Clergy & Staff

The Rev. Tommy Dillon II

Meet Fr. Tommy Dillon, a Baton Rouge native with a heart dedicated to service, compassion, and building inclusive communities. Fr. Tommy's journey is marked by a profound commitment to faith, education, and social justice.

Fr. Tommy embarked on his academic journey at Louisiana State University, where he earned a dual degree in Religious Studies and Anthropology. His thirst for theological knowledge led him to Yale University, where he earned a Master of Divinity and a Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School, an affiliate of Yale. Specializing in Anglican Liturgy, Fr. Tommy further honed his expertise at The General Theological Seminary in New York City, earning a Master of Sacred Theology.

Ordained as a deacon (2003) and priest (2004) at St. Luke’s Baton Rouge, Fr. Tommy served as Vicar of St. Augustine’s in Central City, LA, before embarking on an 11-year journey on the West Coast. There, he served as Rector of St. Aidan’s in San Francisco and Grace Church in Bainbridge Island, WA. In September 2016, he answered the call to become the Rector of St. Margaret's.

With over 24 years of pastoral experience, Fr. Tommy has excelled in roles encompassing pastoral care, program development, stewardship, and administration. His passion extends beyond traditional church boundaries, as he actively engages communities, encouraging them to explore new ways of being the church in a rapidly changing world.

Before moving to the West Coast, Fr. Tommy played a pivotal role as the first Director of Prisoner Aftercare Services for the National Volunteers of America. His dedication to social justice is further evident in his work with the Volunteer of America of Greater Baton Rouge, where he spent seven years in Mental Health and Homeless Services.

In the Diocese of California, he served in various capacities, including as a member of the Diocesan Executive Council, Diocesan Disaster Preparedness Coordinator, Nave Chaplain at Grace Cathedral, and a Spiritual Director for Cursillo. Additionally, he served as a board member for Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital and as chair of the Episcopal Bay Area Salvadoran Coalition.

In the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, Fr. Tommy served as the Dean of the Baton Rouge Deanery (2020-2024). He served as a co-leader in the Transitions in Progress group (TIP) for newly ordained clergy and those with new calls in ministry for six years, He has served as a diocesan representative for Together Baton Rouge/Louisiana, a leader of Inclusive Louisiana (LGBTQ+ Ministry in the Diocese of Louisiana), and was a Clergy Deputy for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church for three conventions.

Fr. Tommy currently serves as a Clergy Mentor-Coach with Virginia Theological Seminary's Thriving in Ministry Initiative. Fr. Tommy is also a frequent retreat leader, pilgrimage planner, and an instructor of liturgy.

In Fr. Tommy's world, every individual is embraced without judgment or exclusion. His tireless efforts with newly-released prisoners, those suffering from mental illness and homelessness, and Hurricane Katrina survivors have instilled in him a fearless compassion for human need. Under his leadership, parish food banks and elder ministries flourished, Disaster Preparedness groups formed, and connections with El Salvador were established through the Anglican Church of El Salvador and Cristosal, a Human Rights organization.

Fr. Tommy finds solace in collaborating to create beautiful liturgy, believing that it feeds the soul. Beyond his spiritual pursuits, he enjoys good food, water aerobics, the company of good friends, and road trips with his Whippet pal, Josh, all of which reveal the Holy in the everyday world.

The Rev. Les Mut

The Reverend Deacon Lester Martin Mut, Jr.

The Rev. Ronald Whitmer

Marti and I returned to The Diocese of Louisiana and St. Margarets in the Fall of 2011. We had moved to Omaha, NE, following Katrina in Oct. 2005. I had said to friends, “Rhubarb was calling me home.” For those not acquainted with this plant, it grows best north of an imaginary line running across the middle of Missouri.* What a delicacy this is when turned into a Rhubarb Custard pie! Also, we have a son, Robert and his wife Mary and two grandchildren in Omaha that were part of the drawing card to return north. I’d grown up in Iowa and Marti in North Dakota.

In the summer of 2011, Peggy, our youngest daughter, her husband Kyle, and their two little ones, Zachary and Hanna came to visit us in Omaha. Zachary, well settled into his Granny’s lap, looked into her eyes and said in a most plaintive voice, “Granny, too far!, TOO FAR! Two of our daughters married Louisiana boys. They don’t move. “Tugs,” two daughters and their husbands and four grandchildren drew us back to Louisiana.

We returned to St. Margarets where I’d been rector, 1986-1989. In the fall of 1989, I introduced an experimental academically based service learning project to LSU and Southern. It was accepted by the two universities the following Spring. A large number of community service agencies provided placement for the students. It became operational in the fall of 1990. I designed and coordinated the program known as “PULSE of Louisiana,” a 501(c)3 organization, for the next five years. The project was based on the PULSE curriculum of Boston College. The aim was to provide a way to deepen not only understanding and caring, but to experience in the process, that we are drawn to be a community whole.

Formal / Informal Education:

Graduate of public schools, Muscatine, Iowa; Grinnell College, B.A.; Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, MA, B.D.; ordained a priest in the Diocese of Iowa, January 1, 1966; annual attendee of the Bernard Lonergan Workshops, Boston College, 1976-1985; 1998. I am an avid reader of the writings of Bernard Lonergan, S.J.; David Ford, Oliver O’Donovan, Richard Rohr and other contemplatives. I have had a life-long interest in wanting to understand what is going on, wanting to see the connections, “distinctions without loss of relation,” and in so doing discovering how we can be a community whole, experiencing in the flesh, the nearness “on earth as it is in heaven.”

