St. Jude's Congregation Mourns Passing of The Rev. Debora Jennings
The people of St. Jude's Episcopal Church mourn the passing of the Rev. Debora Jennings, the congregation's second full-time Vicar, who shepherded the congregation's transition from a small house church to it's present location
Mother Debora, (affectionately known as "Holy Mama"), graduated from Arizona State University and earned her M.Div. from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She came to St. Jude's in 1998 from Prescott, AZ, where she had been the Assistant Rector in a congregation of 650 parishioners for five years. But her career as a woman of God began many years earlier in her childhood room in Illinois. According to Debora, her attraction to ministry began at age 11 when she used to come home from church and preach to her teddy Bears and dolls. From that point on, a decision to become a minister "kept pounding at her" until she said, "Okay, this is what I am called to do—I am called to preach and share my God." Nearly thirty years later, Debora was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
Her calling first took her to war-torn Latin America where she worked with local missions in Panama and El Salvadore to bring food, medicine, education, and caring to impoverished areas. Later she would say of her ministry there: "My little girl naïveté was shattered. I began to understand that the world is much more complicated than I ever imagined. I saw clear injustices being done: I could see them and only help a minuscule amount in the face of powerful forces at work."
In Prescott, he turned her spirit towards fulfilling young lives. As a member of the YMCA Board, Mother Debora helped raise $5.3 million toward building a community center and adjoining skateboard park. When she came to Cedar City, following the retirement of the Rev. Ron Belnap, St. Jude's was still a tiny house church on 354 S. 100 W. Debora immediately captured the hearts of her parishioners with her musical talent and sermons which revolved around the inspirational, the miraculous and the divine.
When the house church burned in 1999, Mother Debora shepherded the congregation's move to what was then Christ the King Catholic Church where we shared worship space with the Catholics. In 2003 our present sanctuary was remodeled and consecrated as an Episcopal Church. Debora was instrumental in the installation of an 11-circuit labyrinth modeled after the one in Chartes Cathedral in France. Debora first encountered the labyrinth in Berkeley, Calif., in the early '90s, and she immediately added it to her own spiritual practice. She led many workshops using the labyrinth and authored an educational pamphlet about it. Another of Debora's passions was music. She purchased a grand piano for St. Jude's and played masterfully during services. She joined with the present vicar to a stage multi-generational musical theatre production of "Godspell."
Mother Debora was Vicar of St. Jude’s in Utah for eight years and an adjunct professor at Southern Utah University. She left St. Jude's to serve as a regional vicar of Lower Yacima Valley in Washington State for 3-1/2 years with oversight of four different congregations. She was called to serve as Vicar of St. Basil's Episcopal Church in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in 2010 and was Vicar there at the time of her death. We join with the people of St. Basil's in mourning her passing. Ave, Holy Mama, Requiescat in Pace.
Mother Debora's Funeral Can Be Viewed Below:
Mother Debora, (affectionately known as "Holy Mama"), graduated from Arizona State University and earned her M.Div. from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She came to St. Jude's in 1998 from Prescott, AZ, where she had been the Assistant Rector in a congregation of 650 parishioners for five years. But her career as a woman of God began many years earlier in her childhood room in Illinois. According to Debora, her attraction to ministry began at age 11 when she used to come home from church and preach to her teddy Bears and dolls. From that point on, a decision to become a minister "kept pounding at her" until she said, "Okay, this is what I am called to do—I am called to preach and share my God." Nearly thirty years later, Debora was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
Her calling first took her to war-torn Latin America where she worked with local missions in Panama and El Salvadore to bring food, medicine, education, and caring to impoverished areas. Later she would say of her ministry there: "My little girl naïveté was shattered. I began to understand that the world is much more complicated than I ever imagined. I saw clear injustices being done: I could see them and only help a minuscule amount in the face of powerful forces at work."
In Prescott, he turned her spirit towards fulfilling young lives. As a member of the YMCA Board, Mother Debora helped raise $5.3 million toward building a community center and adjoining skateboard park. When she came to Cedar City, following the retirement of the Rev. Ron Belnap, St. Jude's was still a tiny house church on 354 S. 100 W. Debora immediately captured the hearts of her parishioners with her musical talent and sermons which revolved around the inspirational, the miraculous and the divine.
When the house church burned in 1999, Mother Debora shepherded the congregation's move to what was then Christ the King Catholic Church where we shared worship space with the Catholics. In 2003 our present sanctuary was remodeled and consecrated as an Episcopal Church. Debora was instrumental in the installation of an 11-circuit labyrinth modeled after the one in Chartes Cathedral in France. Debora first encountered the labyrinth in Berkeley, Calif., in the early '90s, and she immediately added it to her own spiritual practice. She led many workshops using the labyrinth and authored an educational pamphlet about it. Another of Debora's passions was music. She purchased a grand piano for St. Jude's and played masterfully during services. She joined with the present vicar to a stage multi-generational musical theatre production of "Godspell."
Mother Debora was Vicar of St. Jude’s in Utah for eight years and an adjunct professor at Southern Utah University. She left St. Jude's to serve as a regional vicar of Lower Yacima Valley in Washington State for 3-1/2 years with oversight of four different congregations. She was called to serve as Vicar of St. Basil's Episcopal Church in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in 2010 and was Vicar there at the time of her death. We join with the people of St. Basil's in mourning her passing. Ave, Holy Mama, Requiescat in Pace.
Mother Debora's Funeral Can Be Viewed Below:
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An Invitation from our VicarView this invitation from the Rev. Lee Montgomery, Vicar of St. Jude's to learn more about how you can join members of our congregation to proclaim the Good News of God's love for all people. Working together, we can make Cedar City a better place for everyone.
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We invite you to join us in our ministries.
HospitalityAll are welcome at St. Jude's! We need your help to ensure that our worship space and other church facilities will always be available to community organizations who use our church for meetings, concerts, and events.
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StewardshipWe observe faithful stewardship of God's creation by practicing wise use of natural resources and respect for all God's people. We need your help in practicing the wise and faithful use of God's creation.
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Giving BackSt. Jude's supports those in need through the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund and "Fifth Sunday" contributions. We need your help with projects that raise money to help victims of poverty and natural disaster.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry recently preached at ta pre-vigil "Reclaiming Jesus" worship service in Washington D.C. “We are not a partisan group, we are not a left-wing group, we are not a right-wing group. We are a Jesus movement!” he proclaimed.
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St. Jude's hosted the annual Suzuki Strings children's concert recently. Children from across the state participated in this event sponsored by the Cedar City Arts Council. The event helped raise money to support music arts in the Cedar City area.
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