Meet Our Staff

Priest-in-Charge
The Rev. Christopher C. Richardson

Christopher grew up in Westerville, Ohio and was active in the church both there and in New Albany prior to heading out to Virginia Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 2009. Since then, he has served at churches in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus.
He enjoys spending time with his family and friends and finds this time spiritually uplifting. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20) He has a wife (Sheena) and two sons (Malachi and Xavier), all of whom bring him so much joy.
With a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering Technology, Christopher loves opportunities to connect theology and technology and once wrote an Android application for Mission St. Clare, allowing people on-the-go to do the Daily Office from their mobile devices.
He also serves as the Associate for Curriculum Development for the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Church Administrator
Sam Meade

Sam grew up In Grove City, Ohio and attended a Southern Baptist Church, where she was involved in many ministries. She was involved in her church’s puppet ministry, nursery program, Wednesday teen youth group, a bus ministry whose mission was to reach the children in the community in hopes of bringing them closer to God, and she was a Sunday School teacher for five- to seven-year-old children.
Sam is currently working on a bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology and criminology, with intention to use her education to assists survivors of crime in rebuilding a better and brighter future for themselves and their families. In her free time, Sam likes to bake, read, and spend time with her children.
She joined the St. John’s team as the administrative assistant in June of 2022.

Church Pianist
Darrell Forren

Darrell is from a small town in Southern West Virginia. His family lived in a rural community and on a farm. Much of his time was spent taking care of the cows, pigs and chickens and working hard in their many gardens along with his two brothers. His mother was a nurse at the local hospital and his father was a construction worker.

Darrell graduated from Hinton High School in 1986 and from Marshall University in 1990. He taught Junior High Band in his hometown for one year before coming to Columbus Ohio in 1991 and teaching at Grove City High School as an assistant choir director. This is Darrell’s 30th year of teaching and currently teaches elementary general music in South Western City Schools.

He has been the pianist at St. John’s Episcopal Church since 2000. He loves church music and the people of St. Johns. Darrell lives in Hilliard, OH with his partner of 23 years, Patrick Parrish.

Senior Warden
Kurt Wacker

Kurt grew up in Dublin, Ohio and then went on to attend Bowling Green State University. He majored in Business Administration and after graduation went to work for a large industrial manufacturer, Hobart/ITW, and lived in various cities across the country and retired after 35 years of service. Upon retirement Kurt and his wife Carolyn moved back to the Columbus area.

They discovered St. John’s from an article they saw in the Diocese of Southern Ohio newsletter and were drawn to the church mainly do to St. John’s Street Church Mission and other outreach programs. Kurt was active on the Mission Council and other groups before becoming Sr. Warden. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, hiking and playing squash along with spending time with their 5 children and 9 grandkids.

Junior Warden
John Kissel

John was born in Cincinnati and attended Northwestern University in Chicago for both undergraduate and medical school studies. He has lived in Columbus for the past 40 years and is currently a professor emeritus at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center after retiring from a 38 year career there as a neurologist. He has been an active member of St. John’s since 2007 and has always been energized and fortified by the community. He has served on Mission Council and has been a delegate several times to the diocesan convention. He became Junior Warden in October 2019 and feels very privileged to serve in this position.

He has been married for 42 years and has three children and five grandchildren. When not fixing something at the church, he enjoys reading, hiking in the Hocking Hills, and playing pool.

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