Clergy & Staff

He is the Christ, the "Anointed One," or the "Messiah." The name "Jesus" is derived from the Hebrew-Aramaic word "Yeshua," meaning "Yahweh [the Lord] is salvation." The name "Christ" is actually a title for Jesus. It comes from the Greek word "Christos," meaning "the Anointed One," or "Messiah" in Hebrew. Jesus is the central figure in Christianity. His life, message and ministry are chronicled in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who performed many miracles of healing and deliverance. Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem by order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, for claiming to be the King of the Jews. He resurrected three days after his death, appeared to his disciples, and then ascended into heaven. His life and death provided the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

The Rev. Hannah E. Atkins Romero became Trinity's fifteenth rector in September of 2007. To prepare herself as a third generation Episcopal priest, the Reverend Atkins Romero earned a bachelor of arts degree in history at Douglass College, Rutgers University and a masters degree in divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York in May 1996, with additional studies in theology at Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador. The Reverend Atkins Romero previously served as Senior Assistant Rector at St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. Before joining St. John's Church, she served as Director of Theological and Christian Education in the Diocese of the Episcopal/Anglican Church of El Salvador, Associate Priest at St. John the Evangelist San Salvador, Priest-in-Charge at Holy Trinity Church Santa Teresa in San Martin, and as Interim Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew's Church in Amatepec, Soyapango. The Reverend Atkins Romero is married to Elmer Romero and they have four children (and Paco,the dog).

The Reverend Canon Dr. Henry Atkins, Jr. is a retired priest canonically resident in the Diocese of New Jersey. Canon Atkins is an honorary Canon of the Diocese of Costa Rica, a graduate of Randolph Macon College, The Virginia Theological Seminary and holds a doctorate from The Graduate Theological Foundation in Notre Dame, Indiana. In addition, he has done post graduate work at The Mexican American Cultural Center, Boston College and Oxford University.

Canon Atkins has served parishes in Costa Rica, Virginia, Indianapolis, the Dominican Republic, New Hampshire and Los Angeles. He has also worked on the staff of the Washington Cathedral and served as a member of the staff of the Bishop of Rochester, NY. Canon Atkins has also served as chaplain to the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Rutgers University and Dartmouth College. He has served as a member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina, Rutgers University, the General Theological Seminary and El Instituto Pastoral Hispano.

Canon Atkins has also served as a Theologian in Residence at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH and as a Martin Luther King Lecturer at Dartmouth College.

Canon Atkins served for 6 years as the chairperson of the Episcopal Church’s National Commission on Racism and for 8 years as vice-president of the Anglican/Episcopal Theological Education Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2010 Canon Atkins was presented the Hugh White Award for outstanding work in the field of economic justice by the Episcopal Church’s National Commission on Economic Justice. He has published many articles in various journals and books including The Witness Magazine, Sojourners, and The International Review of Mission.

Canon Atkins was a founding member of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, D.C. and worked for over 20 years as a facilitator and spiritual advisor for the Order of St. Helena. Canon Atkins also holds a Black Belt in kickboxing in the Kempo-International School of Martial Arts.

Grew up in a home filled with classical, jazz, blues, R&B and gospel. The youngest of five children, she soon discovered that she had been blessed with her Grandmother's and Mother's gift of song. Her first musical teeth were cut while a member of the family's singing group. Her love of music began to grow even more with her first trip to the Houston Grand Opera. The beautiful lyric, spinto and dramatic soprano voices and gorgeous costumes were heavily embedded in her being. After graduating from Galena Park High School, she matriculated to Texas Southern University further developing her craft. While at TSU, she would become the student of Ruth Stewart and blossomed as a member of the University Opera Workshop and Concert Choir. Both of the aforementioned organizations highly required hours upon hours of study, rehearsals and travel.

Tony Sessions began his role as the Administrative Assistant in June 2019. In addition, he is the tenor staff section leader in the Trinity Choir, a position he has held since 1995.

In addition to his musical duties at Trinity, Tony has been a member of the Houston Symphony Chorus since 1985 (as well as its music librarian and stage manager since 1991) performing all around the world, including Carnegie Hall, at the BBC Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall and the Lizst Academy in Budapest, as well as fifteen tours to Mexico City.

Tony has also worked in collaboration with professor and author Dr. Howard Pollack as a research assistant and editor on several musical biographies: George Gershwin, Marc Blitzstein, and lyricist John Latouche. Their latest project is a biography of Samuel Barber.

Born and raised in Spain, Pelayo came to Houston in 1995 as a music student. In 2001 he graduated from the University of Houston Moores School of Music with a B.A. in music theory. In 2005 he graduated from the University of North Texas with a M.M. in Jazz studies.

Pelayo has been an active pianist in the Houston scene since the late 90s, working solo and with a variety of bands and styles, mostly in the Jazz and the Latin scene.

Since 2005 Pelayo has also been working as an accompanist for dance classes. Currently he is on staff in the University of Houston Dance Department and in the Houston Ballet academy.

Fabian has led the Children's Ministry program at San Mateo Episcopal Church for 3 years. He has also worked with the youth program at San Mateo. In addition to being a current student (Junior) at the University of Houston-Downtown in the Elementary Education program he volunteers at Christ Church Cathedral and in the Houston Canterbury program. He is excited about working with all of Trinity's youth.