The Rev. Marc Boutan
(843) 737-1277
I earned the Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, CA. Then I added a fourth year in Anglican Studies at Virginia Seminary. It was there that I met the Rev. Terrell Glenn who came from St. Andrew’s Church, Mt. Pleasant, SC, to interview me for his Assistant position. In the fall of 1991, my family and I came to the Diocese of South Carolina from Maine. What a gift from God this has been! I started into the ordained ministry under the mentoring of the Rev. Terrell Glenn, at St. Andrew’s Church. I could not have asked for a better tutor for all the tasks associated with parish ministry. I was ordained to the priesthood in 1992 by Bishop Salmon. The extra piece I brought was leadership on the guitar and voice for the contemporary praise music band, which accompanied our popular Wednesday evening service. The person who inspired me the most with regard to praise music was the Rev. Terry Fullam. My wife, Trish, and I attended St. Paul’s, Darien, CT, and were drawn into the Episcopal Church through Fr. Fullam’s ministry. He would sometimes lead us into God’s presence by adding a simple song at the beginning of the service following the opening hymn, like “I Love You, Lord.” The Holy Spirit used these simple praise songs to draw me closer to God. And then he would declare, “Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To which we would heartily respond, “And blessed be his kingdom now and forever. Amen.” We were launched for the rest of worship service. Since that time, I have ministered at Holy Trinity, Brussels Belgium, St. James’ Church, James Island, and St. Philip’s Church, Charleston. In each parish I remained an Assistant to the Rector. My area of focus was pastoral care, and I continued to offer the praise music. Now retired from St. Philip’s as Assistant for Pastoral Care on March 1, 2021, and as the music leader for Wednesday evening services in September of 2023, I currently attend St. John’s Parish Church on John’s Island where I occasionally help the Rector, Fr. Jeremy Shelton, with services.