Rev. Michael Perry
Priest-in-Charge
Michael grew up in Toronto, in the Yonge & Lawrence area. He attended Little Trinity Anglican, in the Distillery District where he made some lifelong friendships and a lifelong commitment to Liverpool Football Club.
He went to Mount Alison University in New Brunswick to study Business, but switched to International Relations during the first week and neglected to tell his parents till he got home for Christmas.
Students of International Relations need to be bilingual and so upon completing his degree in 2007, he moved to the Champagne region of France to get in a little extra practice. He stayed two years in the medieval city of Troyes, working as an English Language Assistant with high school students. While living in Troyes he discovered the community of Taizé, which welcomes tens of thousands of young people who experience a week following the rhythms of monastic life.
Michael’s time in Taizé stretched from autumn of 2009 until the summer of 2011 but he was also sent by the community to prepare two international Taizé meetings in Norway (1,000 attendees) and the Netherlands (30,000 attendees). In Taizé, he discovered a sense of vocation in working towards reconciliation within the Church and the wider human family and grew into a contemplative prayer practice.
He and his wife, Yvonne, met in Teachers’ College in Ottawa and were married the summer of 2013. After having worked in the Halton region as French teachers, they embarked on a self-supported one year bicycle adventure that brought them to Europe, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. After many kilometres and much reflection both he and his wife decided to take new directions and subsequently applied to a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Urban planning respectively.
Michael studied theology at Trinity College, Toronto and made many friends, read many books, and wrote many papers. His previous ministry placements were the Lay Pastoral Assistant for Children and Youth at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the Summer Outreach Chaplain at the Parish of Georgina, Sibbald Point Provincial Park, St. Nicholas Birch Cliff (Warden & Kingston Road), and St. Jude’s Wexford (Lawrence & Victoria Park)
From 2019-2021 he was the Assistant Curate at St. Peter and St. Simon-the-Apostle, where he spent more time in lockdown than in-person. His supervisor called him the Covid-Curate.
Michael is delighted that he will be serving as Priest-in-Charge of the Church of the Transfiguration. He is looking forward to meeting members of the parish and is excited about the opportunities ahead.