Diocesan Staff

  • The right reverend brian k. burgess

    xii bishop of the diocese of springfield

    The Rt. Rev. Brian K. Burgess is the Twelfth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield. He was ordained and consecrated a bishop and seated within the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Springfield, Illinois, on May 21, 2022.


    A native of Southwest Florida, Bishop Burgess grew up attending Episcopal day schools and public schools while singing in an Anglican choir of men and boys. He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he received a B.S. in Music Education. Before attending seminary, Bishop Burgess served as a law enforcement officer for the Lee County Port Authority Police Department.


    Bishop Burgess attended seminary at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, (MDiv., cum laude). As priest, he has served parishes within the Dioceses of Southwest Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey. Throughout these tenures, he served on diocesan council, standing committee, ecumenical and inter-faith relations committee, the Episcopal Community Services board, clerical compensation committee, and fifteen (nonconsecutive) years as dean of a three-county deanery of parishes and missions.


    Bishop Burgess is married to his college sweetheart, Denise Lee (née Swing), and together they have two grown children, Robert Kendall and Catherine Marian.




  • the reverend Canon DAVID WELLS

    canon to the ordinary

    Canon Wells was ordained a Deacon in the Diocese of Springfield in 2015 and Priest in 2016. He is a second career priest who retired from a 40+ year career in serving law enforcement agencies at the county and state levels of policing. He retired as an Executive Inspector General having served 4-consecutive terms confirmed by the Illinois Senate.


    Upon ordination to the diaconate, Canon Wells was employed as a Chaplain to Saint John’s Hospital in Springfield. He also served as a supply priest throughout the Diocese during that period. In 2017, he was appointed the Assisting Priest at the Cathedral of Saint Paul the Apostle in Springfield where he served until December, 2023 when appointed the Interim Rector at Saint John the Apostle Church in Decatur.


    Canon Wells is a graduate of Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin with a Master in Pastoral Ministry (MPM) degree and a Master in Ministry (MMin) degree. He has also earned academic degrees from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois (MS in Criminal Justice Administration) and Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois (BS in Business Management and Urban Studies). Canon Wells holds several professional certifications and was an adjunct instructor for the US Department of Justice and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy in Georgia. He is currently a Chaplain for the Illinois State Police.


    Canon Wells is married to Mary Ellen, his best friend. They reside in Springfield.




  • Erin (mccrary) Anglin

    executive assistant to the bishop

    Erin has served both not-for-profit and for-profit institutions, with experience as a business analyst, manager of annual giving, development coordinator, manager of donor relations and grant writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


    Erin’s various leadership roles within the Diocese of Springfield include serving as Senior Warden of her parish St. John’s, Centralia for two different terms. She has also served as a Synod Delegate, Deanery Representative, Office Administrator of St. Michael’s Church in O’Fallon, Lay Director of the Cursillo Secretariat, and most recently as a member of the XII Bishop Transition Committee, where she led organizing the liturgy and creating the fully scripted service book for the Mass of Consecration.


    As Executive Assistant to the Diocesan Bishop, she is responsible for the orderly support of that apostolic ministry in this historic Diocese of Springfield. Specifically, keeping his calendar, administrating the functioning of the Diocesan office, maintaining all databases and files, assisting with Diocesan communications, administering all correspondence while supporting the mission of our Standing Committee, Diocesan Council, Investment Fund trustees as well as other Diocesan boards, chapters, ministries, and offices that exist under the Diocesan Bishop’s shield.




  • BETHANY BUscher

    Communications coordinator

    Bethany graduated in 2020 from Lincoln Christian University with a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked in an administrative capacity in many areas including academically, corporately, and in church ministry. In her free time, she has served on the Logan County Parks Coalition and as the manager and steward of her local community garden.


    Bethany and her husband, Zachary, were confirmed into the Episcopal Church at Trinity, Lincoln in 2022. Since then, she has served on her local vestry and as a lay delegate on Diocesan Council. The pair welcomed their first child in June 2024 and the three currently reside at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin where her husband is prayerfully pursuing ordained ministry as a postulant in the Diocese of Springfield.




