Our Rector and Staff

Clergy and Staff

Father Alan Crippen, Rector

Father Alan Crippen is an ordained presbyter, archdeacon, and one of the most experienced clergy in the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word. He has a background in both parish ministry and church planting as well as non-profit organization work. A U.S. Army veteran, his military service includes artillery platoon and battery command. Additionally his background as a non-profit executive and collegiate level teacher enhance his ministry. Fr. Crippen has worked for International Students, Inc., Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Family Research Council in Washington D.C., the John Jay Institute (of which he is the founder), and most recently American Bible Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he directed content development and exhibits for the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center and served as general editor of the Faith and Liberty Bible, an American historical application study Bible. Fr. Crippen was graduated from Cairn University with a bachelor’s degree and Westminster Theological Seminary with his master’s. He is the father of five children and thirteen grandchildren with his late wife, Michelle, who tragically died of cancer in 2020. He has since been remarried to Leonor Lee of Alexandria, Virginia, the widowed mother of four children and seven grandchildren. Together they make their home in Hillsdale, Michigan.

Affiliated Clergy: Father Adam Rick, Chaplain of Hillsdale College

Fr. Adam Rick has served as the Chaplain of Hillsdale College since 2016. In that role, he focuses on spiritual formation, teaching, Christian unity, and leading the college in worship and prayer. Fr. Adam is passionate about equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, especially through the ancient wisdom of spiritual disciplines and rules of life. He also has a deep love of the liturgy and bringing Christians together in the common worship of our one God and his Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. In his priestly ministry, he has served Anglican parishes in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. He is married to Dr. Katherine Rick, Assistant Conductor and Accompanist of the Christ Chapel Choir at Hillsdale College, and together they enjoy their two young children.

Chaplain (LTC) Ralph Bieganek, Interim Director of Children's Catechesis

Ralph Bieganek is a native of Berlin, Wisconsin, where he was raised in a working class rural family. It was normal for his family to raise much of their own food and work independently. His family had very little church involvement. But this changed in his teen years when he first heard the claims of Christ. At just 17, he enlisted in the Army Reserves as a means of escaping the isolation of farm country. This would open doors for some travel and education. Ralph would meet Carol Benge at Central Michigan University a couple of years later. This was in the context of a Christian campus ministry that was formational in both of their lives. They were married in 1986 at the tender age of 22.

Ralph would go on to graduate from Great Lakes Bible College in Lansing, MI, and then go for graduate work at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY, earning a Masters of Divinity in 1992. Ralph went to serve as an Associate Minister at First Christian Church in Green Bay, WI. A few years later, he moved back to Kentucky for work, including Clinical Pastoral Education. After being the Army Reserves then for 17+ years, Ralph was selected for active duty as a US Army Chaplain. What was expected to be just a 3-year commitment would turn out to be 25 years of ongoing service with duty stations in: Kentucky, Korea, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington D.C., Germany, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, and then Detroit, MI.

Since retiring from the Army in 2023, Ralph has given time to work on their small farm west of Hillsdale and learning new ways to serve outside of the military. Ralph really enjoys caring for trees and working on repair projects. Ministry at Holy Trinity Parish has been a joy including working with the Children’s Chapel and Catechism.

Dr. Katherine Harris Rick, Director of Music and Organist

Pianist and organist Katherine Harris Rick made her solo debut at age nine in her
hometown of Yakutsk, Siberia, winning the Republic of Yakutia Competition for Young
Pianists. She went on to gather accolades from international competitions in six
countries, and has played in several internationally-known venues such as Carnegie
Hall and the Kennedy Center. From 2011-2014, she was a founding member of the
award-winning Russian Trio with Nikita Borisevich (violin) and the late Dmitry Volkov
(cello). Dr. Rick was given a full scholarship to Azusa Pacific University when she was
only fifteen years old. Subsequently, she went on to complete her Master of Music and
Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at The Peabody Conservatory with full graduate
assistantships.

