ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
BARRYTOWN, NEW YORK

Eleanor Prior, Aspirant

Eleanor Prior began attending St. John the The Evangelist sporadically in 1996 and regularly in 2000 when the Noon-time alternative Eucharist service was started.

Born and raised in the Hudson River Valley in Garrison, New York, Eleanor spent much of her time in the fields and woods, developing an early, life long concern for the environment.


She attended Harvard-Radcliffe College and graduated with an AB in English and American Literature and a deep love for rowing. After that she coached rowing and was a candidate for the 1988 Olympic Rowing team, but fell a little shy of making it.


Eleanor moved to San Francisco where her first environmental work was with a curbside recycling program. Preserving the environment has continued to be a motivating force in her life, with the main force of that concern being the intention of living a relatively low-impact life. She has two children whom she describes as "my greatest teachers."

Aspirant to the Priesthood

The Trustees of St. John's, at the recommendation of the Rector and Curate, agreed to sponsor Eleanor as an aspirant for the priesthood in the Spring of 2004. She leads the Noon service in the absence of our Curate, Ginger Grab, who on April 9, 2005 began serving as Interim Priest at Zion Episcopal Church in Wappingers Falls, New York.

The Candle Project

In early 2005, Eleanor began a promising project at St. John's of creating a line of hand made candles for all church uses. Her lead in this has drawn in other parishioners with the result that St. John's women have reduced the Church's considerable candle budget, and are now selling candles for use in the Bard College Chapel.