Karen McBride serves as Ministry Intern at St. John’s, where the community is supporting her further formation with a view, God willing, to priestly ordination in the Diocese of Ottawa. As such, Karen is involved in all aspects of the parish’s liturgical and community life, with a particular emphasis on pastoral outreach and preaching. In parallel, Karen is completing the last few classes of her Master of Divinity degree at Saint Paul University.
Prior to pursuing her call to priestly ordination, Karen had a thirty-year career in senior roles in national associations dedicated to international cooperation in education, research and innovation, and education capacity-building, including with Universities Canada, the Canadian Bureau for International Cooperation, and Mitacs. Karen obtained her Master of Arts in International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School at Carleton University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History with French at the University of Western Ontario.
In addition, over many years Karen was very involved in diverse aspects of lay ministry in her home parish, Christ Church Cathedral. Among these, she served as lead parent for the Cathedral Girls’ Choir from 2013-2020, supported refugee sponsorship ministry at the parish level and as a member of the diocese’s Refugee Ministry Management Board, and served two terms on Parish Council.
Karen has a twenty-one-year-old child, Wren, who is in their final year of undergraduate studies at Trinity College at the University of Toronto, as well as remaining an avid and active chorister. Karen lives with her Goldendoodle named Lily, after an Easter lily, and enjoys long walks with Lily, music and theatre performances, cooking, and spending special time with family and friends.
Monday - Friday
10am - 2pm
Sunday Services at 8:00 and 10:15am
Community Thrift Shop Hours
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
12pm-4pm