The Rev. Stephen J. Waller, Rector Emeritus
doubtertom@thedoubter.org

Fr. Waller is from Northwest Louisiana, born in Shreveport in 1946. After college at W&L in Virginia and The General Seminary in NYC, he returned to the Diocese of Louisiana to be ordained. Stephen served first in Ruston, then in Baton Rouge and then in Monroe. From Monroe he went to Milwaukee where he served on ecumenical groups in the Diocese of Milwaukee and on the architectural committee of the Diocese. He was elected the 3rd Rector of Saint Thomas the Apostle in 1989 and served there from 1 September 1989 until 30 November 2012, when he resigned and retired. After retiring he began attending the Church of Redeemer in Irving near his home. He was tricked into attending a weekly Bible class there, better than many classes in Seminary. Stephen returned to Saint Thomas the Apostle at the invitation of the current Rector, and was given the honorary title of Rector Emeritus. He attends both Redeemer and Saint Thomas the Apostle, having the benefit of two wonderful parishes. Stephen sees clergy and lay folk in Spiritual Direction, something he did while serving as a parish priest and gladly continues. He is a member of the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis and the Order of Saint John, a serving Order of Chivalry under the British Crown. He writes in oursoulsinsilencewait.com which is a weekly expression of what is going on in his brain.

Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle, Theologian-in-Residence
s.sprinkle@tcu.edu

Stephen V. Sprinkle, PhD, serves as Theologian-in-Residence. He is Emeritus Professor of Practical Theology at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas, and held the office of Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry there from 1994 to 2022. He also served the divinity school as Director of the Carpenter Initiative in Gender, Sexuality, and Justice. A native of North Carolina, and educated with a B.A. from Barton College, an M.Div. from Yale University Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duke University Graduate School, he was ordained in 1977. Throughout his career, Dr. Sprinkle has been involved in the life and witness of the church ecumenical. Dr. Sprinkle was named 2010-2011 Hero of Hope by the Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas for his advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community. He holds professional memberships in the Academy of Religious Leadership, the Association of Theological Field Educators, and is a member of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy. He is a National Board Member of Parity, a faith-based organization headquartered in New York City that builds bridges across the LGBTQIA+ and faith divide. Dr. Sprinkle is a human rights advocate, a widely sought speaker, and is an internationally recognized authority on anti-LGBTQ hate crimes.

He has authored many articles and chapters in books, as well as three academic books, Disciples and Theology (1999) and Ordination (2004), both published by Chalice Press, and Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims (2011) by Resource Publications. He is currently engaged in a writing project on ministry and eschatology.

Dr. Sprinkle and his life partner Rob Rodriguez live in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas, and are ardent dog fanciers.

Lee Swift, Administrative Assistant
leeswift@thedoubter.org
Lee Swift was born in Monnett, Missouri into a military family, so has lived in multiple locales, including Germany, Maine, Washington, California, Illinois but Texas has been home for most of his life. Like his many homes, Lee’s career is quite varied and unique: in radio broadcasting as an announcer, sales, and finally general manager; in insurance as a regional manager; in telecommunications as a manager of customer relations groups, fraud detection and federal and state compliance. Lee also is a writer of novels, plays and screenplays. One of Lee’s play “In The Company of Strangers” received many accolades, including from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Lee lives with Stephen, his partner of 34 years and husband of 8 years in Dallas. Lee views his role as administrative assistant as a servant ministry for the parish.

Dr. Joseph W. (Joe) Henry, Director of Music Ministries
joehenry@thedoubter.org
Joe has spent his life as a teacher, a performer and as a church music director. He has taught at Grambling State University (Grambling, Louisiana), Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, LA), the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN), Concordia University (St. Paul, MN),) and Union County College (Cranford, NJ). He has served the church as a choir director, music director, organist and vocal soloist for over forty years at churches in Minnesota, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, and Texas. His degrees in piano performance are from the Cleveland Institute of Music (BM, MM in accompanying) and the Manhattan School of Music (DMA in vocal accompanying: thesis: The evolution of musical form in Verdi’s arias). His degrees in organ performance are from the University of Minnesota (MM, DMA: thesis: Reinken’s “An Wasserflüssen Babylon” as it relates to the process of improvisation in the seventeenth century). He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and served as a piano player and as a chaplain assistant in eight different army units over a period of twenty one years. He is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Romania 1998-2000).