Fr. Tom McAlpine received his BA in Philosophy at the University of California (Berkeley, 1971). He then worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in campus ministry and multi-media production. During this time he worked with Elvice Strong, and was confirmed in the Episcopal Church.

After InterVarsity, he returned to study of the Old Testament, earning a MA in Semitic Languages and Literatures from Fuller Theological Seminary (1976), and a PhD in Old Testament from Yale University (1984). Elvice continued in InterVarsity, and spent 1977-1978 in Asia, training national offices in multi-media production. He and Elvice were married in Madison (1978); Tommy came along in 1980, and the family returned to Madison while Fr. Tom finished his dissertation and he and Elvice both worked for InterVarsity. The dissertation, Sleep, Divine and Human, in the Old Testament, was published by the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series.

Post-PhD, he began working for World Vision International. Over the next 18 years he consulted with field offices, planned and facilitated training workshops, wrote (Facing the Powers; By Word, Work, and Wonder; articles in Working with the Poor and Ser, Hacer, Decir), produced (The City for God’s Sake), and taught in World Vision’s in-service MBA program. That filled up a number of passports; the high point was a three-year posting to San José, Costa Rica (¡pura vida!). Most years he taught Old Testament courses as an adjunct in Southern Californian colleges and seminaries, primarily Fuller Theological Seminary. At Church of our Saviour he wrote curriculum for adult formation and played guitar for monthy Taizé services. Meanwhile, Elvice continued working on campus, now as an assistant director in the Financial Aid Office of the University of Southern California.

Toward the end of his time with World Vision he began responding to a call to the priesthood, and through his sponsoring parish (Church of our Saviour) and mentoring parish (Church of the Ascension), was ordained to the priesthood in 2004, serving initially St John’s, San Bernardino where he gathered a Spanish-speaking congregation. Tommy received his MA in Archaeology from Ball State University in 2005, and has since been doing field work on site surveys and excavations in the Midwest.

In February 2006 Fr. Tom became rector at St James’ in Manitowoc, and in December 2007 was called by St Peter’s Ripon to be their rector. In the Diocese of Fond du Lac Fr. Tom serves as Secretary to the Convention and to the Executive Council, and for the national church was a reader of the General Ordination Exams in 2008.

For recreation Fr. Tom and Elvice bike, play contract bridge, read, and walk.

“The privilege of Christian discipleship is that Jesus’ story and my story (with all its good bits and bad bits, its messiness and loose ends, with all the people with whom my life is intertwined) become a single story. That’s an adventure that beats Star Trek: TNG, and has the advantage of being real. By choice Elvice and I are in the Diocese of Fond du Lac; by sheer grace we’ve landed at St Peter’s in Ripon. We’ve received a warm welcome; we look forward to walking more of the city and meeting more of its good people.” (Fr. Tom, March 2008).