The executive committee of Church of Our Saviour at Mission Farm is pleased to announce that the Rev. Lisa Ransom has accepted the appointment of vicar, effective May 24, 2020. Ransom has been engaged in ministry for 20-plus years. She was ordained into the priesthood in 1996. She earned a master of divinity at Yale Divinity School and a certificate of Anglican studies from Berkeley Divinity School. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in art and religion from the University of Kansas. She spent eight years at St. Dunstan’s in Waitsfield, Vermont, in leadership positions as rector, vicar and priest-in-charge. She has also previously served as interim minister at St. John’s in the Mountains in Stowe, St. Barnabas’ in Norwich, St. Paul’s in White River Junction, and St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock. She and her husband, Scott Baughman, have two sons, Chester and Morgan, and a daughter, Madeline. Rev. Ransom sat down for a virtual interview recently in which she expressed her gratitude and delight at becoming part of Mission Farm.
What brings you to Mission Farm?
Rev. Lisa Ransom: have been serving in Vermont as an Episcopal priest for over 20 years while also running a small farm with my family in central Vermont. Last winter, my bishop and I started a conversation about how I might contribute to this space at Mission Farm by opening up a conversation about being stewards of this land while connecting to that deeper source of our being.
What will you bring to the congregation and to the community of Killington at large?
LR: I hope that I can bring to Mission Farm my love for connecting with the land to bring a deeper sense of community. Like the soil, we will look toward the source of our life together – the Spirit of God living in us and through us, in this land and through this land. I am thrilled to be part of this dance with you.
How would you describe your personal theology?
LR: My faith is not separate from the way I live my life. My hours in the garden are as sacred as the time I spend at the altar. Everything is sacred. I believe this is the key to mental and spiritual health, as well as to a kind of basic contentment and happiness. There will be a time when we gather once again in our buildings but this time away allows us to see the work that we do in our lives as God’s time as well. Hanging clothes on the line, spending time with our families, cooking food in our kitchens, sharing with our neighbors….it is all so blessed.
What, if any, changes will you bring to the church?
LR: Church of Our Saviour and Mission Farm have been so well cared for and loved during Lee’s tenure — the foundations and structures have been secured and the community has been so deeply loved. I look forward to exploring opportunities to engage with the community in regenerative agricultural practices to grow food on the property and offer immersive farm-based experiences while honoring and serving God. Mission Farm and Church of Our Saviour is in a wonderful position to make connections between people, the natural world and the Great Mystery.
