Our Staff
Rector, The Rev. Jimmy Grace
Jimmy is a native Houstonian. He graduated from Episcopal High School in 1994 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Art History at Southwestern University at Georgetown, Texas. Jimmy served as Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston, from 1999 until 2002. He then began studies at Virginia Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 2005.
He was ordained into the Episcopal Church that same year, and served as Associate Rector at Epiphany, Houston from 2005 to 2010. During this time he was also President of the Board for Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS). In 2010, Jimmy accepted a call to serve as Canon for Formation and Worship at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston. Following four years of service there, in 2014 Jimmy accepted a call to serve as Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Houston.
Jimmy is married to his wife Marla and they have three sons, James, William, and Henry. In his free time, Jimmy enjoys running, golf, hiking, fishing, and playing guitar.
Contact Jimmy
Assistant Rector, The Rev. Jeff Bohanski
Jeff is a bi-vocational priest and a 2020 graduate of The Iona School of Ministry. A bi-vocational priest serves in a parish while maintaining a full time job. Jeff is a first grade teacher in the Houston Independent School District with more than thirty years of experience. Jeff was ordained a deacon on August 1, 2020, at Christ Church Cathedral. On February 14, 2021, the afternoon before Houston’s historic freeze, he was ordained a priest at Saint Andrew’s. Jeff spent his childhood in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He graduated in 1987 with a Batchelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Jeff and his husband reside in a neighborhood near Saint Andrews. Jeff’s pronouns are he/him/his.
Assisting Priest, The Rev. Liz Parker
Liz grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, a few blocks from the Penn State campus, where she graduated with a degree in theatre. Liz moved to Manhattan following graduation and during nearly a decade in the city she performed in Off-Off Broadway venues, worked a variety of ‘make do’ jobs, including as a page at Windows on the World at the top of the World Trade Center, and fell in love with the Episcopal Church. During that decade she also lived and worked for a year in a therapeutic community in Nottingham, England, with Dr. Frank Lake.
While at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, she met and married fellow seminarian Andy Parker. They served churches in Abilene, Amarillo, and Lake Jackson, and raised three sons: Will, Ben and Caleb. Widowed in 2018, while working at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, she retired in early 2023. Later that year she came out of retirement for six months to assist at Christ Church Cathedral where she is still affiliated.
Liz is excited to be moving into the first CoHousing development in Texas in a few months, and looks forward to meeting the people of St. Andrew’s.
Assisting Priest, The Rev. Robert Merrill
Bob is a bi-vocational priest and a 2008 graduate from the Iona School of Ministry. Bob’s other vocation is as a consultant petroleum engineer. Bob was ordained to the priesthood in January 2009 at St. Bartholomew in Hempstead, Texas. Bob was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in New York City and Long Island. He was Rector at St. Bartholomew, and was blessed to assist at churches in New Delhi (India), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and here. Bob lives in Houston with his wife of over 40 years, Carmen. He has a married daughter, Elisabeth, who lives in Colorado.
Head of School, Jamie Martin-Currie
Jamie is a seventh-generation Texan who grew up in Houston and Sugar Land before moving to New York to pursue a Master’s degree in early childhood from Bank Street College. While in New York, Jamie taught toddlers and preschoolers and served as Children’s Minister at St. Bartholomew’s Church, where she created and developed a summer camp.
Jamie returned to Houston as the Lay Minister for Children’s Education for St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, and then served as Missioner for Children Formation in the Diocese of Texas from 2011 until 2020. Before coming to St. Andrew’s Episcopal School she was a consultant with Episcopal Relief & Development Fund.
Jamie and her husband live in Sugar Land and she has two grown stepsons - one in law school and one in dental school - who both attended Montessori schools.
