I’ve continued my full-time ministry as the director of family ministries at St. Peter and St. Paul. But after December 2025, I also began being their deacon with new roles in terms of setting the table and assisting with the Eucharist!

I will continue to serve at St. Peter and St. Paul until August 1. I will then transition to becoming the Priest-In-Charge at St. Andrews in Hartwell. My family has loved our time at St. Peter and St. Paul, but we’re also excited to begin serving at St. Andrew’s.

The calling and ordination to the priesthood simply made me feel overwhelmed by God’s grace and goodness. What a holy privilege it is to be a part of this ministry and what a wonderful encouragement to have such an amazing community of clergy and laity to support us! I left the service feeling immense gratitude.

Dominique “D” Deming (she/they) is campus missioner at the University of Georgia. This information comes from her biography in that role.

Deming is thrilled to return to college ministry. Though her professional career has taken many twists and turns, she began it working with college students and is excited to begin her ordained ministry with students on the UGA campus. She grew up in a military family and has moved frequently as an adult, but most recently is from Warner Robins. It was there that she encountered and fell in love with The Episcopal Church and received encouragement and support in her journey to ordination. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Candler School of Theology in May 2025. She shares her home with two black cats, Minion and The Abyss.

A campus interview with Deming is available here.

My current role, which I love, is as the chaplain at Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, Md. I continue serving there throughout the week, and I’ll continue to be an assisting priest at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Bethesda on Sundays.

This ordination to the priesthood meant so much to me! It affirmed my calling and my gifts and formalized my commitment to use them to serve God and God’s people. However, what I’ll remember most about this day was the support and love we received from the church as a whole. I’ll never forget the congregation vowing to walk with us in this vocation, or the bishop’s extremely wise and pastoral sermon, or the weight of the other priests’ hands on my shoulders as they prayed over me. I am so grateful for God’s grace — working through people and circumstances — bringing me to this point.

Since my ordination as a transitional deacon, I graduated from my MDiv program at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and was awarded an Episcopal Preaching Foundation’s Seminarian Award for Contextual Responsivity in Preaching.

I will remember my June 20 ordination for the many hands that were laid on me, those of the bishop and of the gathered clergy, and also those of parishioners, friends, and family through their hugs and handshakes. I felt both the weightiness and the not-alone-ness of this work that we do together as a diocese, that we do with Christ and as Christ’s body.

On July 1, I will be starting a two-year position as curate for formation and community with The Rev. Laura Masterson at St. Mary and St. Martha of Bethany in Buford. I look forward to jumping into the exciting work the Spirit is doing at this growing parish.

Since my ordination to the diaconate, I have been serving as a deacon at the Church of the Mediator in Washington, Ga. The parish covers three and one-half counties reaching as far east as South Carolina. I was the first deacon in history to serve at Mediator as far as we can determine. Mediator was founded in the late 1800s with the current worship space being built in the 1890s.

On July 1 I will become the priest-in-charge at Mediator. I am excited about the opportunities. I sense that the congregation is excited about extending its mission to the greater Washington area. My call is bivocational; thus, I will continue as an engineering professor at The University of Georgia.

What struck me the most about my June 20 ordination to the priesthood was the sense of history of the liturgy. It especially became real to me when I was surrounded by priests, known and unknown, before and during the laying on of hands by the Bishop. I felt my call was definitely confirmed during the liturgy.

The opportunity to work as a seminarian and transitional deacon with several different members of the clergy and congregations was a real gift. Their stories and approach to ministry had a significant impact on my formation. I also loved having the chance to see how each parish has its own culture, liturgy, and character, and how, even though we are all Episcopalian, there are so many unique expressions of that identity within our own diocese.

I recently became the Priest-in-Charge at St. Teresa’s Episcopal Church in Acworth. At St. Teresa’s, we plan to focus on growing together as a parish, both in our spiritual life through an expanded program of formation for all ages, and through a renewed approach to hospitality and outreach to our neighbors. Throughout my time there, I’ve discovered that there are many committed people who love being part of parish life and have exciting ideas about mission and ministry.

My ordination held significance on multiple levels. Personally, it was the culmination of a call I have felt in various ways since I was young. To have that confirmed at my ordination, by the diocese, my own parish, and the church communities I’ve served throughout the years was an experience I don’t quite have all the words for. It was a validation of my sense of vocation but mainly felt like the recognition that the Spirit has been at work this entire time and will continue to carry us forward.

My diaconal season was rich with opportunities to learn from and serve alongside several remarkable communities. I was honored to serve with the vibrant lay-led community of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Fayetteville and as a chaplain intern through the St. Luke’s Atlanta Training and Counseling Center at the Church of the Holy Comforter. Both experiences deepened my understanding of ministry, pastoral presence, and the many ways Christ is encountered in community.

This summer is a season of gratitude and transition. I have had the gift of presiding in many of the communities that have helped shape and form me, including St. Paul’s Newnan, Nativity, Holy Comforter, and St. Columba’s in Inverness, Calif., where I have been nurtured in contemplative life over the past two years.

Just last week, I completed my work with Ruby Brick, where I spent seven years serving nonprofit organizations as a writer and communications professional. This summer I am taking a brief sabbatical between seasons of work and ministry. In August, I will begin serving full-time as associate rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newnan, including serving children, youth, and innovative ministries.

My ordination to the priesthood was a day I will never forget — a true before-and-after moment in my life. In many ways, it marked the culmination of a long journey of discernment, formation, and faithful accompaniment by countless people who helped me hear and trust God’s call. Yet it also felt very much like a beginning, standing at the threshold of a new life of ministry.

Looking back, the entire weekend feels dreamlike, yet more vivid than almost any memory I possess. What I will remember most is the overwhelming love that surrounded me. I will remember the embrace and affirmation of my fellow clergy and the deep sense of belonging within this Diocesan community. I will remember the joy on the faces of my husband, children, family, and friends, and the sacrifices they made so that I could pursue this calling.

Perhaps most importantly, I will remember the experience of returning to St. Paul’s the next morning and being embraced by the community with such love and joy. Standing at the altar as a newly ordained priest, I was reminded that ordination is never simply about one person. The Church is a body, and each of us has a role to play in God’s mission.