Our Mission Statement

The vision of the Church of Our Saviour is to be an ever-growing center for worship, spiritual growth, and support for our parish family and the community by utilizing the beauty of the location and the talents of our dedicated members; and to be a leader in service, outreach, and mission as we go forth from this Holy Ground in the name of Jesus Christ.

Clergy and Staff

The Rev. John R. Palarine, Rector

John Palarine graduated from Seabury-Western Seminary and was ordained in 1973. He has served in inner city parishes in Chicago, IL. and St. Paul, MN. He was Canon for Youth and Education on the Bishop's staff in Central Florida from 1981 to 1991. He was the Associate Rector of a large church in Clearwater, Florida before coming to Church of Our Saviour as Rector in January of 1996.

Fr. Palarine has been a leader in the Episcopal Church on a local, diocesan and national level for 25 years in the areas of youth and education. He has been the keynoter and coordinator of numerous conferences at Kanuga Conference center where he has also served on the program committee. His heart is with young people, families and all persons in their Christian Formation. His personal priorities center on being Pastor, Preacher and Teacher.

Our Rector is active in the Diocese of Florida serving Cursillo, Habijax, Sulzbacher Center (homeless ministries), and the First Coast Region. He has served in this Diocese on Diocesan Council, the Standing Committee, and is currently the chair of the Diocesan Pastoral Care Commission.

Fr. John is married to Joanne who is very active in many ministries at Our Saviour. They have two children; Adam and Emily.

The Rev. Mark Atkinson, Associate Rector

Fr. Mark joined our parish family in July 2006 upon graduation from The School of Theology, University of the South, in Sewanee Tennessee. After a long business career, Fr. Mark answered God's call to the ordained ministry. In addition to Sewanee, he holds degrees from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas and Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Florida.

Mark is married to Dallas (20 years) who you might find polishing silver with the Altar Guild or recruiting candidates for Cursillo as part of her active ministry. Mark and Dallas have two fantastic children. Emily (19) is a sophomore in college and Ian (16) is a junior in high school.

Fr. Mark's many ministries at Our Saviour include Young Adults, Adult Christian Formation, Pastoral Care, and Contemporary Music. If you look carefully, you just might find him sitting at the keyboard one day, leading the congregation in song!

The Rev. Mary Busse, Priest Associate for Spiritual Direction

Mary's studies for ordained ministry included course work at General Theological Seminary, New York; Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia; St. George's College, Jerusalem; Canterbury Cathedral, England in conjunction with Duke University Divinity School; Oxford University, England. Mary also has spent study/retreat weeks at Pecos Benedictine Monastery, Pecos, New Mexico; The Abbey of Lerins, France; and the Taize Community, France.

Prior to joining us in ministry at Our Saviour, Mary served as Canon at St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville; Associate Rector at The Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Marietta (Atlanta) Georgia; a summer as theologian-in-residence at The American Cathedral in Paris; and Interim Rector at Bethany Episcopal Church, Hilliard, Florida.

Mary is the mother of two adult children. Mark and his wife Ashley live in Alexandria, Virginia and are parents of beautiful baby Anne Elizabeth. Katie and her husband Brian live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and are parents of joy-bearer John Davis (7) and much-loved Mary Jane (6).

Mary serves as Priest Associate for Spiritual Direction at COOS, while also continuing with spirituality ministry at the Cerveny Conference Center and elsewhere in our diocese.

"I feel greatly blessed of God to have been called by John to share in ministry at COOS, within this wonderfully gifted and Christ-centered parish. What a blessing to glorify the Lord together! And what a quiet, deep joy: to provide holy space for God's beloveds to rest, reflect, be listened to, and companioned-in-the-Spirit -- in this holy place, on this holy ground."

The Rev. James Crosby, Priest Associate

The Rev. David MacElwain, Priest Associate

The Rev. Richard Turk, Priest Associate

Mrs. Gina Barber, Housekeeping

Mrs. Joanne Blalock, Parish Secretary

To love God and this Parish Family is the ministry of the Parish Secretary. Joanne is a "cradle" Episcopalian who began her employment career as a Parish Secretary in Salisbury, N.C. and has now come full circle with her position at Church of Our Saviour. In between these two positions, Joanne married Harry Blalock and became the mother of daughter, Christian Elizabeth, and son Adam who is married to Jenny. She earned her AA degree in Business Administration from deKalb Junior College and is a Certified Professional Secretary.

Mr. Billy Claytor, Dir. of Contemporary Music

Mr. Kirk Clendaniel, Facilities Manager

Mrs. Diane Gates, Office Assistant

Diane has been an Episcopalian for nearly 30 years. Growing up in Birmingham Alabama, she graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a BA in Business Administration. Diane has lived in Jacksonville since 1989 and has been a member of COOS since 1991. An active member, Diane sings with the Parish Choir, and serves on the Pastoral Care Team, the Worship Committee, and the Altar Guild. On Sundays, Diane and her husband John regularly visit those who are unable to attend worship and bring them communion as Lay Eucharistic Visitors. Before joining the office staff at COOS Diane spent nine years in college administration and 26 years in the mortgage banking business. She enjoys her ministry of caring for others through her work in the COOS office.

