by Judy Stack
The Rev. Dan Handschy and his wife moved to Saint Paul in June of 2024 to be near their adult daughters. “I had just retired as a priest at St. David’s Episcopal Church in DeWitt, NY (a suburb of Syracuse). I looked around at several other Episcopal churches, and landed at St. John’s.” He was welcomed as a member in November of 2024.
“I was looking for a church to attend, because after almost four decades of being an ordained minister, it would have been hard to stop going to church. As a preacher myself, the preaching is important to me. It is clear to me that the clergy and guest preachers take preaching seriously. The preachers take both the scriptures and the current situation (whether in the parish or in the world, or both) seriously into account.”
Dan was also drawn to St John’s music program. “I don’t remember if there was a choir [singing] the first Sunday I attended, but again, it was clear that the parish takes its music ministry seriously. I appreciate that.” This drew him to join the choir. “I’ve always wanted to sing in a choir, but never had the chance, since I was always at the altar. I’m enjoying St. John’s choir.”
Dan grew up in a suburb of Denver “with the majestic Rockies out the picture window in the dining room.” Growing up, his family attended the Church of the Nazarene. One interesting aspect of his childhood: “I grew up without a television. I had to watch the first moon walk at a neighbor’s house. And when we finally did get a television (my grandmother’s old black-and-white TV, when she died), we had to pay a dime an hour to watch it. Each of the three of us kids got 25 cents a week as a TV allowance, so if we cooperated, we could watch seven and a half hours of TV a week. I’ve never regretted that aspect of my childhood.”
“After college, I moved to Burlington, VT, and found the Episcopal Church and was baptized….After a couple of years there, I decided I wanted to pursue priesthood in the Episcopal Church, and I moved to Cambridge, MA, to attend Harvard Divinity School.”
Dan served a number of parishes before moving to Saint Louis, MO, to serve a parish in Crestwood, MO as rector for 26 years. While in Saint Louis, he earned a PhD in Historical Theology for Saint Louis University.
Dan is also a member of a research colloquium that has published a book on the history of Anglican eucharistic theology and the process of liturgical revision and is currently working on a book on the history of the daily office and its place in the life of the Episcopal Church. In addition he says, “If you get me started talking about the theology of sacrifice, you’ll never get me to shut up. Also, intertextuality in the scriptures.”
At St. John’s, Dan has been attending the men’s group meetings — “I felt the need to make some social connections in a new city” — and is on the Formation Commission.
Dan and his wife love to garden: “mostly flowers, but some vegetables — mostly tomatoes. We are currently battling creeping blue bellflower in our gardens.” And Dan is an avid cyclist. “I’m a crazy bike rider — I try to get in a ride every day, even in the winter (except when the roads are icy). I love that the Twin Cities (and Minnesota in general) is so bike-friendly.”
Welcome, Dan!
