The Rev. Taylor Vines-Lowe was ordained a transitional deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and begins his ordained ministry at St. Luke’s, Ypsi. He is joined by his spouse, Franklin. Most recently, The Rev. Vines-Lowe was a Chaplain Resident at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, SC. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and a certificate in Faith-Based Non-Profit leadership from the Divinity School at Wake Forest University. Before pursuing ordination to the priesthood, he taught high school Spanish in North Carolina and Mississippi and volunteered with his sending parish, St. Anne’s Church in Winston-Salem, NC, and a number of LGBTQ+ and community centers. A native of southwest Mississippi, he is an avid reader, nature walker, and coffee drinker.
Ezra Donner – Music Director
At age sixteen, Ezra Donner left his hometown of Buffalo, New York, to pursue his dream of a life in music. In the decades since, he has traveled the world composing, performing, conducting, and teaching, with performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall and throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Ezra has received awards and recognition from The American Prize Competition, the Respighi Prize Competition, the Music Teachers’ National Association, and the 2nd Annual G. Gershwin International Music Competition. He served as Music Director at The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism from 2017-2020, and has been a frequent Music Director with The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society since 2015. Ezra is an alumnus of lnterlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan, and Indiana University, where he earned his Doctor of Music Degree in 2015. He is also an alumnus of lnterlochen Arts Camp, the John Duffy Institute for New Opera, Brevard Music Center, and Miami Music Festival. His teachers have included Claude Baker, Don Freund, P.Q. Phan, Christopher Harding, Michael Colgrass, Bright Sheng, and William Bolcom.
Elizabeth Adie Thompson – Parish Administrator
Elizabeth is an Ypsilanti resident and a long-time member of St. Luke’s. She also works as a life coach, teaches as a health educator for the Diabetes Prevention Program, and serves on the Washtenaw County Commission on Aging and the Citizen’s Advisory Board for the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
Janet Symonette – Church School Director
Janet has been a member of St. Luke’s since 2010, a Church School teacher since 2012, and is the Church School Director from 2017. She has two children who attend Church School. She is very involved with St. Luke’s Church activities, and with a number of community organizations. She has a lot of energy to bring to St. Luke’s children to help them to be closer to God, to the St. Luke’s congregation, and to their church family around the world.
Rector and Staff
The Rev. Taylor Vines-Lowe
The Rev. Taylor Vines-Lowe was ordained a transitional deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and begins his ordained ministry at St. Luke’s, Ypsi. He is joined by his spouse, Franklin. Most recently, The Rev. Vines-Lowe was a Chaplain Resident at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, SC. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and a certificate in Faith-Based Non-Profit leadership from the Divinity School at Wake Forest University. Before pursuing ordination to the priesthood, he taught high school Spanish in North Carolina and Mississippi and volunteered with his sending parish, St. Anne’s Church in Winston-Salem, NC, and a number of LGBTQ+ and community centers. A native of southwest Mississippi, he is an avid reader, nature walker, and coffee drinker.
Ezra Donner – Music Director
At age sixteen, Ezra Donner left his hometown of Buffalo, New York, to pursue his dream of a life in music. In the decades since, he has traveled the world composing, performing, conducting, and teaching, with performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall and throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Ezra has received awards and recognition from The American Prize Competition, the Respighi Prize Competition, the Music Teachers’ National Association, and the 2nd Annual G. Gershwin International Music Competition. He served as Music Director at The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism from 2017-2020, and has been a frequent Music Director with The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society since 2015. Ezra is an alumnus of lnterlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan, and Indiana University, where he earned his Doctor of Music Degree in 2015. He is also an alumnus of lnterlochen Arts Camp, the John Duffy Institute for New Opera, Brevard Music Center, and Miami Music Festival. His teachers have included Claude Baker, Don Freund, P.Q. Phan, Christopher Harding, Michael Colgrass, Bright Sheng, and William Bolcom.
Elizabeth Adie Thompson – Parish Administrator
Elizabeth is an Ypsilanti resident and a long-time member of St. Luke’s. She also works as a life coach, teaches as a health educator for the Diabetes Prevention Program, and serves on the Washtenaw County Commission on Aging and the Citizen’s Advisory Board for the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.
Janet Symonette – Church School Director
Janet has been a member of St. Luke’s since 2010, a Church School teacher since 2012, and is the Church School Director from 2017. She has two children who attend Church School. She is very involved with St. Luke’s Church activities, and with a number of community organizations. She has a lot of energy to bring to St. Luke’s children to help them to be closer to God, to the St. Luke’s congregation, and to their church family around the world.