We are deeply saddened to share that the Rev. John Peterson, the 14th Rector of Saint John Episcopal Church in Tampa, died on Friday, January 10, 2025. He was 88 years old. Fr. Peterson served as rector of Saint John’s Episcopal Church and School in Tampa from 1979 to 2000.
Lee Peterson, Fr. Peterson’s son shared the following information about Fr. Peterson’s incredible life and ministry.
Under Fr. Peterson’s 21 years at St. John’s, he shepherded multiple capital improvement campaigns that included the construction of a new chapel, a remodeling of the church, two major expansions to the pipe organ, and the purchase/relocation of the Middle Division school campus on Platt street that is now the home to the fifth through eight grades.
Upon retirement, Fr. Peterson was elected as Rector Emeritus. In retirement Fr. Peterson continued to serve the community by volunteering at local hospitals and charities, performing weddings, baptizing infants as well as his grandchildren, and officiating over funerals. He also served as lead Chaplain on Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines.
Fr. Peterson shared his life with his wife Kay. Together they have four sons, Dan, Mark, Drew, and Lee, and later their family grew to include daughters-in-law and six grandchildren.
Fr. Peterson was ordained to the sacred order of priests at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Lansing, Michigan on February 28, 1963.
Prior to his time as Rector of Saint John’s, he served St. Paul’s in Lansing Michigan, from 1963 to 1965. During his time Fr. Peterson was a delegate to the Anglican Congress in Toronto leading the workshop for the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer; served as the Diocesan Representative of the Michigan Council of Churches on education and youth ministry, was Secretary of the Capital Convention for the Greater Lansing area devoting most of his time to youth work. After serving faithfully at St. Paul’s as an assistant to the Rector, Fr. Peterson was called to be the third Rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal in Barrington Hills, Illinois on January 31, 1965, where he served faithfully for almost 15 years.
While at St Mark’s, the church thrived seeing a 600% growth in the number of Parish families, a quadrupling of the Church budget, and delivered on the major expansion of the Church School wing as well as the addition of a pipe organ. St. Mark’s Day School was started under Fr. Peterson’s direction in 1966. Since that time, it has grown and served hundreds of families and their children. What once was a small Parish with 46 families in 1963 grew to a congregation with over 1000 parishioners attending Christmas services in 1978. Fr. Peterson also brought the “Town Hall” series to St. Mark’s and Barrington Hills, which attracted notable personalities, including Apollo 16 Astronaut and Lunar Explorer, Charles Duke, author Alex Haley, a civil rights activist and author of Roots, as well as Tish Baldridge, and Maria Von Trapp of the “Sound of Music” fame.
While at St. Mark’s, Fr. Peterson was one of the founders of the Episcopalians and Others for Responsible Social Action (EORSA), which sought start-up funds for minority business enterprises. Under EORSA, Fr. Peterson served on the White House Committee under Robert J. Brown, Richard Nixon’s first African-American appointment to his Cabinet. Fr. Peterson also served on the board of the Christian Action Ministry (CAM), a group brought together to heal the turmoil and anger caused by the riots during the Chicago Democratic National Convention. Under CAM, Fr. Peterson brought Robert Brown, special assistant to President Nixon, to Chicago as a keynote speaker to help facilitate the healing process amongst the community as well as worked with Dr. Brown to successfully secure several federal grants for Chicago minority business enterprises and inner-city Chicago educational programs.
Fr. Peterson was also elected the Field Education Supervisor for the Diocese of Chicago working with the four Chicago area Seminaries run by the Episcopal and Methodist Churches as well as the Evangelical Free Church. Fr. Peterson advocated for gender equality persevering through the approval of one of the first woman to be ordained in the Diocese of Chicago. He performed Invocations for Governor Thompson (one of the state of Illinois longest serving Governors) and President Ronald Reagan.