Clergy & Staff
The Rev. Bernard Poppe, Interim Dean
The Rev. Bernie Poppe became the Interim Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in December 2023. He was ordained priest in 1985 and served parishes in Newark, NJ; Brooklyn and Queens, NY; Maplewood, NJ; and Worcester MA. Born and raised in Rhode Island as a cradle Episcopalian, he attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA on a track scholarship and majored in Sociology and Education. Upon graduation, he taught for two years in Jesuit grammar and high schools in Alaska as part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He entered The General Theological Seminary in 1981.
Bernie’s ministry has focused on pastoral care, liturgy and spirituality. He taught classes in Stewardship and Preparation for Eucharistic Ministry and Lay Readers at the Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island. He has led, and continues to lead, retreats for parishes, vestries, 12 step recovery groups and individual spiritual direction. While serving St. George’s Church in Maplewood, NJ, Bernie received an award from First Friends, an advocacy group for political asylum detainees for his work providing emergency shelter for released detainees. For three years prior to his call to All Saints Church in Worcester, Bernie was Chaplain to the Sisters of St. John the Baptist in Mendham NJ and is currently an associate of the Order of the Holy Cross.
The Rev. Canon Michael DeVine, Assisting Priest
Born and raised in Iowa, Michael entered the Peace Corps upon graduating from Augustana College, and served three years in Chile and Paraguay. He then began attending seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, where he met his future wife, Mariana Bauman. Service in the Army intervened briefly, but seminary studies resumed in 1973 at Virginia Theological Seminary. Michael graduated in 1977 and began serving as Hispanic Missioner for the Diocese of New Jersey. He was assigned to a struggling English-speaking parish in Camden, NJ, but developed a vibrant Spanish-speaking parish that continues to this day.
In 1979, Michael and Mariana traveled to Peru where they adopted two infants as their children: Christopher and Marisa. In 1989, Michael and family moved to Rhode Island to another struggling parish in the center of a Spanish speaking community – Central Falls. Again, the Holy Spirit moved and a new Spanish congregation was established with the English-speaking members at St. George’s.
In 2003, Michael and family moved to Springfield to serve as Canon for Hispanic Ministry at Christ Church Cathedral. Michael retired from the Cathedral at the end of 2012, and soon became the Interim Priest at near-by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Springfield. He continues to serve there to this time. In 2023, Dean Tom Callard at Christ Church Cathedral asked Fr. DeVine to return to the Cathedral to assist with Hispanic Ministry on a part-time basis. When Dean Callard left the Cathedral later that year, Michael continued to serve the Spanish-speaking community.
The Rev. Canon Jerry True, Assisting Priest
The Rev. Canon Jerry True, a priest of the Episcopal Church, now retired, was born in Fulton, New York on October 21st, 1939 to Mr. & Mrs. Lisle and Marjorie True. He had one older sibling, Marlene, who is now deceased. He was graduated by Fulton High School in 1957. Jerry then began study at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He entered the U.S. Army in 1962 and served in the 9th Engineer Battalion as an S-3 NCO in Aschaffenburg, West Germany until 1965.
In 1966, after training as an organ voicer and finisher with the Austin Pipe Organ Company in Hartford, CT and then serving as chief voicer and finisher with the Berkshire Organ Company of West Springfield, MA until 1976, Jerry did further study at American International College in Springfield, MA earning a BLS (Bachelor of Liberal Studies) degree. That same year he began studies at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Manhattan, NY, earning a MDiv (Master of Divinity Degree) in 1979.
Jerry was ordained Deacon at Christ Church, Fitchburg, MA and then Priest at St. Michael’s-on-the-Heights in Worcester, MA by the Right Rev. Alexander D. Stewart in 1979. He served at St. Michael’s as Assistant to the Rector under the Rev. Canon Donald F. Chamberlain until July of 1983. He then accepted the call to be their Rector by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Attica, NY. He served as rector of St. Luke’s Parish for 22 years, retiring in July of 2005. He also served as Dean of the Genesee Deanery and for three years as President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Western New York.
After retiring from St. Luke’s Church, Jerry returned to the Diocese of Western Massachusetts to join his partner David in their home in Springfield. After acting for a few years as supply priest, Jerry was placed by Bishop Scruton as Priest-in-Charge of Grace Church in Chicopee where he served until he and David moved to Cape Coral Florida in 2014. While in Florida, Jerry acted as a supply priest for the Diocese of Southwestern Florida.
In 2014, Jerry and David returned to Springfield and were married on December 28, 2015, by the future Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, assisted by a former seminary classmate of Jerry’s and an old friend, a retired Pastor of the United Methodist Church.
When Jerry recovered from leg surgery and then gained a suitable leg prosthetic in 2016, he was asked by the Dean to be a part of the staff, which Jerry joyfully accepted. Subsequently, Jerry was given the title of Honorary Canon by Bishop Fisher. David, Jerry’s spouse and partner for 50 years, died during the pandemic in July of 2020. His cremains remain at rest in the Columbarium of the Cathedral.
