The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining, Rector
The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining is thrilled to be joining St. Columba’s Episcopal Church as Rector in September 2025 and looks forward to walking alongside this vibrant and faithful community in worship, service, and spiritual growth.
From the earliest moments of her life, Hillary has felt a deep call to the priesthood—an experience she remembers as vividly today as the moment it happened in her sister’s nursery, where she saw dust floating in a sunbeam and sensed it as the Holy Spirit calling her to share God’s love with others. That spark has guided her ever since.
Hillary brings more than 18 years of ordained leadership, having served in parishes of all sizes and contexts. She began her ministry at Trinity in Bethlehem, PA, an urban congregation with a robust soup kitchen, where she gained experience in community advocacy and operational leadership. She later served at St. David’s in Wayne, PA., the Episcopal Church’s 18th largest parish, coordinating pastoral care, theological formation, and fellowship programs for a broad and diverse community. For the past 12 years, she has served as the first female Rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church near Philadelphia, where she led the parish and its Day School through significant spiritual and numerical growth, while nurturing a joyful and inclusive culture centered on outreach and shared worship.
Hillary is passionate about helping people deepen their connection to God through traditional and innovative means. She is the founder of The Hive, an award-winning online community focused on spirituality and wellness (www.thehiveapiary.com). The Hive has become a thriving nonprofit with a global reach and has partnered with the Episcopal Church to create widely used resources, including the Way of Love Lenten curriculum and Holy Week broadcasts.
Hillary is also an accomplished scholar and teacher. She holds a Master of Divinity from Yale University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Doctor of Ministry from Drew University, where her work focused on worship, preaching, and reconciliation. She currently serves as the Founding Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary. Her academic work explores topics like leadership, reconciliation, preaching, trauma, and Indigenous theology—including meaningful research with her own tribe, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Native Americans, on ritual and intersectionality.
Hillary is a frequent contributor to Episcopal publications and podcasts, including the Church’s Prophetic Voices preaching podcast, and is often invited to speak, teach, and lead retreats around the country. She has served on numerous national church committees and boards and was honored to be a finalist in the bishop elections in both the Diocese of Vermont (2019) and the Diocese of Olympia (2024).
As a pastor, Hillary is known for her warmth, deep listening, and creative spirit. She is also a spiritual director, yoga and meditation instructor, forest therapist, and beekeeper, and brings a holistic approach to ministry grounded in love, joy, and justice.
Hillary is married to Ken Raining, a reference librarian, and together they are the proud parents of a teenager, Delia, who brings endless light and laughter to their lives. They are all excited to become part of the St. Columba’s family and the broader Washington, DC community.
Hillary writes:
Dear St. Columba’s,
Greetings in the Name of Jesus! I am honored and overjoyed to introduce myself as your new Rector alongside my husband, Ken (a Librarian at the University of Penn), and our teen, Delia (a rising high school senior). It is a privilege to join such a vibrant community, and I am grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside you in faith and service.
From the moment your amazing Vestry invited me to read your profile, I have been impressed with this community’s commitment to passionately live into your mission of embodying God’s love in the world. We live in a complex time when Christians will be called upon to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. I believe that when we intertwine our spiritual journeys with a dedication to justice, we can foster a community that nurtures individual spiritual growth and actively addresses the needs and challenges of the wider world. Together, we can deepen our faith and expand our outreach, striving to create a more just and loving Church that reflects God’s love in every action. That joy is what I have seen in St. Columba’s, and it makes me excited to join you on this mission.
My vocational life has consisted of over 18 years of ordained leadership, including parishes of all kinds and sizes, each offering experiences that I look forward to sharing with St. Columba’s.
Most recently, I have served for 12 years as the first female Rector of a parish and Day School near Philadelphia, St. Christopher’s. This ministry has called upon a variety of leadership skills, including pastoral care, spiritual guidance, financial acumen, and strategic planning, to guide an institution to financial, spiritual, and numerical growth. We are a vibrant community that loves to be together and have made it our mission to pastor the community with worship and outreach.
With the onset of the pandemic, we were well situated as a parish to be a leader for the whole Episcopal Church through our innovative online spirituality and wellness community, The Hive, which I had founded several years before. (www.thehiveapiary.com) It has become a financially self-sustaining non-profit. with members joining from around the globe.
Along with this parish and digital ministry, I have also kept one foot in the academic realm (yes, I am afraid you have called a nerd into your midst!). My research has included topics such as liturgics, leadership, homiletics, reconciliation, trauma, and Indigenous theology. Some of my most gratifying research experiences have allowed me to work with my own tribe—the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Native Americans—to study intersectionality (a concept that recognizes the interconnected nature of social categorizations like race, class, gender, and sexuality, and how these identities interact to create unique experiences of discrimination or privilege) and ritual.
Beyond all the “churchy stuff,” as my family likes to call it, I love all things outdoors. Ken and Delia describe our family dynamics as feeling like “two indoor cats forced to live with one very outdoorsy dog”–I’m the dog. For example, I spent my 40th birthday at my tribe’s reservation in Northern Michigan alone in the woods on a “vision quest.” It was 3 days and 2 nights spent on the land with no food, drink, water, shelter, or company. Admittedly, this is not a “normal” way to celebrate a birthday, but it was certainly memorable! Especially when it snowed (my feet are still cold). As an avid backcountry hiker, skier, registered yoga instructor, and Forest Therapy Guide, I love to help others connect to this beautiful creation. Also, I am a 4th generation beekeeper, so please consider yourselves warned because beekeepers LOVE bee puns. They get us “buzzing.” (I did warn you!) I also love music and play piano, violin, and ukulele.
Yet, beyond the particulars of my vocational and personal journey, what I hope will be most evident in our life together is my deep love for Jesus and a desire to serve the Holy Spirit with you all now and in this place. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve with you all at St. Columba’s. My prayers are with you, and my family and I are eager to be with you all soon.
Many Blessings,
Hillary