobbies (along with loving movies, books and theater!).
THE REV. JEFFREY AUSTIN ROSS
RECTOR AND PASTOR
As the Rector and Pastor of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, I would like to welcome you to our parish webpage! We are glad you have found us and want you to know that if you are looking for a spiritual home, you would be most welcome in our community. Here is a little about me. Since August of 2005, I have served as the Rector of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church which has been in existence for over 300 years and is an active and growing community. We have a strong ministry reaching out to youth, young families, and newly retired adults. We are passionate about our local outreach ministries. I am a life-long Episcopalian and have been ordained since 1998 (my sister is also a priest!). Prior to ordination, I worked as a family therapist as well as on Bishop's staff for Christian Formation. I am a graduate of the General Theological Seminary and I also hold a Master of Science degree in Pastoral Counseling from Neumann University. My wife has a PhD in Corporate Leadership and she currently serves as the Executive Director of the Delaware Alliance for Non-Profit Advancement. We have a grown daughter and a son. We enjoy swimming, skiing, and traveling. Personally, I am trying to enhance my novice skills in photography and playing the penny whistle as my official hobbies (along with loving movies, books and theater!).
THE REV. JEFFREY AUSTIN ROSS
RECTOR AND PASTOR
The Rev. Celeste O. Cox, S.T.M., B.C.C.(r),
Priest Associate, St. Peter’s, Lewes.
Previously Celeste served as supply priest for All Saints/St. George’s Parish (Rehoboth, Harbeson) and St. John the Baptist, Milton, and as Priest-in-Residence at St. Anne’s, Middletown. She served as rector of Christ Church, Dover, 1999-2013, and chaired the Commission on Ministry for the Diocese of Delaware for 8 years. Celeste has particular interests in the biblical foundations of pastoral theology and in a variety of contemplative prayer practices. Presently she facilitates Sunlit Seasons, a weekly contemplative spirituality group (via Zoom) that includes quiet prayer and group reflection on texts by poets and writers.
She is a clinically trained, board-certified chaplain (retired status, Association of Professional Chaplains). Celeste served for a number of years as a member of the Professional Advisory
Group for the Pastoral Care Department at Christiana Care Health System where she also led didactic sessions for CPE students on the topic of self-care. Celeste’s husband Lou plays oboe and English horn in the Southern Delaware Orchestra and sings in the All Saints/St. George’s choirs.
THE REV. CELESTE COX,
PRIEST ASSOCIATE
The Rev. Deacon Chris Miller-Marcin
Assistant to the Rector
Chris started a career as a Medical Technician in Chemistry and Hematology Labs at Children’s hospital in Philadelphia. Later, I attended The Walnut Street College and graduated with a culinary degree. She worked with notables such as Ted Turner in Atlanta, Archbishop of Philadelphia, the Black Coalition and various chairs of the board in a corporate setting. She retired as a Senior Manager, Bench Executive Chef of Bayhealth in Delaware.
Before her retirement, she was received as an Episcopalian in 2012and heard the call to ordained life, shortly after. She was ordained as a Deacon on July 11, 2019 at St. Peter’s Church in Lewes, Delaware, and completed Education for Ministry, Clinical Pastoral Education and all classes required for Holy Orders.
She was on the Board of Primeros Pasos for seven years and is avidly involved with feeding the poor and marginalized. She was also Christian formation Director at Camp Arrowhead for a year. Currently I am on the board for Commission on Ministry, College of Clergy and just elected to Disciplinary Board. Rotated off Diocesan Council and Racial Justice, Beloved Community. I am also a shepherd for an upcoming deacon who
is now in her Postulancy.
Her call to the diaconate centers around those in need, especially feeding programs, which is still her ministry today. She started and founded Heart and Soul Ministry, “The Little Cupboard” which is in the courtyard at
St. Peter’s Church since 2015. Also, a resolution was presented to the convention several years ago. That every Episcopal Church needed some kind of feeding program for the needy and marginalized. She also partnered with Cape Henlopen School and Heart and Soul Ministry to feed and give out books to surrounding marginalized areas of Sussex County.
Chris was born in South Philadelphia and is a former Roman Catholic. She raised two children in Drexel Hill, Pa and has four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She lives in Lewes with her spouse Joann and their dogs Fallon and Hank.