Mrs. Pam Gillis, Children's Ministry Coordinator

An Episcopalian since birth, Pam has been involved with Children’s ministries in the church for over 30 years. After leaving her childhood church in Virginia where she served as chair of the Christian Formation Committee and the Pastoral Care Committee she moved to Jacksonville, Fl. She has attended Church of Our Saviour for ten years and has been involved in Children’s Ministries as a volunteer and staff member for most of that time. Pam believes that children are an integral part of our parish family and that the development of their faith along with that of their parent’s defines what our church is and will be the future.

Mrs. Becky Janes, Bookkeeper

Becky grew up in Ohio and moved to Florida after high school to attend college. She graduated from University of North Florida with a B.B.A. degree in business. After college she went into sales in the grocery business. Becky worked for several companies and a broker, then spent 11 years with Gerber Baby Food calling on grocery stores with the last five years being in management. With Gerber she traveled all over Florida and South Georgia and now truly appreciates the three-mile trip to work at COOS each morning.

Becky joined the staff at COOS as bookkeeper in September of 1998. She very much enjoys working in a Christian environment and thinks the staff and parishioners are great. Becky is married and she and her husband David enjoy riding motorcycles, canoeing, traveling, fishing, and more together. Becky attends Mandarin Assembly of God.

Frances Shults, Director of Youth Ministry

Frances Shults is a cradle Episcopalian growing up in Eastern North Carolina. Frances graduated from St. Mary's College in Raleigh, NC with an A.A. degree and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. degree in Political Science. She has lived in Jacksonville for 17 years and been an active member of COOS for the last 10 years where she has worked in various ministries including Christian Formation and Youth Ministry. As Youth Director, her goals are to continue to invite the Youth of our parish and community to come to know Our Lord, Jesus Christ by teaching them how to serve the Lord through fun, fellowship, outreach and spiritual growth. Her ministry endeavors to lift up each individual’s gifts and talents as they grow into adulthood.

Helen Skipper, Nursery Coordinator

Alan Whitmore, Director of Music

Alan was born and raised in the province of British Columbia, Canada. His father was a United Church minister and his mother a musician and school teacher.

He began his music education at the age of 4 taking piano and voice lessons with local teachers. At the age of 12 he began organ studies. During high school he took lessons from Charles Palmer, organist/choir master of the Anglican church of St. Mary the Virgin. Mr. Palmer had recently moved to this church after a number of years was Master of Music at the Chapel Royal in London, England. During this period, Alan also studied piano with the international teacher, Stanley Shale. These two men were very influential in Alan's musical and professional future.

Alan completed a B.Mus. in voice and piano, with minors in organ and conducting, from the University of British Columbia. While there his mentors were Phylis Schutz and Frances Adaskin, piano, and Marie Schilder in voice. Further study took place in Princeton, New Jersey where he received a performer's diploma in Campanoly (the art of bell ringing). For three summers Alan studied in Stuttgart, Germany with Baroque keyboard specialist, Volker Lutz.

Alan began his professional career as a church musician at the age of 15 and has been playing, conducting and teaching ever since. He has held positions at the Anglican Pro-Cathedral of St. Saviour, Nelson, B.C.; the Anglican Cathedral of St. Paul, Kamloops, B.C.; Metropolitan United Church, Victoria, B.C.; Centenary United Methodist Church, New Bern, N.C.; and most recently at Trinity United Church, Kitchener, ON. While at Trinity, the music ministry produced 3 professionally recorded CDs which have sold across Canada and the US. The two most recent are like a child, 19 hymns of well-known American hymn writer Dan Damon; and the world premiere recording (and performance) of Stand by Me, a remarkable work by American composer/musician Stephen Lee.

For 10 years, Alan was Music and Liturgy Editor for Wood Lake Books, Canada's largest non-denominational Christian publishing company. While there he was administrator for the copyright program, LicenSing; music editor for the church school curriculum The Whole People of God; and was in constant demand as a workshop and conference facilitator. He was also editor of 4 music resources published by WLB, including the best-seller, Spirit Anew: Singing Prayer and Praise.

In 2004, Alan was asked to be co-chair of the Editorial Committee for More Voices, the recently released music supplement to the United Church's hymnal, Voices United. In 2005 he also served as Interim Coordinator of Worship and Liturgy for the Head Office of the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Canada.

Alan and his marriage partner, Denise Soulodre, are extremely happy to now be part of the COOS family. They look forward to a wonderful association with this parish and the city of Jacksonville.

Waldo the Cat, Security