The Rev. Mark Pendleton
Rector
- Email: mpendleton@christchurchexeter.org
- Office: (603) 772-3332 x12
- Cell (Pastoral Emergencies): 860-490-8544
The Reverend Mark B. Pendleton has served as the 17th Rector of Christ Church in Exeter since April 2013. Before coming to the Seacoast, he was Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut from 2004-2012. He has served in churches in Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey.
A graduate of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1991, Mark served as a Volunteer for Mission in Cuba for a year in 1986. His passion for the Episcopal Church in Cuba continues as he leads annual mission trips and is a member of the Episcopal Church’s Task Force on Cuba.
He previously served as President of the Community of the Cross of Nails/North America, which supports global reconciliation ministries inspired by the legacy and work of Coventry Cathedral in England. Mark is married to Leslie Glover Pendleton. They are the parents of William and Lydia and live in nearby Greenland.
To reach Mark during office hours, call- 603-772-3332, Ext. 12, or in a pastoral emergency, he can be reached on his cell phone: 860-490-8544.
The Rev. David D. Holroyd
Priest Associate
- Email: dholroyd@christchurchexeter.org
- Office: (603) 772-3332 x12
The Rev. Dr. David D. Holroyd came to Exeter in October of 2009 to be Christ Church’s Priest Associate for Pastoral Care. Before Christ Church he served three retirement ministries as Interim Rector in Portland, Maine, Greenfield, Mass., and Lincoln, Mass. Prior to retirement he served as Rector of St. George’s Church in York Harbor, ME from 1973 to 1999 and as Associate Rector of Christ Church, Gardiner, Maine from 1968 to 1973.
A graduate of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, in 1967, David also earned his D. Min. degree in Pastoral Psychology at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Mass. in 1976. He was ordained Deacon in 1967 in the Diocese of California and Priest in 1968 in the Diocese of Colorado.
During his long tenure in Maine, David served the diocese on the Standing Committee, as a Deputy to six General Conventions and as co-chair of the Nominating Committee to elect the eighth Bishop of Maine. He was Canon Missioner from 1990 to 2002 and then was named Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Portland, Maine, in 2002.
David is married to Lucille Benoit Holroyd. They are parents of Shelley and Jenny-Jo and grandparents of Tanner and Maia. They live in South Berwick, Maine.
The Rev. Melissa E. Remington
Priest Associate
The Reverend Melissa E. Remington came to Christ Church on September 1, 2021, as new priest associate. Before Christ Church she served three other churches: vicar to St Peters Episcopal Church, Westfield, NY; priest associate at St Mark’s, Venice, Florida; and as the first rector of St Christopher Episcopal Church in Charleston, WV for nine years.
She is a graduate from Bexley Hall Seminary when it was in Rochester, NY. Prior to her ordination in the fall 2007 as transitional deacon and priesthood in May 2008, she had a career in diagnostic and pharmaceutical biotechnology as a protein and analytical chemist for almost 25 years. She graduated with her degree in Chemistry from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA in 1981; a Master of Arts in Biology and Education at Stanford University, Stanford, CA in1991 where she resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for 10 years. She received her Master of Divinity at Bexley Hall, Rochester, NY in 2008.
While in Diocese of West Virginia she served for three years as Chair of the WV diocesan Commission on Diversity and Racism, with total of 6 years serving on commission and trainer of church members on program to end racism: Seeing the Face of God in Each Other. She also served on the Standing Committee Episcopal Diocese of WV as well as developed several adult education programs including Bridging the Gap between Science and Religion.
She is native New Englander born in Bangor, Maine at St John’s Episcopal Church, Bangor Maine. She is married to Edward K Merritt (Kelly) and they reside in Atkinson, NH with their two horses, two cats and requests for many visits from or to their five adult children and seven grandchildren.
Bruce Adami
Organist
Bruce Adami came to Exeter in September 2007 as Interim Organist at Christ Church. He was appointed “settled” organist in the spring of 2008, Interim Director of Music in the summer of 2011, and then Director of Music and Organist in the fall of 2013. In October 2015 he returned to his organist position. From 1984-2004 he was Director of Music and Organist at Brookside Congregational Church (UCC), Manchester, NH; and from 1981-1984 was Director of Music and Organist at Grace Episcopal Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts.
A graduate of Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music in 1978, Bruce holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance. He has given organ recitals throughout New England. He has served as Treasurer and Dean of the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Bruce currently serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of Bear-Paw Regional Greenways, a land trust with over 8,000 acres of conserved lands in the eleven-town region between Bear Brook and Pawtuckaway State Parks.
Bruce is past Chair of the Board of the Young Organist Collaborative, an organization whose mission is to encourage middle and high school students to study the pipe organ and is on the faculty of the Collaborative.
Bruce and his partner Bob Cote live in an off-the-grid solar-powered home in Deerfield that they constructed between 2002 and 2008.
Suzanne Jalbert Jones
Director of Music
Suzanne Jalbert Jones has been named Interim Director of Music at Christ Church. As our Director of Music from 2014 – 2018, Suzanne enjoyed the richly musical and spiritual parish of Christ Church and considers it her home. She brings with her a diverse background of musical training from New England Conservatory of Music and University of New Hampshire, although her greatest teachers are her friends and family, with whom she often shares the stage.
She honors the power of music to heal and bring people together and has built her musical practice upon that tenant. She hopes to inspire any individual, with a song in their heart, to join the Christ Church Choir! In her words: “she is grateful to once again be making a joyful sound with Christ Church Exeter.”
Darla Watt
Administrative Assistant
- Email: office@christchurchexeter.org
- Phone: (603) 772-3332
Darla Watt of East Kingston joined the staff of Christ Church in April 2015 as our half-time administrative assistant 5 days a week in the mornings.
Darla moved to New Hampshire in 2014 after living in Ohio for three decades. She has worked as an administrative assistant in the private sector, operated her own retail gift shop business, and for eleven years has the executive secretary for a president and CFO of a medical products company in Mason, Ohio.
Office Hours Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to Noon.
Lexi Meunier
Artistic Director / Head of Acting
The Pine Street Players
at Christ Church Youth Theatre
Lexi began her theatrical career in her hometown of Derry, New Hampshire, by participating in youth programs much like PSP, and continues to perform and direct throughout the New England theatre community.
A theatre educator from the age of 18, Lexi has served on the faculty of numerous youth companies over the past decade (most notably as a conservatory faculty member of The Performing Arts Connection’s pre-professional program, and the Director of Theatre Education for the North Shore YMCA Theatre Company), and feels blessed to bring the very best of those experiences to her role as the Artistic Director of PSP. She prides herself on holding her theatre artists to high standards, and pushing them beyond what is typically expected of young performers, without sacrificing approachability, inclusivity, and a positive vibe. Heavily involved in the highly-lauded theatre and music departments of Pinkerton Academy, Lexi went on to graduate from Portland Actors Conservatory in Portland, Oregon, as well as earning a B.A. in English (Theatre Arts) from the University of Massachusetts.
She currently resides in Derry with her husband Nicholas and their three children.
To learn more about our youth theatre program, use this link to go to the website.
