Jonathan Whitney began his ministry as SsAM’s Interim Director of Music and Community Engagement on December 1, 2025.
Letter from Father Patrick
November 6, 2025
Dear members of the SsAM community,
Over the past several weeks I have been praying about how we move forward after David Christopher’s departure.
We are blessed with one of the most dynamic and diverse music programs in the entire Episcopal Church which supports transformational worship every Sunday. Our choir is incredible, and will continue to be an integral part of our worship, and we have relationships with some of the best musicians in the area. These relationships enable us to explore our faith through a wide variety of styles and genres. We have a unique musical identity, and it is critical that we not only maintain it but expand upon it.
We have also been discerning that, as a congregation, we are called to share the good news of Christ in the wider world, especially at a time when so many have lost hope. Just as we love our musical identity at SsAM, we believe that others will too.
I believe that successfully blending these calls to expand our musical identity and share the love of Christ through music is where the Holy Spirit is calling us in this moment of transition.
After prayerful discernment, and consultation with the Wardens and Vestry, it is a blessing and a delight to share with you that we have called Jonathan Whitney to serve as SsAM’s Interim Director of Music and Community Engagement.
Jonathan’s immense musical talents, creativity, and deep connections within the music scene in Wilmington are well known to us from his years serving at SsAM as an Artist in Residence, and his love for SsAM and deep understanding of our unique identity are clear to all. But I was struck by how his deep faith and yearning to share that faith, through music and the arts, resonates with the call on us to share God’s love with the wider community.
Over the next year Jonathan will partner with me, the Vestry, and the congregation in exploring how we can continue to create transformational Sunday worship that fully reflects the diversity and abundance of God’s kingdom and how SsAM’s music ministry can share the love of Christ within the wider cultural fabric of Wilmington and connect with those who seek community. During 2026 we will discern how our music ministry will live into this call. He will also lead our search for a new organist and choir master which is a critical part of ensuring that our Sunday morning worship experience remains transformational.
I am so excited that Jonathan has accepted the call to serve here at SsAM and to be a guide on this journey. Jonathan will begin his ministry with us on December 1st. Please join me in congratulating the whole Whitney family!
Blessings, Patrick+
A Note from Jonathan:
This is an exciting time in our journey as a church and I am honored to have the opportunity to join the leadership team at SsAM in this moment and lead with our amazing musical community. Through music, and other art forms, we will continue to create moments that draw us closer to God, refuel us for the work that must be done, and that encourage us to embrace the presence of joy in our lives. I look forward to dreaming with you about new ways the arts can help us live into our fellowship’s vision to be a dynamic spiritual center which is active in the pursuit of peace and justice in the community, and a place where all of God’s People are honored.
—Jonathan
Click here to learn more about Jonathan Whitney.
Top photo by Danny Nelson Schweers; middle photo by Joe del Tufo, Moonloop Photography.