The Rev. Deacon Chris Miller-Marcin,
THE REV. CHRIS MILLER-MARCIN
ASSISTANT TO THE RECTOR
THE REV. PAULA J. WAITE, M.TH., ACC
DIOCESAN CHAPLAIN TO BEEBE HOSPITAL
Paula is a vocational deacon whose service within the Diocese of Delaware is fulfilled by her ministry as a Staff Chaplain at Beebe Healthcare at the main campus in Lewes. Paula graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore Maryland and was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Chilton Knudsen in 2018. Paula completed her residency in chaplaincy at Christiana Hospital in 2017 and joined Beebe Healthcare upon graduation. Paula has a certificate in the Foundations of Palliative Chaplaincy and is Board Certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Paula created and offers a community education program, Life Before Death, that focuses on Advance Care Planning. Paula and her husband Tom reside in Milton with their cat Samantha. Please contact Chaplain Paula at Beebe Healthcare if you or your loved ones are hospitalized.
THE REV. PAULA J. WAITE, M.TH., ACC
DIOCESAN CHAPLAIN TO BEEBE HOSPITAL
Paula is a vocational deacon whose service within the Diocese of Delaware is fulfilled by her ministry as a Staff Chaplain at Beebe Healthcare at the main campus in Lewes. Paula graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore Maryland and was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Chilton Knudsen in 2018. Paula completed her residency in chaplaincy at Christiana Hospital in 2017 and joined Beebe Healthcare upon graduation. Paula has a certificate in the Foundations of Palliative Chaplaincy and is Board Certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Paula created and offers a community education program, Life Before Death, that focuses on Advance Care Planning. Paula and her husband Tom reside in Milton with their cat Samantha. Please contact Chaplain Paula at Beebe Healthcare if you or your loved ones are hospitalized.
THE REV. PAULA J. WAITE, M.TH., ACC
DIOCESAN CHAPLAIN TO BEEBE HOSPITAL
T.J. Thomas
Minister of Music
T.J. serves as Minister of Music at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Lewes, DE. He oversees a vibrant music program including several choirs, a concert series, and the annual residency of a prominent Anglican Church musician. Prior to St. Peter’s, T.J. was Interim Director of Music at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. During his undergraduate career, he served on the music staff at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Pro-Cathedral (Wilkes-Barre, PA) under the direction of his organ teacher and mentor, Canon Mark Laubach. An active member of the Royal School of Church Music in America, T.J. functions as Liturgist and Co-Music Manager for the King’s College Course every summer. He is active in the American Guild of Organists and Association of Anglican Musicians. T.J. received his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Marywood University (Scranton, PA). He was received into the Episcopal Church in 2006.
T.J. THOMAS
MINISTER OF MUSIC
Jessica Potter
Director of Family Ministries and Communications
Jessica serves as the Director of Family Ministries and Communications at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes, DE. She became a member of St. Peter’s in 2014 and volunteered with Godly play, Vacation Bible School, and Heart and Soul. Later she served as the under 30 delegate for Convention and was the Vestry liaison for Christian Formation.
Jessica oversees St. Peter's online platforms and Christian formation programs from Godly Play through S.P.Y High school. She is on the Diocesan Youth Leaders Advisory Group.
Jessica has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware and is a Certified preschool teacher. Jessica lives in Millsboro with her spouse Michael and dog Charlie.
JESSICA POTTER
DIRECTOR OF FAMILY MINISTRIES & COMMUNICATIONS
RICK JAROSH
SEXTON
Helen Waite
Garden Manager
Helen was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with English gardening parents. Her mother was a family practitioner and her father an Anglican Organist and Choir Master in Toronto. Music and gardening have been important all her life.
She received her BSc from York University(Toronto) and her Masters in Soil Science from U of DE. She became a Master Gardener in DE in 1995, and qualified as a Certified Nursery Practitioner twice with DE Nursery and Landscape Association, as a landscape designer, and as a landscape maintenance specialist.
She was the principal of Waite Garden Design for a number of years. With her husband John Feliciani she owned and operated a market farm called Black Hog Farmstead, located on New Rd in Lewes. They sold their own produce at Lewes Farmers Market, had a B and B, and offered Sunday Lunchtime Dinners once a month.
She sang in St Peter’s Choir for 25 years and currently plays with the Bell Choir.
Now “retired”, and having been the Head of the St Peter’s Garden Committee ( known as St. Peter’s Weeders) for a decade at least, Helen works part-time to keep St. Peter’s Square tidy and blooming, managing trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals. The Rectory Garden and Pilottown Cemetery are also under her purview.
John and Helen have four thriving adult children between them, and one grandchild and live in Lewes.
HELEN WAITE
GARDEN MANAGER
Copyright 2025 St. Peter's Episcopal Church. All Rights Reserved.