The Dove Chat

The Reverend R. Columba Salamony is an Episcopal priest. They currently live in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York and serve a local congregation of The Episcopal Church, Saint Mark's Church, in Penn Yan, New York. Penn Yan is at the northeast corner of Keuka Lake (the "crooked" lake, named for its Y shape) and is a vibrant little village with a lot going on!
 

Columba is a Baltimore native. They have spent most of their life living, working, and studying in the Baltimore area. They have a constant, unquenchable desire for Old Bay, Natty Boh, and Berger Cookies. They always enjoyed Baltimore's phenomenal food scene. Always drawn to nature, they loved hiking and enjoying the outdoors in the many green spaces in the metro area. 

The Baltimore area is also a spiritual home for Columba. Much of their spiritual life was formed in a variety of places, churches/congregations, and environments. Columba was ordained in the Episcopal Church out of the Diocese of Maryland. They were formed as an Episcopalian through the vibrant community at Saint Mary's Church, Emmorton, near Abingdon, Maryland. It was at Saint Mary's that Columba began to discern their call to a vocation in the Church. 

As part of their discernment journey, they returned to college to complete his undergraduate study. Nearly a decade older than most of their classmates, they graduated from Goucher College (Towson, MD) in 2017 with a bachelor's degree. They majored in Religion and studied its intersection/s with sex, gender, and race. This exposure as a student at Goucher, Columba was active in a variety of student organizations, including Goucher Interfaith. Their work in the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life helped inspire and confirm their passion for sharing the redemptive and liberation message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

While Columba was at Goucher, it was the only institution of higher education to require a study abroad experience for graduation. (Other colleges and universities have now adapted this requirement, to Columba's pleasure.) To satisfy this prereq, Columba headed to Scotland for six months to study at the University of Glasgow. This experience was greatly formational and inspired Columba to return to Glasgow a year later to complete a Master of Theology.
 

A year after leaving Glasgow, Columba moved to Berkeley, California, where they attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, The Episcopal Church’s seminary on the west coast of the USA. While attending CDSP, they were formed at Grace Church in Martinez, CA, under the mentorship of the Rev. Dr. Deborah White, who has become a good friend and colleague because of this experience. Before graduating with a Master of Divinity, Columba received a call to be the rector of Saint Mark’s in Penn Yan, New York. 

Like many other young (-ish) clergy in the Episcopal Church, Columba was not raised an Episcopalian. They spent their formative young adult years “church shopping,” spending much time in other Mainline Protestant denominations before turning to The Episcopal Church to become their home. Columba’s vocation as a priest (and indeed as a Christian) is shaped by the Episcopal Church’s baptismal covenant, found in the Book of Common Prayer, which asks Episcopalians to commit to the following things as a way of following Jesus Christ:

• Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?
• Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
• Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
• Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
• Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

These five questions are central to the ministry that Columba has been so called, and the response, “I will, with God’s help,” is a constant affirmation of their call to a vocation and life that is centered on activating justice, inspired by a God that is loving, liberating, and life-giving.