Katy resident excited to be church's new rector

Pictured are Christopher Duncan with his wife, Casey, and daughter, Carolena.

Growing up, the Rev. Christopher R. Duncan would corral his parents so he'd have a congregation to preach to when he wanted to "play" church.

"I did all the normal things like playing baseball, but I also played church and made my parents sit through a church service and communion at the tender age of 5," says Duncan, who recently relocated to Katy with his wife of six years, Casey, and their daughter, Carolena.

Duncan, a cradle Episcopalian, has long since had no need to be a make-believe priest, a fact the congregation of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Katy gratefully acknowledges.  

On June 18, Duncan will become the 75-member church's new rector, the equivalent of senior pastor. Previous to this post, he was assistant to the rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Austin since 2009. But that's not where he got his ministerial feet wet.

While in college, Duncan worked as the director of youth ministries at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station. After graduation, he worked for a company that provides video, print and Web assistance to churches and other nonprofits during capital stewardship campaigns.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University in 2004 and his master of divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., in 2009.

Education played an integral part in Duncan's life in ways other than book learning. He met his wife at Camp Allen and Retreat Center in Navasota while in high school, but they did not start dating until college. They were married one month before leaving for Virginia Theological Seminary in 2006.

It's clear Duncan is excited to be St. Paul's new rector.

"It's a church full of possibility and opportunity and filled with wonderful people," says Duncan.

There was no need to give Duncan the hard sell to become St. Paul's next pastor.

"My meeting with them during the search process felt like a family gathering oftentimes," he says. "As I told them in the interview process, it would truly need to be special to take me away from Good Shepherd, but I felt very strongly God was calling me to be a rector and be with a church that's vibrant and full of possibilities and new growth. That explains why I'm so excited to be the rector there."

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER R. DUNCAN
AGE: 30
OCCUPATION: New rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Katy
CONNECTION: Resident of Katy
FAST FACT: One of Duncan's favorite pastimes is backpacking, a pastime that has taken him to some of the world's notable locales, including Big Ben National Park, several regions of the Rocky Mountains, Smoky Mountains, Hawaii and Alaska as well as the Trotternish Ridge on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Paul R. Kopenkoskey is a freelance writer. He can be reached at neighborhood@chron.com.