Jerry remains as a volunteer at the Cathedral, where he now appreciates the opportunity to serve as an assisting Priest.
The Rev. Dr. Kathryn P. Derose, is Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Deacon who has been serving Christ Church Cathedral since March 2024.
Deacon Kate was ordained in the Diocese of Los Angeles in 1998 and served 4 parishes during her tenure there, including 3 with multi-cultural congregations and services in Spanish. As a public health professor and researcher, she focuses on understanding and addressing health inequalities. She has led multiple studies funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, including current work in the Dominican Republic to improve food security among people with HIV and a church-based study in Los Angeles to increase physical activity among Latino adults. She is also starting new collaborative research in Springfield, in partnership with the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services and the Faith-Based Health Alliance. Deacon Kate is bilingual, having lived and worked in community health development in Latin America for 6 years before pursuing graduate education in public health.
Deacon Kate received her B.A. in Comparative Area Studies, Latin America from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Health Services Research and M.P.H. in Population and Family Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. She and her husband Steve Derose have two adult sons, one working in Boston and the other currently in college in upstate New York.
Dr. Colin Britt,
Music Director
Dr. Colin Britt is a conductor, composer, pianist/organist, and educator based in Massachusetts. In addition to his work at Christ Church Cathedral which began on June 2, 2024, he also serves as Director of Choral Activities at Mount Holyoke College and as Artistic Director and Conductor of the West Village Chorale in New York City. Prior to his current appointments, he served for seven years as Choir Director at Rutgers Preparatory School and for ten years as Director of Music at Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City. He has also served on the conducting faculty at SUNY New Paltz and the Hartt School, as director of Amuse Singers and North River Sing, and he is the founding director of Terpsichore Ensemble.
He has worked for many years as a collaborative pianist and organist, accompanying choirs with the West Hartford school district and honor choirs in Connecticut and Maine, and as a staff accompanist with the Hartt School vocal and theater divisions. Also active in musical theater, he has directed music for productions with Playhouse on Park, the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival, Centenary Stage Company, and theaters in his home state of Maine. His compositions have been performed by ensembles at Rutgers, Westminster Choir College, Hartt, Yale, and Seraphic Fire, the Yale Schola Cantorum, the Yale Alumni Chorus, C4, VOCE, and the Riverside Choral Society, and by ensembles across the country and on four continents.
Colin holds degrees from the Hartt School, the Yale School of Music, and Rutgers University. He lives in Longmeadow with his wife Tori, their daughters Amelia and Lilah, and their dog Mari.
Sergio D’Orsini, Hispanic Ministries Music Director
Sergio D’Orsini was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a young boy, his two passions were soccer and music. He began learning guitar when he was 7. When he was 14, his Italian- born father was hired by a Swiss company and moved the family to Switzerland. Sergio already spoke Spanish and Italian, and in Switzerland, he learned German for high school and for his after-school jobs.
There were not the same opportunities to play soccer in Switzerland, so he concentrated on music, learning guitar and other instruments, and started his own touring band when he graduated. His band was very popular, and he and his group played gigs all over Western Europe for 11 years. In 1990, he graduated from the SAE Institute, an audio engineering program in Stuttgart, Germany. That year, the family returned to Montevideo and he opened Maxi Music Recording Studio where he recorded many successful Uruguayan and Argentine musicians and continued playing and producing.
In 2003, he moved to the United States and continued his work as a professional musician and sound engineer. He has been a member of the group, MarkaMusic, since 2007. In 2015, he was hired as a musician for the Latino/Hispanic community’s mass at Christ Church Cathedral. He became their music director for the choir in 2016 and continues today in this position. He also works for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Holyoke where he provides the music for their weekly Spanish mass as well as at their English 10:00 am service once a month.
Sergio resides in Springfield with his wife, Sara, and has two adult daughters who also live and work in Springfield.
Amanda Paredes, Office Administrator
Amanda was born in The Bronx, NY, but attended her school years in Springfield, MA. She graduated from Springfield Central High School, before she moved to New York City to pursue the stage! That didn’t exactly work out as she planned, and she ended up working in a group home for the developmentally disabled for 6 years, eventually rising to the position of Assistant Manager. While on a day trip to Central park, Amanda ended up meeting the love of her life, a wrestler named Dioris. She was married to Dioris in 2016.
When Covid-19 hit in 2020, Amanda and Dioris decided to move to back to Springfield to escape the craziness of the city. She worked as an Administrative Assistant for a Home Health Aide Agency. When she left that job she accepted the position of Office Administrator of Christ Church Cathedral. She has happily maintained that position since 2021.
Amanda and Dioris are currently expecting their first child in November 2024, Amanda is also currently enrolled in the Business Administration Program at Springfield Technical Community College, where she hopes to graduate with her Associate’s Degree in May of 2026.