The Reverend Eleanor Ellsworth

 

In 1990, The Reverend Mrs. Ellsworth was ordained to the diaconate at the Washington National Cathedral and to the priesthood on December 9, 1990 at Christ Episcopal Church in Rockville, MD. During the decade of the 1990’s she served Christ Episcopal in Rockville, MD; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Point-of-Rocks, MD, and Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington, MD.  She was a Cathedral Chaplain at the Washington National Cathedral and chaired the Cathedral Fund Committee. In the diocese she was active with the Peace Commission, co-leading the US-USSR youth pilgrimage in 1990, and served on the Washington Episcopal Clergy Association Board. She served on the boards of the Norwood School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and Ivymount School (special needs education) in the Washington area.

 

Her son and daughter were educated at the Norwood School in Bethesda, MD, then progressed to St. Albans and Holton-Arms, respectively. In 1998 her husband, Al, died after a long illness.

 

On January 1, 2000 she drove to Memphis, TN where she had attended high school at St. Agnes Academy, an all-girls Dominican school, to become the Senior Chaplain and Head of Religious Studies at St. Mary’s Episcopal School (pre-K through 12). She served local churches on Sundays when possible. Mrs. Ellsworth served on the Board of Governors of the National Association of Episcopal School (NAES.)

 

She moved to San Diego, CA with her new husband, Robert F. (Bob) Ellsworth, and began life anew, becoming canonically resident in the Diocese of San Diego. She served St. James by-the-Sea in La Jolla, CA numerous years. She also served as the Bishop’s Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer for several years, co-chaired the Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue Committee and served on the board of the Regional Interfaith Collaborative. She taught Ecumenism at the Diocesan School for Ministry and served on the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers Board of Directors (EDIEO). She held numerous volunteer roles in the diocese, including service on Executive Council, and Chair of the Commission on Ministry. 

 

A unique ministry of hers grew out of her passion for Church and the World ministry. She was appointed as a multi-year delegate by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) to the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women, coordinated by the Episcopal Church Center in New York City. In the community, she served on the Board of Directors of the La Jolla Music Society and Bodhi Tree Concerts as well as the La Jolla Rotary and the Foundation for Women, dedicated to supporting microcredit opportunities abroad and locally. In 2015 she was invested into the Venerable Order of St. John and currently serves on its U.S. Priory Chapter. Her last position before retirement was Interim Vicar at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church (and School) in Temecula, CA. She retired and moved to Chestertown in late 2018. Her husband had died in 2011. 

 

Prior to Ordination, she attended Virginia Theological Seminary (1986-1990), receiving the Master’s Degree in Divinity. Her previous professional work included teaching in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Tennessee where she earned both the Master’s in Library and Information Science and Master’s in Public Administration degrees. She became the first full time Staff Development Officer at the University of Tennessee Library. She and two others co-founded the non-profit Knoxville Child Development Center, caring for infants and toddlers. She chaired the Intellectual Freedom Committee for the Tennessee State Library Association.

 

Recruited by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), she worked in training and development, traveling the seven states the agency served. Moving to Washington, D.C. in 1979, she briefly worked on a consultant basis for the Office of Personnel Management as a writer before joining the faculty at the Catholic University of America (CUA)’s School of Library and Information Science. She directed a government funded program, then became Associate Professor and Director of the government funded National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC).  She resigned that position to begin the ordination process in the Diocese of Washington.

 

Since the pandemic years, her Chestertown household has grown into a lively multi-generational family: her daughter and son-in-law (Sara and Shawn Forrest) and their children (Oliver “Ollie” age 4 and Eloise, age 14 months.) Winnie is the Golden Retriever and Beenie is the “rescue pup” of mysterious origins. Nathalie is the family cat—a Siberian. Demi-tasse is a “rescue” also of mysterious origins. Eleanor enjoys Chestertown life and its people!