Dr. Rick served as organist and music minister at Christ Church Anglican on the Main
Line in Philadelphia from 2013-2016 and as organist at Media Presbyterian Church from 2014-2016. She moved to Hillsdale, Michigan in 2016 and served as piano instructor and staff accompanist at Hillsdale College from 2016-2021. Since then, she transitioned to sacred music and is now Accompanist and Assistant Conductor for the Hillsdale College Chapel Choir. She was also the Director of Music at Holy Trinity Parish from 2016-2021 and is happy to have returned to that role. She is married to Anglican priest Fr. Adam Rick, and together they have three beautiful children.

Dr. Derek Stauff, Associate Organist

Dr. Derek Staff is an associate professor of music at Hillsdale College and teaches music history and organ. He began his music career as a pianist in kindergarten, when his parents first signed him up for lessons. In high school, he developed an interest in organ and began alternating weekly lessons between piano and organ. While studying at Grove City College, an influential teacher nudged him in the direction of the organ. In 2014 he completed his Ph.D. in musicology from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, with a dissertation on music, confession, and politics during the Thirty Years War. His ongoing research on this topic has been published in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, the Schütz-Jahrbuch, the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, and Bach Perspectives. Dr. Stauff has also edited or is in the process of editing editions of music by several composers working in seventeenth-century Leipzig. Dr. Stauff and his family make their home in the City of Hillsdale.

Casey Gregg, Choirmistress

Casey Gregg grew up in a home flooded with choral music, and her best childhood memories are of family singing, assisting in church worship, and learning from her parents’ collegiate choral leadership. She studied English at Hillsdale College, pursuing music on the side, and went on to teach Junior High and High School music in Phoenix, AZ. She returned to Hillsdale in 2015 and has since served on and off as both choir mistress and music minister for 8 years. Casey lives in Hillsdale with her husband Jonathan where she shepherds and homeschools her four little ones.

Carol Bieganek, Director of Women's Ministry

Carol (Benge) Bieganek was born in Hillsdale Hospital during fair week, thus considering it a celebration just for her. She is the youngest of five raised on a farm in Allen township, so she was driving tractors long before cars. She met her husband, Ralph, in a campus ministry while studying at Central Michigan University. They were married after Carol graduated, and she began her PHT (Putting Hubby Through) his Bible college and seminary studies.

After 17 years in the Army Reserves, Ralph entered active duty, taking Carol and their kids around the world for 25 years. Their duty stations were located in Kentucky, South Korea, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington D.C., Germany, Colorado and Hawai’i. Carol managed the household and volunteered in many chapel ministries, including an international women’s ministry for military spouses. In 2015, while in Hawai’i, Carol and Ralph began worshiping in an Anglican Church. The liturgy, weekly communion, and close knit fellowship refreshed their souls and drew them into the Anglican Community.

Carol and Ralph have three young adult children whose good looks and godly character far surpass their parents. Both daughters studied at Hillsdale College, Allison (2017) and Carrie (2019) while their parents were living elsewhere. Allison is married, teaches piano and works for a non-profit ministry. Carrie is a Latin and Greek teacher at a Great Hearts School in San Antonio, Texas. Their son, John, graduated from Wheaton College, commissioned into the Army, and is currently serving in South Korea.

The summer of 2021, Carol and Ralph moved to Hillsdale County and joined the Holy Trinity Parish. They’ve since bought 60 acres where they enjoy hosting families from the church. Aside from spending time with extended family and serving her beloved parish, Carol enjoys reading, quilting, walking in the woods, cruising in her red convertible, and lounging pinned to the couch by her 85 pound labradoodle.

Wendy Coykendall, Parish Administrator

Wendy Coykendall grew up in a missionary family, and has lived in four countries, three states, and is content to remain in Hillsdale, Michigan. She graduated from Hillsdale College in 2010 with degrees in English and Latin, and has been a tutor, a nanny, a bakery assistant, and a contract writer. She and her husband Eric, who is a Hillsdale alumnus and employee, were married shortly after graduating. Wendy homeschools their five children, and in her spare time, she reads, bakes, knits, sews, and helps Eric in restoring their Victorian home.

