The Reverend W. David Dobbins, Jr. began his interim ministry at St. Paul’s on August 1, 2010. Dave (as he prefers to be called) has most recently served as the Interim Rector at Trinity Church, Newport and, before that, St. Michael’s Church, Bristol. Dave’s home is Litchfield CT. He has been in Rhode Island since 2005 where he finds the proximity to his grandchildren to be advantageous. He and his wife, Jane, will live in the rectory.

A graduate of General Theological Seminary, Dave has had specialized training in interim ministry. He will be available for 32 hours each week (80% of full time) on a flexible schedule. He will embrace and expand our management teams and spiritually guide the parish through this interim period. The length of time he will be with us will depend on how the parish progresses with the self study and search process. It is not anticipated that this will take as long as our last interim period (3 years).

Jan Grinnell will serve as Deacon to the Interim. She prefers to be called Jan or Deacon Jan by our youth. Jan has been a Deacon for 19 years and served with Dave at both St. Michael’s and Trinity. She has been trained in interim ministry. She will assist with the liturgy and serve in other capacities identified by the Priest. Jan is a resident of Portsmouth. She has her own consulting firm, Grinnell Appreciative Consulting.

Jan will also be our Consultant, assisting the parish in the self-study and search processes.

Patrick, a native Rhode Islander, grew up in Barrington and attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 2006 with a B.A. in Philosophy. Patrick is a cradle Episcopalian, however, he didn't begin to take his faith seriously until he started attending the youth group at his church while in Middle School. Over the next couple of years he became more and more involved with that youth group as well as the various programs available for youth in the diocese. By the time he graduated from Barrington High School he felt a call to the Priesthood. In 2007 He began studying at Virginia Theological Seminary receiving his Master's in Divinity in May of 2010. Patrick is an ordained transitional deacon and expects to be ordained to the priesthood by the end of the year

Note: The Reverend Patrick Greene was ordained a priest on December 18, 2010 at St. Paul's Wickford by The Right Reverend Geralyn Wolf, Bishop of Rhode Island.