Jonathan Melton
RectorIn January 2023, Fr. Jonathan was called to serve as the 8th Rector of St. James Episcopal Church and School, having previously served for 15 years in a variety of settings, as rector, associate, and university campus minister in both Wisconsin and Texas. An East Dallas native, Fr. Jonathan is a skilled listener, connector, and lover of the Gospel. He dabbles in guitar and stop motion animation, majoring in family life (he and his wife Rebekah are busy raising 4 kids) and, well, probably just that. But he loves to read, write, and hike, and is always up for coffee with new friends. A lifelong Episcopalian, Fr. Jonathan studied economics at Wheaton College and has an M.Div. with a concentration in Anglican/Episcopal Studies from Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC.
Rev. Phil Snyder
DeaconPhil Snyder and his wife, Beverly joined St. James Episcopal Church in 1995. He began the Ordination Process in 2000 and was ordained a Deacon on June 5, 2004 and assigned to St. James. In August 2011, when Trinity Episcopal Church faced serious issues, Bishop Stanton assigned Deacon Phil to that congregation to help them grow. On the First Sunday of Advent 2018, Deacon Phil returned to St. James.
Deacon Phil enjoys serving Christ in serving the hungry, homeless, sick, and those in prison. With his wife, he has been serving in the Kairos prison ministry since 1995 and prison ministry remains a passion of his. He actively serves at the Austin Street Centre with the St. James teams. He also enjoys teaching and preaching. He recently retired from his “day job” and is devoting more of his time to prison ministry, serving as a volunteer chaplain at the Coffield maximum security prison.
Sophie Lowrance
Parish AdministratorEmail:sophie@stjamesdallas.org
Jared Phares
Director of OperationsAfter more than a decade of working in youth ministry roles at churches in the Dallas area, Jared is now taking on the responsibilities of directing the operations at St. James Episcopal Church.
Jared has been married to his wife, Andi, since 2015 and welcomed their first son John Henry (Hank), in November 2017. In their free time, they love spending time at coffee shops, going to baseball games, and enjoying live music when they can. Jared, Andi, and Hank live in Rockwall with their dog Mavis.
Dr. Angela Urick
Director of Formation for Children & Youth
Dr. Derrick Brookins
Music DirectorDerrick Brookins has served the students, and parents in Texas Music Education
for more than 20 years. Mr. Brookins’ teaching experience spans a vast range of elementary and secondary choral music, from kindergarten to collegiate. Brookins has served on the faculty of Travis Jr.High in Irving, TX. , Williams High School and Plano Senior High School, in Plano TX. Mr. Brookins has also served as a Professor of Choral Music for The University of Texas-Dallas, and currently serves as Dean of Music for Trivium Academy and Professor of Choral Music at Brookhaven College, in Dallas TX. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Brookins has completed with honors, both undergraduate degree in choral music education from University of North Texas, and a Masters of Secondary Education/Administration from Concordia University.
For thirteen years, Mrs. Brookins studied under and performed with world-renowned choral musician Moses Hogan. As a choral music performer, Mr. Brookins has performed on four continents and for several European royal families, and two US Presidents, in venues such as the White House and the Sydney Opera House. He is a highly sought after choral clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and has presented several educational workshops for the Texas Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Southwestern American Choral Directors Association and for the National American Choral Directors Association.
Choirs under Mr. Brookins’ direction consistently receive Sweepstakes Awards at UIL contest and have been names “Best in class” at several choral festivals throughout the United States. Mr. Brookins’ choirs have had the honor of being invited to perform and representing the State of Texas at the following conventions: National MENC Convention in San Antonio (2005), the National American Choral Directors’ Association Convention in Miami, FL (2007), Dallas, TX (2013), and Minneapolis, MN (2017). Mr. Brookins’ choirs have been invited twice to perform for the Texas Music Education Association Convention, in San Antonio, TX, 2009 and then again in 2017.
Mr. Brookins has twice been recognized as Teacher of the Year, at Williams High School (2000), and again for Plano Senior High School (2008.) Mr. Brookins is a recipient of the Honorary Life Membership Award from the Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers.
Mr. Brookins has served and demonstrated leadership skills for the Texas Music Educators Association in the capacity of Regional and Area Vocal Chairman over a span of ten years, and currently serves the membership as the Texas Music Educators Association State Vocal Chair. Mr. Brookins currently holds professional membership with the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, American Choral Directors Association and the Texas Music Adjudicators Association.
Jane Schmidt
OrganistJane Schmidt is a highly sought-after accompanist throughout North Texas for choral groups, voice studios, soloists, and instrumentalists. A native of Illinois, Ms. Schmidt earned the Master of Music degree in Organ Performance from Southern Methodist University and Bachelor of Music degrees in Organ Performance and Music Theory/Composition from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Ms. Schmidt completed her post-graduate study of early Spanish keyboard music at the Conservatory of Music in Barcelona, Spain.
Ms. Schmidt has performed concerts in the U.S., England, Spain and Wales. She maintains a music studio in her home and currently holds membership with the American Guild of Organists and the Texas Music Educators Association.
Ms. Schmidt lives in Plano with her wife, Dianne, and their cats, Tiger and Cleopatra. Jane’s daughter, Dr. Monica Keith, is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University.
email Jane:janeschmidt419@gmail.com
Pamela Pedraza
Nursery Worker
Jeanette Paramo
Nursery Worker
Loree Birkenback
Head of SchoolLoree Birkenback is the head of school at St. James. She has a degree in Life Sciences from Louisiana Tech University and a Masters of Arts in Education and Curriculum Design. She received her Montessori training from Dallas Montessori Academy and her lower elementary certification from the American Montessori Society.
Mrs. Loree taught at St. James for 12 years where she spent 3 years in an all school gardening and art program and 9 years as the lead teacher in the Lower Elementary classroom. In this time, she evaluated and designed curriculum for up to 5 different age levels and coordinated field trips to tie into the curriculum. She added several programs to the school including the bi-annual science fair, career week, and the elementary camp out.
She completed courses in Junior Great Books, Teaching for the Multi-Intelligence, Chicago’s Everyday Math, Hands-On-Algebra, Hands-On Science, and the Shelton Summer Series for Learning Differences. She also has served on two Accreditation teams for the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools.
Mrs. Loree lives in Rockwall with her husband and youngest child, Logan. Her son Dylan is in the Air Force stationed at Barksdale. Her youngest daughter Coral works at St. James in the Mother’s Day Out program. Her youngest son attended St. James beginning with the toddler program and continued through the fourth grade. Her other two children live locally and visit often.
Mrs. Loree enjoys spending time camping, canoeing, and mountain biking with her family.
Lisa Wilson
School AdministratorMs. Lisa began her SJES journey as a substitute in 1995 – the same year her daughter, Jordan, started as a 3 year old. Then in the fall of 1997, she became a full time employee, serving various roles from assistant in the primary classroom, to school administrator. In the fall of 2011, Ms. Lisa took over as Head of the After School Care Program and continues to serves as school administrator. Jordan continued as a student at St. James through 3rd grade and graduated from the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2015.
Lisa enjoys watching movies and walking her dog Charlie during her free time.
email Lisa:lisawilson@stjamesdallas.org