Clergy & Staff

Saint Bernard’s Church is blessed to call its own a dedicated and accomplished staff of professionals, as well as an impressive group of lay leaders. We invite you to get to know our staff and parish leadership better, and bid your prayers for them as they seek to serve Christ in his Church with a sense of integrity and vision.

Interim Rector
The Reverend Dr. John A. Cerrato

John Cerrato served as the parish priest of Saint Bernard’s Church from August 2005 until July 2008. The Parish bids him farewell and God speed as he leaves to take up his new calling as Rector of St. James' Episcopal Church in Greenfield, Massachussetts.

The Rev. William F. Feus, will take up the position of Rector at Saint Bernard's in early September.

Organist & Choirmaster
Mr. Steven R. Lawrence

Steven R. Lawrence has served as Organist & Choirmaster in Saint Bernard’s Church since 1984. He has taught music in Bernards High School since 1988, where he serves as Choral Director. He was previously Associate Director of Music for the Newark Boys Chorus from 1986-1988.

Steve is a graduate of Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia (B.A. Music Education & Organ Performance) and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (Masters, Music Education & Choral Conducting). He has pursued further studies at the Julliard School of Music, Cambridge University, and Westminster Choir College.

As director of the Bernards High School Madrigal Ensemble he has led performance tours throughout the eastern United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, England and Ireland, including concerts in The National Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall, Westminster Abbey, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and the Basilica of Notre Dame, Montreal.

In the winter of 1987, Steve founded Music at Saint Bernard’s, an annual concert series offering special worship and performance events to the wider community of the Somerset Hills. It has flourished under his leadership and in 2006-2007 celebrates the milestone of its 20th season.

Steve is a native of southwestern Virginia. He lives in Gladstone, New Jersey.

When asked about a favorite piece of music, he settled on The German Requiem of Johannes Brahms. He also offered an entirely unsolicited comment on a Most Detested Piece of Music: the winner hands down “Heart and Soul.”

Director of Elementary

Christian Education
Mrs. Amy Byrnes

Amy Byrnes has served as the Director of Elementary Christian Education in Saint Bernard’s Church since 2001. She is the Director of the Church School and supervises annual events in our programs for children.

She is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University (B.A. Education, 1984). She holds State of New Jersey certificates in Elementary Education (K-8), Teacher of the Handicapped (ages 0-21) and Early Childhood Education. She taught for 12 years at the Center Grove Elementary School in Randolph, New Jersey (grades 2, 3, 5). She was the founding director of Thompson Street Nursery School, Bernardsville (2 years).

Amy is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in Western Springs, Illinois. She moved to New Jersey as a high school student and graduated from Mountain Lakes High School.

In 1991 she married Ed Byrnes, who is a Detective Lieutenant in the Bernards Township Police Department. With their two children Katie and Jack, they live in Bernardsville. They are members of Saint Bernard’s Church.

Director of the Children's

& Youth Choir
Ms. Luthien Brackett

Luthien Brackett has served as the Director of the Children’s Choir of Saint Bernard’s Church since 2003 and as the Alto Section Leader of The Saint Bernard’s Choir. She sang in the choir previously from 1995-2000. She is a member of the Organ Committee.

She also sings in prominent ensembles in the New York Metropolitan area, including The Vox Vocal Ensemble, The Clarion Music Society, and The Antioch Chamber Ensemble, an acclaimed vocal ensemble based in Summit, which she also co-founded.

Ms. Brackett frequently appears as a guest soloist with the Trenton Diocesan Festival Choir, The Trenton Symphony Orchestra, the Choral Arts Society, and the Westfield Symphony Orchestra. She was a member of the Choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street, for three seasons.

Luthien is a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey (B.A. Music Education 1998). She currently teachers a studio of 9 voice students, ranging in age from 13 to 65.

She works as a Development Associate at The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey in Drew University, Madison.

She was born in San Diego, California, and lives in Summit, New Jersey.

Luthien is an avid reader from a family of avid readers. Her name comes from the work of British writer J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Her favorite books are The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, and she also loves the work of Jane Austen, Madeleine L'Engle, Robin McKinley, and Neil Gaiman. She is a dyed-in-the-wool movie buff and enjoys going to film festivals. Her favorites include Amadeus, Angels in America (HBO Films), Strictly Ballroom, The Full Monty, and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Although she loves all music, some of Luthien's favorite musicians include U2 and Keane, as well as Bach, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Vaughan Williams. A favorite quote: "'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I', said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.'" (Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring)

Associate Organist

Mr. David L. Dockery

(photo & info soon)

Executive Assistant to the Rector
Mrs. Hilary Thomas Dorer

Hilary Thomas Dorer joined the staff of Saint Bernard’s Church in 2006 as Executive Assistant to the Rector. She works in the areas of parish administration, communications and management.

Hilary was born and grew up in England and South Wales. Her family is Welsh. She attended the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies.

Hilary has had a varied career that has taken her to many parts of the world. She taught Geography at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. After fulfilling a life-long dream to visit South America, she returned to London where she became a consultant to telecommunications companies in Europe, North America and Asia.

She came to New Jersey in 1985 and was President of a New York-based company owned by the French Telephone company. Since then, she has started entrepreneurial ventures and owns a small consulting firm, ITS Inc. that has helped small organizations to identify and meet their goals.

Hilary was raised in the Church of England and is a member of The Church of Saint John on the Mountain, Bernardsville, where she serves on the Vestry and is Chair of Outreach. She is married to Ward Dorer, whom she met in the Saint John’s Choir, where they both sing joyfully. They live in Denville, New Jersey.

A favorite book of Hilary’s: Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. And a favorite piece of music: Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine.

Superintendent

of Saint Bernard's Cemetery

Manager of Buildings & Grounds

Mr. C. Richard Wade

Rick Wade has been at Saint Bernard’s since 1996 as Manager of Buildings & Grounds and Superintendent of Saint Bernard’s Cemetery on Washington Avenue. He maintains an office at the cemetery and a desk in the Parish Office in the Parish House.

A native of New Vernon, Rick attended The Pingry School and Hartwick College, New York, where he studied Wildlife Management and Cultural Anthropology (B.S. 1973). He has worked as a Legislative Aid in the New Jersey State Assembly in Trenton, was an Assistant Wildlife Biologist for the State of New Jersey, a State Investigator for the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office, and a Managing Arborist for Tree Tech, Inc. in New Vernon.

Among his many talents is included his training as a Licensed Master Falconer. He holds memberships in a number of national, regional and local organizations, including Cook’s Creek Watershed Association (Bucks County, PA), the North American Falconers’ Association, the Kentucky Rifle Association, and the Jacobsburg Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Rick lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

A favorite recent read: Candace Millard’s River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey; a favorite film: John Boorman’s Excalibur; and a favorite vintage TV show: Patrick McGooghan’s The Prisoner.