John E. Anderson
Archdeacon
John became a priest in the Diocese of Toronto on April 25, 2010, while serving as an Associate Priest at Christ Church, Stouffville. John’s first incumbency was at the Church of the Ascension in Port Perry, where he successfully rebooted this small-town church into a thriving parish. In
September 2017, John came to St. James’, and it has been exciting for him to return to a larger church in a downtown setting where mission and outreach is a vital ministry. Throughout his own ministry, John has become fascinated by congregational development and helping parishes continue to thrive and live out the gospel.
Prior to ministry, John practised law for nearly sixteen years, mostly in the City of Barrie, where he was a partner in the law firm Stewart, Esten. John’s practice was largely in employment law and civil litigation. John obtained his B.A. from McMaster University in 1986, his law degree from Queen’s University in 1990, and he completed his Master’s in Divinity from Wycliffe College in 2008.
An important part of John’s ministry is serving the wider Diocese. He has been on a number of committees, such as the Canons & Constitution Committee, the Governance Working Group, and the Diocesan Response Team. John currently is appointed to the role of Archdeacon consisting of the deaneries of Durham-Northumberland, Oshawa and Peterborough.
John and his wife Lisa have two wonderful children, twins Gareth and Maggie, who are amazing musicians and singers. John takes no direct credit for this, except for having music on in the house a lot when they were small! John and Lisa love to garden, hike, read, and there is always a dog hanging around their house!
rector@stjamesorillia.com
Rev Phil Gearing
Assistant Curate
Phil was ordained a deacon at St. James cathedral on May 5 th of 2020
and was priested at Church of the Ascension, Port Perry on February 9 th
2019. He joins the staff at St. James, Orillia serving as an Assistant
Curate. This is a bit of an old fashioned term which effectively means
assistant priest. In this capacity Phil is able to assistant in all priestly
ministries while completing his formal training under the guidance of
Canon John.
This is Reverend Phil’s third stint as a member of the St. James family.
In 2013, while at seminary, he completed a 12 week placement here
and in 2018 he was a postulant for ordination and spent about a year
with us. Father Phil speaks fondly of this new placement at St. James as
“coming home”.
Prior to ordination Phil worked as an elementary school teacher for
thirteen years. He also ran a small service business in Muskoka for
about ten years.
Phil loves stories. He devotes considerable time to the study of our
“holy stories” found in the bible. He also delights in listening to people’s
lived stories. So if you get the chance to sit down with him he’d love to
hear yours. Phil is a keen reader with an interest in British fiction. He
enjoys walking and is an avid fan of Toronto’s sports teams. Go Leafs
Go!
Rev Carol Hardie
Honorary Associate
Jeff Campbell
Director of Music & Organist
Jeff’s musical journey began at the age of 4 when he began to study the piano with Nelles Davie of Barrie (who formed, along with his parents & siblings, the once popular “Davies of Canada” musical tour group). Jeff’s pipe organ studies commenced in 1994 at the Orillia Presbyterian Church with Marshall Martin. From 2002-2008 Jeff was the organist at the First Baptist Church in Orillia and from 2008-2017 he was a regular guest organist in over 10 churches in Barrie, Orillia and the Muskokas. Jeff’s tenure as Director of Music & Organist of St. James’ began in February 2018 following the retirement of Albert Greer.
Outside of his musical interests, Jeff owns and operates “The Water Market” in downtown Orillia, and when he can find some rare free time, he enjoys restoring and showing his collection of antique farm tractors as well as his 1926 Ford Model T convertible at events around Simcoe County. Jeff and his family live in nearby countryside of Oro-Medonte Township.
musicstjamesorillia@gmail.com
Alexandra Teske
Soprano Section Lead
Raised in Rosemont, ON, Alexandra’s love of music was fostered, at an early age, by her participation in the Music for Young Children program. She studied piano with Gwen Beamish, at the University of Western Ontario, earning her BMus (Hons) and BEd. Currently studying with Canadian mezzo-soprano, Catherine Robbin, she received First Class Honours on her ARCT vocal performer’s exam. A frequent top award winner at music festivals, she recently earned 1st place at the OMFA provincial music competition and was awarded a scholarship by the adjudicator, Dr. Caroline Schiller. Alexandra has been described as having wonderful technique, a glorious voice with underlying warmth, and a connection to the text that is riveting.
As a music teacher at Orillia D.C.V.I., Alexandra directed music theatre productions, the concert choir, the vocal jazz ensemble, and concert bands, leading them to award-winning performances at music festivals at both the local and national level. Mother of two beautiful children, Alexandra chose to step away from teaching and has recently returned to the classroom as an occasional teacher. In her first year back, she was the pianist for the Orillia S.S. production of High School Musical. She has been a soprano for many seasons with The Cellar Singers under the baton of Mitchell Pady and his predecessor, Albert Greer. She was recently a soloist in the choir’s performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria. This past summer, Alexandra performed her debut solo voice recital with internationally renowned pianist, Kyung-A Lee. She is currently enjoying solo vocal work throughout Simcoe County and is excited to be a part of the St. James team as section lead.
Christina Bosco
Alto Section Lead
Christina Bosco is a well-known classical and contemporary Vocal soloist specializing in Sacred, Secular, Jazz and Blues music. She graduated from the highly acclaimed Vocal program at The University of Western Ontario with an honours degree in Music Education specializing in both Vocal and Instrumental music.
She is the Arts Department Curriculum Leader and Music director at Twin Lakes Secondary School in Orillia since 2003, where she conducts the school choir and both the Jazz Band and Concert Wind ensemble. During her years at Twin Lakes she has music directed many stage musicals such as Footloose, The Wiz, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia as well as both written and directed many different musical review shows.
Outside of her teaching career, Christina was the Music Director for the Orillia Mariposa Arts Theatre’s productions of CHICAGO in November, 2017 and The Rocky Horror Show in November, 2022.
Along with her teaching, conducting, and solo performing career, Christina is a member of an Orillia based vocal jazz quartet called Jazz Beens.
She is the proud mother of two beautiful children and is so honoured to be a part of the worship team at St. James whom she considers as family.
Life is good!!