Our clergy Team

 The Rev. Rachel Field spent most of her life in the tidal flats of the eastern shore of Maryland where the blue crabs and herons captivated her attention. That awe and fascination with the world led her to deeper questions about God, and eventually encouraged her to shape a life close to the land in Vermont with her husband Jonathan. She has more than 15 years of experience leading creation-centered retreats in the Episcopal Church, has worked in emerging ministries in the Episcopal Church like Church of the Woods and the Retreat House at Hillsboro, and served as Region Missionary for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. She is currently the Co-Owner/Co-Director of Heartberry Hollow Farm & Forest, which is a regenerative farm and retreat center in central Vermont. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School and a certificate in Contemplative Leadership from the Shalem Institute. In her free time she loves reading fairy tales while curled up with her cat, Eowyn. 

Visit Rachel's YouTube channel for a variety of meditations and information.  FromHeartberryHollow

 The Rev’d Canon Lee Alison Crawford, Ph.D., is delighted to return to Saint Mary’s after a 15-year hiatus. Lee served as Rector of Saint Mary’s from 1994-2008, before going to Trinity, Rutland and then Church of Our Saviour, Mission Farm, Killington. She stepped down from being in charge of a congregation in May 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. Once our buildings reopened, she began to supply at several churches in Vermont. Her first Sunday back at Saint Mary’s as supply was in August 2022.

Lee has been ordained 30 years and, over the decades, has served the Diocese of Vermont, The Episcopal Church and the Iglesia Anglicana Episcopal de El Salvador (IAES) in a wide variety of offices. She was a founding member of Fundación Cristosal (incorporated in 2000 in Vermont) and maintains ties with the IAES. Her pastoral heart has always been, however, with the small congregation.

Lee taught French for five semesters at Norwich in the late 1990s, but has not had much opportunity to study medieval French language and literature, the subject matter of her doctorate from Princeton University. She is fluent in Spanish as well.

Anne Brown, Lee’s spouse of 33 years, and Lee have rediscovered travel with the reopening of our world. They recently walked the Dingle Way in Ireland and Anne just completed the NH 48 4000’ers. (Lee still has 10 to go.) They walked the Chemin de Saint Jacques and the Camino de Santiago (2004-2007) and Vermont’s Long Trail (2008-2010). In July 2023, Lee hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc. Anne and Lee live in Plymouth, Vermont, where they have had a home since the early 1990s. They both volunteer as mountain hosts at Killington Resort in the winter.

Lee is a past President of the Killington-Pico Rotary Club. She is a three-time Spartan trifecta finisher and top-ranked rower for Concept2 ergometer half and full marathons. She loves to sing, cook and garden. And, her love of felines continues unabated.  

The Rev. Earl Kooperkamp is excited to work with the congregation of St. Mary’s, Northfield and to work in a team as a Priest Associate with the Rev. Lee Crawford and the Rev. Rachel Field. Earl currently serves as the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre. Coming to Vermont over a decade ago, Earl and the people of Good Shepherd have worked together to increase parish participation and mission in the Barre community, to bring new formation opportunities to our parish life, to further Good Shepherd’s financial sustainability and to plan for the future life of Good Shepherd with a parish wide discernment process. 

Prior to serving at Good Shepherd in Barre, Earl and his family lived in New York City for over three decades, serving congregations in Harlem, the South Bronx and Washington Heights. During those years he founded the New York Intern Program, a yearlong program for young people discerning a call to ministry in the Episcopal Church. He also taught Church History and Scripture courses for eight years at Sing Sing, a maximum-security prison. He taught courses in theology at the General Theological Seminary as well. In New York City he gained a good deal of experience in community organizing, which he considers to be a vital part of parish ministry. He brought his community organizing experience to Vermont and has been active (and served as Board chair) with Vermont Interfaith Action. Currently he serves on the Board of the Good Samaritan Haven, the only homeless shelter in Central Vermont. Earl attended Union Theological Seminary in New York and graduated with a Master of Divinity and a PhD in Systematic Theology.

Earl met his wife Elizabeth in high school in Louisville, KY. They have three adult children, Sarah, an Episcopal priest in Brooklyn, NY, Hannah, a thoracic surgeon in Burlington and Nathanael, an artist and printmaker in Vershire, as well as four grandchildren. Elizabeth works as a clinical psychologist and is on the board of the Brookhaven Treatment and Learning Center. Elizabeth and Earl live in Corinth, just up the road from Elizabeth’s father, Burton. Earl and his dog Zadie hike every week in Vermont and New Hampshire, cross country ski. Earl also sings with Rock City, a community chorus in Barre.