Welcome and Introduction of The Rev. Virginia (Ginger) Solaqua as Interim

Dear Friends,

We are writing with exciting news: we have called The Rev. Virginia (Ginger) Solaqua to be the Interim Rector of Church of Our Redeemer. Her first Sunday at Redeemer will be December 19th.

Ginger has recorded a video introduction that you can watch here:

Ginger comes to us from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ross, CA, where she most recently was Priest-in-Charge during their Rector’s extended sabbatical.  Prior to that, she was the Associate Priest at St. John’s.  At St. John’s, Ginger had a wide range of duties to include staff oversight, the transition to streaming services and other on-line activities, the development of emergency food programs for the local community, and various other social justice ministries.  Prior to St. John’s, Ginger was an Assistant Minister in New York City and led Youth and Young Adult ministries in Paris.

Ginger is a graduate of Yale Divinity School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was ordained in 2011 by the Bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.  Prior to seminary she also worked in various social justice ministries to include domestic violence prevention, shelters for the homeless, and food security.

Ginger lives with her husband Anthony Solaqua, a commercial underwriting officer for CNA Insurance, in Cambridge.  Ginger and Anthony are avid hikers and skiers. They are working on climbing all 48 of the 4000-foot peaks in the White Mountains. Right now they are on number 12. Ginger also enjoys reading mystery novels and back issues of the New Yorker, learning Spanish, and a good podcast. Anthony is a native of the North Shore, and Ginger is from Houston. This will be her first Boston winter.

Ginger’s role as Interim Priest-in-Charge will be to walk with us, offering guidance and support during this time of transition.  She will help us clarify our sense of our who we are and where God is at work among us as we enter into this new phase of our life as a community.

We are thankful to our diocesan Bishops, and especially to Bishop Carol Gallagher, for their ongoing support and insight during this time of transition.  We also want to thank Jim Neumann and Ian Fox for their hard work in helping us with the financial and personnel issues related to placing Ginger with us at Redeemer.  Their detailed knowledge of all such matters was invaluable.

Finally, we especially want to thank all of you for your prayers and support through this process. We know Ginger will find Redeemer a wonderful place to be in ministry with us as we work through this transition to a new Rector.

Your Wardens,

Sarah and Murray