Cathedral Clergy
The Rt. Rev. Kevin D. Nichols
Bishop of Bethlehem
The Rt. Rev. Kevin D. Nichols was ordained and consecrated as the IX Bishop of Bethlehem on September 15, 2018. He was elected on the first ballot of a Special Electing Convention held on April 28, 2018 at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity. Prior to his election, Nichols was chief operating officer and canon for mission resources in the Diocese of New Hampshire. Nichols was formerly president of the Diocese of New Hampshire’s Standing Committee and a member of the church-wide Task Force to Reimagine the Episcopal Church. Nichols began his ministry as a bi-vocational priest, serving a small rural parish while working full-time as an account manager and management trainer for Sealed Air Corporation, a packaging company. A former Roman Catholic priest who received his master of divinity degree from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, he was received into the Episcopal priesthood in 1999 and has served as rector of St. Stephen’s in Pittsfield, New Hampshire and St. Andrew’s in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. The bishop’s wife, Patti, is a licensed clinical social worker. They have four adult children: Graham, Lindsay, Bryan and Keaton, and three grandchildren.
The Very Rev. Jon Stratton
Dean and Rector
​
Born and raised in small-town southern Illinois, Jon is a husband, father of three, preacher, priest, activist, bicycle enthusiast, and sometimes amateur filmmaker. Jon has roots in the Pentecostal tradition but fell in love with the Episcopal church while studying history at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. He was confirmed at Trinity Episcopal in Mattoon, Illinois, and after earning his BA in History, Jon and his wife Susie moved to St. Louis to attend Eden Theological Seminary where he received a Master of Divinity. He spent one year "on the mountain" in Sewanee, Tennessee studying Anglican Theology and Liturgy and received a Diploma of Anglican Studies from Sewanee Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests by the Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.
Email: dean@nativitycathedral.org
Phone: 610-849-6376
The Rev. Maryann Philbrook Sturges
Curate for Community Connections
​
The Rev. Maryann Philbrook Sturges is the Curate for Community Connections here at the Cathedral. She started working with us in June of 2022, just after graduating with a Master of Divinity from The Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She was recently ordained a priest here at the Cathedral! She is part of the inaugural class of Trinity Wall Street Leadership Fellows. She is originally from Louisiana, but has lived in Los Angeles, Europe, Austin, Peru, Chicago, and New York City. She is delighted to be able to serve as clergy here at the Cathedral. In her spare time, she loves reading murder mysteries, watching telenovelas, cooking new foods, and cuddling with her cats. She lives here in Bethlehem with her husband, Shawn Sturges.
​
Email: mps@nativitycathedral.org
Phone: 484-892-5770
The Rev. Rodney Conn
Deacon
​
Deacon Rodney serves as one of the coordinators of the Cathedral's emergency shelter ministry (Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering). He has served as past president of their board of directors and currently the property committee chair. Deacon Rodney currently serves the Diocese as a member of the Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, and the Mission Resources Grant Committee. He is also a member of the Reunification Discernment Team.
The Rev. Jennifer Burkhardt
Deacon
Deacon Jen is a lifelong Episcopalian who has worshipped and served at St. Margaret’s Church in the Diocese of Bethlehem for the last four decades. She has served in many parish lay ministries from the time she was young, including many years as an active youth and adult participant in the diocesan youth ministries. Most recently she has been the community outreach coordinator at St. Margaret’s, fostering and growing a relationship between the parish and the East Penn School District. Her ministry in outreach grew out of a passion to help students and families facing financial struggles and included working with the EHS Angel Network, a non-profit working within the school district to help bridge the gaps for struggling students, and the expansion of St. Margaret’s Sharing Tree program to provide holiday gifts and food to families selected by the school district’s social worker. She has also coordinated the monthly worship services held at Legend Senior Living with parish volunteers.