Our mission is to be a beacon of hope and love in a fragmented and fraught world.

At St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us into members of God’s Holy Kingdom, where following the example of the risen and universal Christ we are empowered to humble ourselves and serve the world.

Clergy

Ministers & Staff

Westley Art Hodges

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MINISTRIES
(he/they)
music@stmarksevanston.org

Westley Art Hodges is a native of New Orleans who has called Chicago home since 2018. Since 2019, Westley has served as Director of Music Ministries at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Evanston, IL, where they direct the choir and handbell choir, play organ and piano, and curate a concert series of 15–17 performances per year. Before St. Mark's, Westley served Episcopal congregations across Mississippi, Georgia, and Illinois since 2007.

Westley holds an Associate of Arts in Music Education from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and studied Clarinet Performance at Delta State University. They earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a Minor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Illinois Springfield, where they also pursued graduate work in the same field.

Outside of St. Mark's, Westley performs as the clarinetist for the woodwind quintet Amethyst Winds and volunteers with Lakeside Pride Ensemble in Chicago as clarinet section leader and director of the Lakeside Pride Clarinet Choir. Life at home is shared with their fabulous husband, Joseph, and the equally fabulous cat, Sidney "Sid."

Greg Millikin has been the rector of St. Mark’s parish since August of 2023. He previously served congregations in New Lenox, IL, and in Alexandria, VA. Greg is active at the church-wide and diocesan levels in various roles including serving on the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission for Liturgy & Music. Ordained in 2015, he holds a Master in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Greg is the author of Being Called, Being Gay, from Church Publishing (2018), a primer for the LGBTQIA+ community discerning for ministry in the Episcopal Church. He also contributed to Introduction to Ministry: A Primer for Renewed Life and Leadership in Mainline Protestant Congregations (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and Words That Listen: A Literary and Artistic Companion to the Lectionary (Church Publishing, 2018).

He enjoys writing and playing music, singing a lot of karaoke, dining out at new restaurants around Chicago, and traveling.

The Rev. Greg Millikin

RECTOR
(he/him)
rector@stmarksevanston.org

Charity Therrien

PARISH ADMINISTRATOR
(she/her) office@stmarksevanston.org

Charity Therrien has spent the last ten years working in and around churches in various capacities, most recently serving as the Director of Children's Ministries at Grace Episcopal Church in New Lenox, IL. Prior to this, Charity worked in support roles in a variety of academic, corporate, and legal environments.

Charity grew up on a farm in upstate New York. She pursued an academic path in biology, culminating in earning a Ph.D. studying the potential ecological impact of genetically engineered crops. She went on to study law at Northwestern School of Law and worked as a patent attorney in Chicago.

Charity then embarked on several adventures as a trailing spouse supporting her husband, Jay, a biotechnology executive. Before moving back to the Chicagoland area she lived in Tokyo, Melbourne, and San Diego. Charity has two daughters - Hope, who will be attending the University of Illinois, and Daisy, who is a high school student. She has a step-son, Ian, who, along with his partner Emma, work as musicians in the cruise ship industry. She has a German Shepherd named Odin, two cats named Mittens and Tinley, and shares living space with a gecko named Sasha. In her free time Charity enjoys hiking, cooking, listening to hip hop, and volunteering.

Melissa has been the verger at St. Mark’s since fall of 2025. In this role she coordinates the volunteers in worship service, leads the acolyte team, and supports multiple ministries.

Melissa comes from a varied background of nondenominational, evangelical, and Episcopal churches. She has trained Benedictine and Ignatian spiritual practices, attended the College of Congregational Development, and studied the origin and history of Scripture under the contemporary scholar Karen Keen.

Professionally, Melissa creates user-friendly websites for nonprofits and churches. Visit Fishers of Folk Digital Design to learn more.

Melissa Ferguson

VERGER
(she/her)
verger@stmarksevanston.org

Rudy Burke

SEXTON
(he/him) sexton@stmarksevanston.org

Rudy Burke has served at St. Mark’s as the Sexton since 2014. He oversees cleaning and repairs of the building and has worked faithfully to help keep our campus beautiful, clean, and safe.

Rudy is a deeply spiritual person and a devout church leader at North Side Tabernacle in Wilmette, IL. He has been known as an unofficial pastor of his home church for the mentorship he provided to the youth. Rudy and his wife Jennifer hail from Jamaica, and frequently travel home to visit their community and original church home.

Contact the church office (office@stmarksevanston.org) to make an appointment with Rudy or to discuss any needs around the property or in the building.

Vestry

The Vestry is a group of lay parishioners elected by the congregation to grapple with where God is calling St. Mark’s and then discern together how best to get there by being good stewards of our resources. In the Episcopal Church, the vestry comprises of the Rector, Wardens and the elected Vestrypersons (who typically serve three-year terms). The Treasurer and Clerk may be appointed by the Vestry each year, and may sit on or off the Vestry.

If you are interested in serving as a vestry member at St. Mark’s, please speak with the rector or warden to learn more about this ministry.