New Rector @ St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Pearl River

PRESS RELEASE

On Feb. 1, 2019, The Rev. Kyle T. Martindale begins his ministry with the people of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Pearl River as their rector (priest). His first service at St. Stephen’s will be Sun. Feb. 3 at 9:30 a.m.

Martindale comes to the area from Nebraska, where he has lived for most of the last twenty years. He has been serving as the assistant rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Omaha, NE for the last two-and-a-half years.

As an Episcopal priest, Martindale said his faith is “grounded in God’s boundless love for all people, exemplified throughout the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and so many in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.”

He grew up in Central Nebraska, having been born in West Germany in 1987 to Rich Martindale, an army medic turned Episcopal priest, and Jenny Martindale, a now-retired medical transcriptionist.

Martindale received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Hastings College, Hastings, NE. After working for several years in sales and as an administrator at a local homeless shelter, Kyle attended Virginia Theological Seminary, where he received his Master in Divinity in May 2016.

Martindale’s wife Trish works in the compliance department for a financial services company. She studied at Ateneo De Manila University in Manila, Philippines before attending Ateneo Law School for her Juris Doctor. She later received a Master of Laws at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. She and Martindale met while both studying in the area.

One of the Bible passages Martindale holds dear, he said, is John 14: 2-3 “because of its statement that there is plenty of room for everyone in the Kingdom of God.” John writes, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

Martindale becomes the seventh rector at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Pearl River. He replaces Rev. Susan Fortunato, who left St. Stephen’s in July 2015 after a 14-year stint as rector. She is currently rector as Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie.

Rev. Stephen Hagerty served as Interim Rector at St. Stephen’s from September 2015 through September 2018. He is currently Associate Rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, Md. St. Stephen’s is located at 84 Ehrhardt Road in Pearl River.

  Kyle T. Martindale, Pearl River, rector, stephen’s episcopal church