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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Stephen and Janet Arpee
We met and married in Iran in 1961. Stephen was there as a
Presbyterian missionary teacher and Janet was an English
nurse-midwife in the National Iranian Oil Company hospital.
Stephen decided to become an Anglican and was confirmed by
Bishop Hassan Dehqani, and a year later we went to the General
Theological Seminary in New York City. In 1966, after a year in
England, we returned to Iran where Stephen was ordained
priest by Bishop Dehqani. By then we had two sons, John and
David. In all, we spent sixteen years over a span of twenty in
Iran, mostly as missionaries of the Episcopal Church USA. The
last seven years we served the English-speaking congregation in
Tehran, made up of people from a variety of backgrounds who
became a very lively Christian community. Iran, and the Persian
Church, is still very much part of our present love and concern.
We returned to the US in 1978 and Stephen was called to be
rector of St. Margaret's Church, in Washington DC. The Iranian
revolution was in progress and at the same time St. Margaret's
congregation (and indeed the whole Episcopal Church) was going
through a painful transition. Nevertheless, the congregation
grew, and there was a deepening of spiritual life. It was a rough
time for everyone, but we did learn something new about the
dynamics of congregational life. It came to be very clear that
our top priority must be to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus and
participate in his work of reconciliation.
Lay leadership has always been important to us. Since 1986 we
have been doing various ministries under the umbrella of Church
Without Walls, dedicated to finding new ways to be the Church
in our rapidly changing culture, ways based on the formation of
networks of small Christian groups that support the ministry of
the laity in the workplace. This has included the development of
Christian networking through telecommunications.
During these years, Stephen also served as Assistant Priest at
All Saints' Church, Chevy Chase, and as Priest-in-Charge of St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, Point of Rocks, Maryland. In the
meantime, Janet went to work on the psychiatric unit at
Children's Hospital, working with little children and their families,
and to balance psychology with theology she did the Chaplain's
Program at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. She continued at Children's
Hospital until her retirement last year.
Now, much to our surprise (we both thought we had "retired"),
we find ourselves in Accokeek, called to share in the ministry of
reconciliation here.
The Rev. Stephen T. Arpee
Rector, Christ Church, Accokeek, St. John's Parish
Home: 202-362-6016 E-mail: AccokeekChurch@aol.com
8/30/02
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