Sandy is well equipped to enrich and invigorate our spiritual lives. She has made worship the center of her life: it is her spiritual discipline. Her background in music and her exposure to a range of liturgies from three continents, in urban and rural settings, and in richer and poorer parishes, make her a dynamic worship leader capable of leading us effectively. Her preaching style is to use the lectionary and incorporate stories and images to make the scripture a tangible part of the congregation's understanding and life. She is a dedicated provider of pastoral care committed to visiting the sick and the shut-in. She has also led numerous spiritual retreats and conferences.

Sandy has extensive experience discerning and developing lay ministries, having begun her own vocation as a lay minister, then further developing such capacities at Christ Church, Greenwich where she served as Assistant Rector and then Senior Associate to the Rector. Prior to coming to St. Peter's, she was responsible for helping divinity students discern their ministries at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

Sandy has initiated ministries to underserved members at her previous congregations. At Christ Church, Greenwich, she perceived a need for new ministries including ones for young adults and for the needy. These groups remain legacies of her work there. She was asked to share her devotion to parish ministries with divinity students at Berkeley where she was employed from 1999 - 2003.

Sandy is also an able administrator with experience handling large staffs, budgets and numerous volunteers. She advocates "collaborative leadership and team ministry" and enjoys the "give and take of diverse opinions without being afraid to make decisions when necessary." Her attitude toward stewardship is that it is "everything we do after we say 'I believe'," and she has numerous resources from which to draw in St Peter's quest to understand the practice and theology of stewardship.

Born in Bristol, England, Sandy worked as a lay minister in a religious community in Scotland before moving to the United States and continuing her lay ministry in a small Pennsylvania community. She received her Master's of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1988. She was subsequently ordained in Connecticut in 1990. She is married to David Stayner, an ordained Priest in the Diocese of Connecticut. She is also the mother of Matthew, a budding cellist. She enjoys activities that start with "s": singing, sowing seeds, swimming, sailing, skiing and squash.