Timothy Green, Accountant

Timothy Green is a native of Winchester, VA where he was raised in a large Christian family of 14. They faithfully attended a non-denominational church, where Timothy found his faith and roots in the Word. During his college years, he met and fell in love with Gianna, who is now his cherished wife. Together, they decided to make Hillsdale their home, drawn by the people and their strong values.

Since 2016, they have been active members of Holy Trinity Parish. They have participated in the choir, children's ministry, coffee hour, and other ministries. Professionally, Timothy serves as an accountant at Bailey, Hodshire, and Co., bringing his economic expertise to the financial realm. Gianna, on the other hand, thrives as the GM of the Dawn Theater, showcasing her heart for hospitality and event management. Their spare time is dedicated to their community, playing pickleball, performances at the Sauk, and other activities.

Sam Negus, head of Acolyte Ministry and Catechist

Sam Negus grew up in Nottinghamshire, England, less than twenty miles from the village where archbishop Thomas Cranmer (author of the Book of Common Prayer) was born and baptized five centuries earlier. His initiation to the Prayer Book tradition of Anglican worship, however, came in adulthood, at St. Andrew's parish in Fort Worth, Texas. Like many wanderers, he had to go a long way before finding his spiritual way home (a divine "twitch upon the thread," perhaps). Sam and his wife Laura were both raised in evangelical homes, and are both old enough to remember when "parent supervision" meant knowing what time you were supposed to be home for dinner. They have been married nearly twenty years. In another life they became hipster farmers when they were still young enough for that to work out, but in this universe Sam studied American history at Texas Christian University and now works as an academic administrator at Hillsdale College. This is the Negus's second stint living in Hillsdale and worshipping at Holy Trinity. Sam's daughter Joy was baptized at the parish ten years ago when babies were a much rarer species. Time appears to be speeding up exponentially, as she now serves as an acolyte. Sam's hobbies are mostly basic dad stuff: home improvement, brewing, reading, trying not to think about his useless sportsball teams, etc. He is glad to serve Holy Trinity as acolyte and altar ministry coordinator, or in any capacity that may be needed. Mostly he's afraid that if he doesn't say 'yes' when asked to serve, his very pious mother would disapprove.

Leah Novak, head of Altar Guild

Leah Novak is a military wife, mother of three, and fitness instructor. She originally hails from Whidbey Island, WA, and earned a Classics degree from Hillsdale College in 2006. Her marriage to John in 2004 brought about her attending Holy Trinity Parish, resulting in a long-term friendship with Fr Beauchamp and his wife, Kathy, that the Novaks maintained throughout the years of service in the United States Marine Corps. When John returned to finish his degree in 2015, they naturally returned to Holy Trinity, and Kathy invited Leah to join the Altar Guild. She became the head of the Altar Guild a few years later, a service she both cherishes and finds humbling. She teaches part-time at Hillsdale College in Sports Studies, has a passion for sharing clean living tips, and enjoys many pursuits such as gardening, reading, writing, and drinking tea.

Grant More, Tech and Sound Director

Grant More has been a resident of Hillsdale since his family moved here in 2019, though he became more settled in 2021 after finishing school in his native state of Oregon. He now works in Human Resources for Meijer and is happy to be working in-person again, as opposed to working remotely since COVID. He enjoys the slower pace of life in Hillsdale (compared to big-city metros), the tight-knit community of neighbors, and the unique focus on family values, local business loyalty, and civic engagement. Grant finished his Business Management degree from George Fox University in 2021, and has a passion for arranging people's talents with the tasks set before them.

While in college, he began attending a newly affiliated ACNA church nearby, called Church of the Vine (Churches for the Sake of Others Diocese). He had no prior exposure to Anglicanism or the Book of Common Prayer, but he became very interested in how church tradition had formed over the centuries through his church history classes, which were complementary to this new Anglican experience. Having grown up attending Baptist churches, he found a richness in Anglican tradition he felt he had missed out on. He thoroughly enjoys the liturgy and fellowship at Holy Trinity.

In his spare time, Grant administers a (currently) very small ancient-future bat and ball sport called 21st Century Townball, plays guitar, listens to the likes of Jordan Peterson and Aaron Renn, occasionally does brazilian jiu jitsu, and takes his canoe out on Baw Beese Lake in the summertime.