We warmly welcome 
Father Celal Kamran

Our new Rector, the Rev. Father Celal J. Kamran joins us from the Washington D.C. area. He was born and raised in Pakistan until the age of nine, when he moved to Virginia with his family. Father Celal is a graduate of Messiah University where he majored in Biblical and Religious Studies, and Virginia Theological Seminary, where he obtained a Master’s in Divinity. Before the priesthood Father Celal volunteered as a local firefighter and made ice cream at dairy farm. After his undergraduate studies, Father Celal spent a year in the Episcopal Service Corps, an intentional community of young adults living and serving in Richmond, Virginia. He has served in two parishes in Virginia, Pohick Church and St. Luke’s, as a priest before joining us at St. Paul’s.

 

Father Celal is a lifelong Episcopalian and grew up attending The Falls Church Episcopal, in Falls Church Virginia. He has a passion for justice and the collaboration of all people towards the Beloved Community. At seminary, he worked for the Office of Multicultural Ministries and was the President of the Seminarians of Color Union. Father Celal is a member of the Trinity Wall Street Fellows Program in its inaugural year.

 

Father Celal loves spending time with his wife, Erin, and their rambunctious dogs, Clifford and Rajah. He also enjoys cooking, reading South Asian fiction, and exploring different cuisines with Erin.