Clergy & Staff
​We can't wait to meet you!

Rector

Archdeacon

The Reverend Dr. Mauricio J. Wilson

The Venerable Canon Carolyn Bolton

Fr. Wilson, who also answers to Fr. Mauricio, became rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in October 2009.  Since arriving in the Bay Area to serve at St. Paul’s he has also been active in ministries around Oakland and the Diocese of California.  As the rector of St. Paul’s, he holds ex-officio seats on the Board of Clausen House in Oakland and St Paul’s Episcopal School.  He is the President of the Board of the Union of Black Episcopalians. 

He served on the Standing Committee and Executive Council of the Diocese, the Program and Budget Committee and chaired the Assessment Relief Committee, as well as the Diocesan Committee on Nominations. Fr. Wilson is a former member of the Governing Board of the National Association of Episcopal Schools and of the Board of Trustees of the C.D.S.P. Fr. Wilson was a Mayoral appointee to the City of Oakland’s Citizens Police Review Board and served as a Commissioner for 2016 and 2017.
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A lifelong Episcopalian, he is the child of deeply committed church leaders, his mother serves as a multidimensional lay leader of her parish and his father (R.I.P.) was Bishop of Costa Rica.  Fr. Mauricio started preaching at age 17, and was Youth Director of the Diocese of Costa Rica for 15 years. A business and accounting major at the University of Costa Rica, he was a registered CPA in his home country, eventually working as an auditor for Coopers Lybrand Accounting, the Coca Cola Co. and for a private bank. “My first calling was always to the priesthood,” said Fr. Wilson, who is bilingual in English and Spanish. “Accounting was my backup plan.” 

He attained the Doctor of Ministry degree in Ministry Development from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2013, as well as Master's degrees in Divinity and Sacred Theology (Liturgy) from General Theological Seminary in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
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His wife Karla is a Doctor of Mechanical Engineering, and they have two children who attend San Francisco State University. His hobbies include cooking (his kids love his Thanksgiving lasagna), collecting wines and driving different kinds of vehicles. He’s looking forward to learning to drive an 18-wheeler and a race car someday. His favorite book is Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and he figures he’s seen his favorite movie, The Matrix, 150 times.

​[email protected]

The Venerable Canon Carolyn Bolton is Archdeacon Emeritus and Canon of the Diocese of California and brings a long history of ministry to those in need that predates her ordination in 2005. She's been a social services coordinator at the Oak Center Towers affordable senior housing complex; worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Oakland for more than 20 years, and was the Day Labor Coordinator and Diamond Youth Shelter Coordinator at the Larkin Street Youth Center.

She helps seniors with basic emergency needs, food from the weekly produce market in St. Paul’s Parish Hall, and feeds our neighbors twice/month with the food pantry, St. Paul's Pantry of Hope.  She's a board member on St. Mary’s Center and Secretary, Aging Service of California, Season of Sharing Alameda County, Summit Health Ministry, and Area Agency on Aging Round Table.

Archdeacon Bolton was born and raised a Baptist in Oakland, and joined the Episcopal Church when she married her husband, Howard, in 1980. She has three adult children and three grandchildren.

[email protected] ​

Emeritus Associate Priest

The Rev. Christian Harding

Rev. Christian Harding had a long career in the ministry in his native Liberia, surviving the African nation’s civil war, before retiring to California and joining St. Paul’s as assisting clergy in 2004.

He is often the celebrant at the 8 a.m. Sunday service. Ordained in Liberia in 1981, Father Christian served in a number of capacities, at one time supervising 125 congregations and 110 priests. He was rector at St. Paul’s church in Liberia and served as a curate at Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia.  He was a teacher and principal at an Episcopal school for 21 years before his ordination. During the war, which started in 1998, his wife and six children left the country in search of safety.

Born on Christmas Day in 1933, he was one of 12 children in what he describes as a strict family. He allows that he’s had to make adjustments to the American church. "When I was preaching, I’d preach for 40 to 45 minutes. Here, you sometimes have to quell the spirit, and not go over 15 minutes.”

Now a widower, his hobbies include reading, listening to classical music and playing piano to amuse himself. He has many grandchildren, mostly on the East Coast, and one great-grandchild in Sacramento.

”I like quietness,” he says. ”I run from rowdy people.”

Assisting Priest

The Rev. Linda McConnell

BIO TO COME.

Assisting Priest

The Very Rev. Julia
​McCray-Goldsmith

The Very Rev. Julia McCray–Goldsmith is an Episcopal priest retired from serving as dean of the multilingual Trinity Cathedral in San Jose, California. Previously, Julia served as Canon for Discipleship on the staff of the Episcopal Bishop of California, and as Canon for Cathedral Life at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, Oregon.
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A former missionary and non-profit fundraiser, Julia did her graduate theological studies at Creighton University and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and is currently a doctoral student at Virginia Theological Seminary. She serves on several church-wide boards and training teams, with a particular interest in Latino ministries. You can find her full bio and blog at https://www.liftupyourhearts.net/

Julia has been married for 38 years to John, a retired financial professional who serves as a Trustee of the Church Pension Group. They live in Berkeley, California, close to Nicaraguan-born sons Amos and Aaron and preschool granddaughter Ella.

Deacon

The Rev. Gary England

BIO TO COME.

Deacon

The Rev. Stephen Tiffenson

BIO TO COME.

Director of Music

Benjamin Bachmann, MMus, FAGO

Benjamin Bachmann is an organist, composer, conductor, pianist, and arranger. He began
his training as a chorister in Akron, Ohio where he studied organ with Robert Quade. He won
the Emily Spivey Scholarship to study organ with Richard Morris at Clayton College and State
University in Morrow, Georgia.

He served as Assistant Director of Music to Dr. Robert Poovey at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta He won the Walford Davies Organ Prize at the Royal
College of Music in London, where he studied with Margaret Phillips and David Graham. He
was the Organ Scholar at both the Farm Street Church and St. Paul’s Knightsbridge.

In 2005, he joined the staff of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco as Assistant Director of Music. He was
installed as Canon Director of Music in 2010 and served there until 2022.

He is currently Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland, California. He is an in-demand recitalist, choir trainer, and his original compositions and arrangements have been given
international performances.

[email protected]