Office Manager, Carrie Conti
Carrie Conti was born and raised in Houston, TX. She attended the University of Houston, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Consumer Sciences and Merchandising. Prior to her position at St. Andrew’s, Carrie worked for several years as the Financial Manager for two catering companies and an event venue. She lives in the Meyerland area and in her free time enjoys seeing live music, attending Astros games, and spending time with family and friends.
Coordinator for Special Needs and Family Faith Formation, Lisa Puccio
Lisa Puccio joined the St. Andrew’s staff in January 2015 to begin a weekly Rhythms of Grace service for special needs families and to develop a new Sunday school program for the parish. She has worked in family ministry for more than 15 years and has served on the diocesan formation advisory committee and as a member of the board of directors of Forma, a national association of Christian educators and formation professionals that celebrates and upholds the diverse ministries of Christian formation across the Episcopal Church. From 2011 until 2016 Lisa served in leadership with Kids4Peace, where she helped lead groups of Muslim, Jewish and Christian children from Jerusalem and the United States to build interfaith communities that embody a culture of peace and empower a movement for change. Lisa and her husband Mike have four grown children.
Director of Children and Youth, Taylor Durr
Taylor was raised in Denison, TX (about an hour north of Dallas) before moving to Seguin where she earned her degree in Theology at Texas Lutheran University. In addition to a degree in Theology, she also minored in Hebrew. She moved to Houston in 2012 to serve as Youth Minister for Emmanuel Episcopal Church, followed by a call to Saint Aidan's Episcopal from 2014-January 2025.
Taylor is a fourth generation Episcopalian with a healthy love for organ music and incense. She met her husband at a Target in San Antonio while interning at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church. They were married in 2013, and have 2 children - Liam and Lily. They also have a dog named Jurri.
Director of Music & Organist, John Kirk
From a young age, music was a large part of John’s life—music was always playing at home and in the car, a year of obligatory piano lessons, singing in musicals and choir in high school, playing double bass in jazz band, playing in a band throughout high school and college, and vibrant congregational singing in the Lutheran church in which he grew up. John attended Capital University, studying both religion and double bass. He started taking organ lessons and soon found himself spending more and more time at the organ console and less time behind the bass, and so he added yet another musical interest. After college, John moved to Houston through Teach for America and eventually began studying organ, voice, and church music with Robert Brewer and assisting in the music program at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany as a Choir/Organ scholar. In church music, John found the energy and conviction of rock music combined with the craftsmanship and interest of classical music, all within a context that focused on something bigger than music itself. Following his work at Epiphany, John was Music Director of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Dickinson, Texas and Organ Intern at St. Philip Presbyterian in Houston, Texas. He earned a master’s degree in Organ Performance from the University of Houston's Moores School of Music, where he studied with Robert Bates, Matthew Dirst, and Sigurd Øgaard. In August 2021, John was appointed University Organist of Houston Christian University. He and his wife, Sally, have two joyful daughters, Fiona and Joni.
Facilities Manager, Francisco (Frank) Guevara
Frank came to us from Christ Church Cathedral where he was the Facilities Manager for 13 years. Before that Frank was flipping houses and working as a flight attendant for Continental Airlines based in New York. He also spent many years as a traveling musician. Frank's passions are traveling, playing guitar, and restoring VW classics. Frank has a 1968 VW bus named Oliver and a 1967 VW beetle named Opie.
Frank is looking forward to overseeing upcoming projects and making a difference here at St. Andrew's.
Sexton, Byron Pineda
Byron was born in the city of Guatemala in Central America. He attended college earning an accounting degree and began a career as a mathematics professor. He also was certified in carpentry and as a shoemaker. After moving to New York City, he worked as a laboratory assistant in the NYU Hospital in Manhattan. He earned his high school equivalency diploma, and later moved to Florida where he became a US citizen and owned a landscaping business. He moved to Houston and was certified as an electrician.
Treasurer, Bruce Banta-Guevara
Organist Emeritus, Dr. William H. Gilbert
Bill served as the Parish Organist and Choirmaster from 1987-2015.