parish Staff
The Rev. Dominique Peridans Rector
Father Dominique Peridans was born in Washington, DC and raised in neighboring Maryland. After receiving his undergraduate degree in Psychology, Father Dominique spent 3 years with the L’Arche community (for adults with mental disabilities) in Brussels, Belgium, and then joined the Congregation of St. Jean, a French Roman Catholic monastic community, with whom he spent 14 years. While with them, he was ordained to the priesthood. In 2013, Father Dominique received a Master of Science in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University, Maryland, and was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church by The Right Reverend Eugene Sutton of Maryland. Of Belgian immigrant parents, Fr. Dominique is bilingual French-English.
Mary McCue Deacon
Before being ordained in September, 2017, Mary and her four colleagues attended Deacons School created and sponsored by the Diocese. They studied New and Old Testament, Systematic Theology, Ethics, Church History, preaching and community organization, among other topics. Mary holds a Diploma in Theology from Virginia Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Science from Boston University. Before entering Deacons School, she was a frequent acolyte, senior warden and member of the Finance Committee at St. Monica and St. James, her home parish. While serving there, she had the honor of getting to know (and revere) the late Dr. Father Ronald Conner. Mary is thrilled to be assigned as a deacon to Ascension and St. Agnes, and is looking forward to working with Father Dominique and the congregation.
Dr. Frederick Erickson Assisting Deacon
Frederick Erickson was ordained in Boston as a vocational (permanent) deacon in June 1975 by Bishop John M. Burgess, on behalf of Bishop James W. Montgomery of Chicago. He has served as a non-stipendiary assistant in parishes and a university chaplaincy in the dioceses of Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles. In the latter three dioceses he has also been involved in teaching candidates for ordination as vocational deacons. In 2006 he was appointed as the inaugural Archdeacon for Deacons in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Upon his retirement as archdeacon he was named an honorary canon there. He is a member of the Fellowship of St. John of the Society of St. John the Evangelist.
His “day job” has been as an academic. Beginning with study in music at Northwestern University he later did inner city youth work on Chicago’s West Side and volunteered there with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Dr. Martin Luther King’s “northern initiative”. In 1969 he completed his Ph.D. in the field of anthropology and education, which addresses issues of culture, language, race, ethnicity, and social class in formal and informal educational settings. He has been a pioneer in the use of video recording to study human communication. Faculty appointments have included Harvard, Michigan State, the University of Pennsylvania, and most recently UCLA, from which he retired in 2011. Fred lives in Garrett Park, MD with his wife, Joanne Straceski. In summers Fred and Joanne drive to the mid-coast of Maine, where with retired clergy friends Fred goes day sailing every afternoon that weather permits.
His “day job” has been as an academic. Beginning with study in music at Northwestern University he later did inner city youth work on Chicago’s West Side and volunteered there with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Dr. Martin Luther King’s “northern initiative”. In 1969 he completed his Ph.D. in the field of anthropology and education, which addresses issues of culture, language, race, ethnicity, and social class in formal and informal educational settings. He has been a pioneer in the use of video recording to study human communication. Faculty appointments have included Harvard, Michigan State, the University of Pennsylvania, and most recently UCLA, from which he retired in 2011. Fred lives in Garrett Park, MD with his wife, Joanne Straceski. In summers Fred and Joanne drive to the mid-coast of Maine, where with retired clergy friends Fred goes day sailing every afternoon that weather permits.
Dr. J. Owen Burdick Organist and Choirmaster
J. Owen Burdick, organist and choirmaster at Ascension and Saint Agnes, is an internationally active composer, conductor, and clinician. From 1990 to 2008, Dr. Burdick served as Organist and Director of Music at historic Trinity Church on Broadway at Wall Street in the city of New York. The late Michael Hammond, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, described Burdick as "an extraordinary artist…a unique individual who is able to combine musical excellence and historically informed tradition with the pursuit of cutting-edge innovation."