The Rev. Dr. Timothy Flynn, rector
Fall 2022 Tim was invited by the vestry and people of St. Michael’s to be their rector. Tim is not a new face to the people of St. Michael’s. He first came to the parish in Advent of 2015 to lead an adult formation program on Visio Divina and officiate at Compline. He returned during the pandemic to serve as a seminarian and deacon, completing his second field education experience mentored by Priest Nikki and the community of St. Michael’s.
Tim is currently a bi-vocational priest who also serves as professor of music at Olivet College. He has served in numerous churches as music director and organist throughout his career in Virginia, Washington, DC, Chicago, and Lansing. While an undergraduate at George Mason University, he was a member of the choir of men and boys at the National Cathedral under the late Dr. Richard Dirksen. As a conductor, his choirs have sung in Rome at the Vatican, at St. Mark’s (Florence), and the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. In Canada, Tim’s choirs have toured extensively in Toronto, Stratford, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Tim holds a Master’s and PhD in musicology from Northwestern University (IL) where he and his spouse, Dr. Michael Nealon, lived before coming to Michigan. Since 2009, Tim has had three academic books published: Camille Saint-Saëns: A Guide to Research, Charles François Gounod A Research and Information Guide, and César Franck: Composer, Organist, Teacher. His interest in the music of Saint-Saëns and Gounod have taken him to Ireland, Scotland, and Italy to present papers on the musical manuscripts and letters of these composers at several international conferences.
Tim holds a Certificate in Theological Studies through the Iona Initiative of the Seminary of the Southwest (Austin, TX) and has studied at Bexley-Seabury (Chicago), and The Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Berkeley, CA). Ordained to the priesthood by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Bonnie Perry in June 2021, Tim is very excited to be serving the people and community of St. Michael’s during this interim period. He finds the parish to be a warm and welcoming place filled with the Holy Spirit and possessing a charism for mentoring and shaping priests. Tim has said that “the people at St. Mike’s are on fire with the Spirit and this time of pandemic has not dampened their desire to do the work of the gospel. They are dedicated to bringing the Kingdom of God to us, here and now. It’s a great and exciting place to be!”