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* Since returning I discovered at the Old Farmers Store in Gonzales that there is a variety of Rhubarb, “Victoria,” that does grow in the South. Two years ago I planted it here in our garden. I’m happy to report it’s doing very well. Unfortunately it takes 3 years before you can harvest it. I’m eagerly awaiting spring 2018, and Rhubarb Custard Pie! “3” years? Where have I heard that number before?

The Rev. Dan Hopkins

Education: B.A. Political Science/Public Affairs, University of Oklahoma. 1977
Master of Public Administration, University of Oklahoma, 1981
Master of Divinity, The General Theological Seminary, 1985
Courses completed toward Ph.D in Social Work at the University of Denver


Father Dan is a retired priest, resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. He has served as Rector of the Church of the Holy Redeemer, Denver and as Associate Priest at St. Thomas Episcopal Church also in Denver. Dan has also served as the Social Justice Officer for the Diocese of Colorado. He has founded and run community based non-profit organizations active in the areas of youth development, substance abuse, single parent support, gang intervention and community mobilization. He has served on numerous community, city, state, and federal boards and commissions. He is highly sought after as a speaker and trainer on a variety of topics. He has received many awards and honors for his efforts including: the Jefferson Award for Public Service given by the American Institute for Public Service, and the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award presented by the Martin Luther King Holiday Commission.

Dan and his wife Sheila have recently moved to Louisiana following Dan’s retirement in keeping with a promise made to Sheila at the time of their marriage. They have four children.

Dan Hopkins is a person with a disability (blindness). He is the founder and president of Dan Hopkins & Associates. His organization is a consulting firm primarily serving the public rehabilitation community. The firm specializes in organizational design and development, with an emphasis on disability and diversity. DHA provides planning, design, and evaluation services to organizations in the areas of management-leadership, human resource management, human resource development, disability issues, ADA compliance, marketing, proposal development, managing diversity, strategic planning and other organizational development areas.

Sandra Shipp

Maria Curry

MARIA C CURRY is a native of Carthage, Missouri. She is a pianist, soloist, collaborative artist and poet. Maria has played principal trombone for the Southwest Missouri Orchestra, SE Kansas Symphony and numerous jazz ensembles, bands, & chamber groups.She has traveled the United States performing in solo concerts as a religious singer song writer, has been a frequent artist, spiritual team leader, and teacher for the YMCA of the USA Leadership Training Schools and camps, has produced several recordings with Spirit’s Call, New Jerusalem, and The Precious Moments Singers. Her self released album called Brand New Day debuted in 1996 and her long awaited second project of original music is underway entitled Maria Project 20.

Maria has been a church musician since age 11, a program coordinator, tennis pro, and recreation instructor for the City of Joplin, MO, taught both public and private school at the high school, middle school, & elementary levels, has served in various civic organizations such as the PSU Axe Library Board, the Joplin Substance Advisory Street Smart Board, and was a teacher for the the highly successful Park Academy At Risk Program. She enjoys events at Coyote Moon, Hope Keepers of Baton Rouge, has led numerous VBS and summer camps across the country, participates in SPIN (Serving People In Need) under the I-10 Mississippi River Overpass which offers food, clothing, personal items, and spiritual assistance to the homeless and less fortunate of the Greater Baton Rouge area, has sung compline services at St. James Episcopal Church, Baton Rouge, and led contemporary music services for Trinity Episcopal Church, Baton Rouge. Maria is the Director of Music at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, LA.

Honors and awards include the Ronald Brothers Pianist Award for the Southern Region of National Association of Teachers of Singing, Outstanding Music Student Award at MSSU, Outstanding Musician Award at William Jewel College, and the Excellence of Professional Service Award for the Graduate Student Association, Pittsburg State University. She is a member of Phi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota, Omicron Delta Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi. Degrees include BA, Piano Performance, BS, Vocal/Instrumental K-12 Music Education both from MSSU, Joplin, MO and Master of Music in Theory and Composition from PSU, Pittsburg, KS.

Maria enjoys playing the drums, trumpet, bass, and is also learning guitar.She is an active distance swimmer, accomplished tennis player, loves biking, and general fitness. Maria plays for the Baton Rouge Music Club Chorus, is a freelance pianist at LSU, has played for the New Orleans Gay Men’s Chorus, and teaches private piano and voice. She is active in musical theater, classical endeavors, and choral events. She also loves knock knock jokes, is an avid face-booker, tweeter, & you-tuber. She is currently enrolled in

Education for Ministry, a unique four-year distance learning certificate program in theological education based upon small-group study and practice. Continuing studies in music academia are a possibility yet writing new music and sharing songs through passionate expression is essential.

Rick Limpscomb

Ronny Daley

Mona Sevilla

Mona Sevilla has lived in Baton Rouge since 1997. She started her bookkeeping firm (Number Crunchers, LLC) in 2008, and works with several small and mid-size companies in the surrounding area. Mona has a degree in philosophy from LSU.

Jack Warner

Jay Weber