  • Gerry Smith

    treasurer

    Gerry was raised in the Episcopal Church being both baptized and confirmed. He has been a part of Christ the King, Normal since its formation as a mission in 1978. Gerry has served in several parish leadership positions including Senior Warden five times as well as multiple volunteer positions.


    He has served on the Diocesan level in several positions including Standing Committee (currently & previously 2008-2010), Commission on Ministry (06’-09’), Deanery Representative, Synod delegate (7 times), four different terms on Diocesan Council, co-chair of Department of Mission (16’-19’), and lay deputy at General Convention four times.


    Gerry was married to his wife, Linda, who passed away in March 2019. They have four adult children: Gerry III, Tony, Lindsay, and Ashley. He retired from State Farm Insurance in Bloomington after almost 20 years as a Software Solution Developer. Previously, he was an Electrical Maintenance Director at Clinton Power Station for 16 years and a former Navy Submariner.




  • The Revered John M. W. Conner

    archivist

    The Rev’d John M. W. Conner is the Rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Edwardsville. Father is a native of the Delaware Valley and a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University (‘16) from which he holds a B.A. in English Literature. After being approved for postulancy by Bishop Gutierrez of Pennsylvania, He matriculated at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2018 and graduated from the same in 2021 with a M. Div. Following diaconal ordination, Father served his title as deacon and then priest in charge of the Church of the Incarnation in Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Grace Episcopal Church in Hulmeville, Pennsylvania. He received the call to serve St. Andrew’s in the Spring of 2023 and arrived in August of that year. The Rt. Rev’d Brian Burgess installed him as rector on January 30th, 2024. Father is interested in the history of the Catholic Revival in the United States and the interpretation of the Canon Law of the American Church. His appointment as Diocesan Archivist compliments these interests well. He is married to Chloe.













Bishop Burgess' Full Bio

A native of Southwest Florida, The Right Reverend Brian K. Burgess grew up attending Episcopal day schools and public schools while singing in an Anglican choir of men and boys. He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, as a Music Education major (B.S.) where he studied Applied Percussion and served as Drum Major of the Ball State Pride of Mid-America Marching Band.


Bishop Burgess began his career as band and choral director at Rockville High School in the Wabash Valley area of Indiana. From there, he taught within the Lee County, Florida, school district where his senior high band programs were consistently recognized with superior ratings by the State Bandmasters Association.


He served as a fully certified law enforcement officer for the Lee County Port Authority Police Department prior to being hired by the nationally recognized Lee County Division of Emergency Management as their Training Coordinator and then Operations Coordinator. Bishop Burgess is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a General Class amateur radio operator, call sign KD4UTL. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, he was dispatched to Florida City on the southeast coast of Florida as part of the Lee County Department of Public Safety’s Response and Recovery Team.

Bishop Burgess attended seminary at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, (MDiv., cum laude). After being invited into and completing the required canonical process, Bishop Burgess was ordained deacon and priest by The Right Reverend John Bailey Lipscomb of Southwest Florida. As priest, he has served parishes within the Episcopal dioceses of Southwest Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey. Throughout these tenures, he served on diocesan council, standing committee, ecumenical and inter-faith relations committee, the Episcopal Community Services board, clerical compensation committee, and fifteen (nonconsecutive) years as dean of a three-country deanery of parishes and missions. In addition, he was elected by the Associated Alumni of The University of the South to represent their interests as a Clerical Trustee on the University Board of Trustees.


On December 11, 2021, while in his seventeenth year as rector of Christ Church Woodbury, New Jersey, Bishop Burgess was elected the XII Diocesan of Springfield on the second ballot. He was ordained and consecrated a bishop and seated within the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Springfield, Illinois, on May 21, 2022, by the Most Reverend Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, The Right Reverend Gregory O. Brewer of Central Florida and The Right Reverend Dr. John C. Bauerschmidt of Tennessee. Other co-consecrators included The Right Reverend Dr. J. Neil Alexander of Atlanta (retired), The Right Reverend William H. Stokes of New Jersey, and The Right Reverend Daniel H. Martins of Springfield (retired).


Bishop Burgess is married to his college sweetheart, Denise Lee (née Swing), and together, they have two grown children, Robert Kendall and Catherine Marian.

Consecration of Bishop Burgess

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