The Rev. Brian D. Blayer, Rector

Rev. Brian Blayer was the rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Whitestone, New York beginning June of 2010, after serving four years as a priest in Suffolk County. A graduate of Queens College, Fr. Blayer worked as an English teacher at Grover Cleveland High School for seven years and then taught Religion at Grace Episcopal Church in Massapequa for three years. 
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Rev. Blayer is a graduate of General Theological Seminary. His wife Susan is a social worker with an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary and an MSW from Columbia University. Their daughter, Sophia enjoys horseback riding.  Their dog, Buddie, is looking forward to meeting everyone at St. Marks.

Stephanie Knopf, Parish Administrator & Bookkeeper

Stephanie has worked in the customer service field for over 10 years. She started as a Hilton Hotel Front Desk Associate and worked her way up to management. She later switched careers and became the Administrative Assistant for The First Congregational Church of Haddam and Higganum Congregational Church, where she fell in love working in a church environment. 

​Stephanie is currently the Part-time Administrator and Bookkeeper for two congregations, St. Mark's Episcopal Chapel in Storrs and The Federated Church of Christ in Brooklyn. 

She and her husband, Ryan Knopf, have an energetic four-year-old daughter named Norah. As a family, they enjoy fishing, hiking, and camping.

Charlie Houmard, Organist

Charles is Director of Music at The Pomfret School, Pomfret, CT. He holds a Doctorate in Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin.

He obtained the Master’s Degree from Indiana University and his A.B. from Oberlin College.  Dr. Houmard has held faculty positions at Beloit College as the Director of Vocal Studies, and at Dartmouth College, where he directed the Chamber Singers and taught a course in Music Theory and Music History.  He is the founding Artistic Director of Cantabile Women’s Chorus of the Upper Valley and has served as Minister of Music at various churches throughout his career. He has recently completed a Fulbright Scholar Grant in Choral Conducting to Bolivia in affiliation with the Catholic University San Pablo of Santa Cruz and APAC, Asociación Pro Arte y Cultura.