Rev. Jean Vargo
Interim Pastor
St. Paul’s is pleased to announce that Bishop White has appointed Rev. Jean Wollman Vargo to serve as Interim Pastor, beginning August 15th, 2025. Rev. Vargo will guide St. Paul’s for the next 18 months as the parish prepares for the call of its next Rector. She will also serve in a similar capacity at St. Mark’s during their transition.
Rev. Vargo is an ordained Lutheran Pastor, and through the full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, she is fully authorized to serve within the Episcopal tradition. She brings to St. Paul’s extensive experience as both a settled and intentional interim pastor, with a particular focus on supporting congregations in times of transition and discernment.
Her career spans more than four and a half decades of ministry leadership, including service as a U.S. Air Force Chaplain, where she provided pastoral care, grief recovery, and resilience training for service members and their families. She has also held leadership roles in large parish settings, directing pastoral care ministries, developing community outreach programs, and guiding congregations through renewal and growth. Rev. Vargo’s work is marked by her expertise in conflict resolution, pastoral counseling, mediation, leadership development, and congregational visioning.
St. Paul’s is grateful for the gifts she brings to the community and looks forward to her leadership during this important season of discernment.
Rev. Vargo is an ordained Lutheran Pastor, and through the full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, she is fully authorized to serve within the Episcopal tradition. She brings to St. Paul’s extensive experience as both a settled and intentional interim pastor, with a particular focus on supporting congregations in times of transition and discernment.
Her career spans more than four and a half decades of ministry leadership, including service as a U.S. Air Force Chaplain, where she provided pastoral care, grief recovery, and resilience training for service members and their families. She has also held leadership roles in large parish settings, directing pastoral care ministries, developing community outreach programs, and guiding congregations through renewal and growth. Rev. Vargo’s work is marked by her expertise in conflict resolution, pastoral counseling, mediation, leadership development, and congregational visioning.
St. Paul’s is grateful for the gifts she brings to the community and looks forward to her leadership during this important season of discernment.
Otto Anderson
Deacon
Otto Anderson was ordained deacon on June 13, 2009 and served at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church until November 2012. He then answered the call to serve at Christ Church in Springfield, OH for three years before returning to St Paul’s in December 2017.
Otto and his wife Jamie have been married 19 years. They have a daughter Emilee, who works for Operation Smile in Virginia Beach, VA and a son Nathan, who works for Kroger in Bloomington, IN. Otto and his late first wife adopted Emilee and Nathan from South Korea in the late 1980’s. They are now raising their grandchildren, 13-year old twins Kayla and Jeremiah. Family pets include Ruby the English bulldog, Tabby (cat), Leonardo (Testudo Hermanni), Wiggles (Mephitis Mephitis), and Fish.
Otto has certificates from Sewanee, Education for Ministry, and the Diocese of Southern Ohio, School for the Diaconate, as well as an MS in Administration, a BS in Aeronautical Engineering, and a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science. Otto has spent over 40 years working for the Air Force, retiring as a Major in 1997, and continuing on as a contractor for several companies. Most of his career has been within the Intelligence Community.
Otto is involved with ministry to Episcopal Retirement Services affordable housing at Shawnee Place in Springfield where he conducts a Bible Study with the residents. He says his most spiritually challenging ministry is raising the twins!
PARISH OFFICE STAFF
Lois J. Smith
Cara Whitby
Susan J. Starner
Parish Administrator
Music Director
Finance & Properties Administrator
VESTRY
The vestry is the governing board of the church. Together with the rector, the vestry is charged with protecting the stated vision of the parish, insuring the values of the congregation, upholding the financial integrity of the church, supporting the rector, and modeling sacrificial giving.
Senior Warden
Paul Sampson
Paul Sampson
Treasurer
Bob Neben
Bob Neben
Junior Warden
Joe Cairo
Joe Cairo
Clerk of the Vestry
Micky Neben
Micky Neben
Vestry Members
Class of 2026 - Linda Bumiller, Charlie Campbell, Steve Ireland
Class of 2027 - Cheryl Strine, Kathleen Walters
Class of 2028 - Chris Brandt, Jill Davis
Class of 2026 - Linda Bumiller, Charlie Campbell, Steve Ireland
Class of 2027 - Cheryl Strine, Kathleen Walters
Class of 2028 - Chris Brandt, Jill Davis
