Clergy
Father Gary Thorne, Rector
The Rev’d Canon LCol (Rtd) Dr. Gary Thorne, Dunelm, M.M.M., grew up in Saint John, NB, Canada, in the 1950s in the abyss of a brutal urban poverty from which he took refuge in the inner life. His academic studies have always been in the interests of a lifelong pastoral commitment to the materially and spiritually impoverished. Concurrent with twenty-three years as chaplain in the Canadian Military, Thorne served as rector of rural and urban parishes for twenty-five years, and as university chaplain for two universities for sixteen years. He is the recipient of three honorary degrees from Canadian Universities, both the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force Medal, The Canadian Forces Peacekeeping Medal, and he is a Member of the Military Order of Merit.
Father Thorne came to know divine friendship and to understand the continuing conversion of the soul by hearing the sermons of Dr Robert Crouse in the late 1970s. Father Thorne has devoted his retirement to promoting the legacy of the teaching of Robert Crouse for the renewal of the Church. Father Thorne was Rector of the Round Church 1990-2015, and is humbled to be asked to help out while the parish seeks its next Rector.
Father Peter Harris, Honourary Assistant
Father Peter Harris was the son of an Anglican Priest and grew up in the Parishes of Petite Riviere, Musquodoboit Harbour and Bedford, before attending the University of King’s College and later Trinity College, Toronto and becoming a priest himself. During his university years, he was organist and choir master at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Dartmouth and was for many years Director of the Anglican Youth Camp at Mason’s Point. His first parish was the Parish of Tangier on the Eastern Shore, where he served seven churches. Following his time in Tangier, he became Rector of the Parish of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Charlottetown, where he served for 25 years. Over the years, he supervised many theological students who have gone on to be priests in this Diocese and elsewhere. He retired in 2014 and is now very happy to serve as Honourary Assistant at St. George’s.
The Rev’d Dr. Thomas Curran , Honourary Assistant
The Rev’d Deacon Nicholas Lucciola, Assistant Curate
I was born and raised in Belleville, Ontario, and had an enjoyable and exceptionally typical upbringing. Upon graduating high school, in 2014 I joined the Canadian Armed Forces under the Regular Officer Training Plan and proceeded to study a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. During my last year of studies at Military College, I married my wife Chelsea, who had been a childhood friend of mine, having met in Sea Cadets and growing up in the same neighbourhood in Belleville, and who was now studying at St Lawrence College, also in Kingston. Following my studies I served as a Naval Warfare Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, serving aboard several different classes of ships in both domestic and foreign operations. My first posting was to Esquimalt, British Columbia, where in August of 2018 my son Julian was born. It was at that time, after much soul-searching, that I, although having been raised in the Roman Catholic tradition but having not been a regular church-goer, came to find a spiritual home in the Anglican Church. Since coming into the Anglican Church, I quickly fell in love with Jesus Christ and His Gospel of Grace, especially as it encountered in the Anglo-Catholic and Prayerbook traditions.
In the summer of 2020 I was posted to Halifax where I joined the parish of St George’s. During my time at St George’s I discerned a call to the priesthood and in 2023 I successfully completed an occupational transfer within the Canadian Forces to a new role as a Chaplain, through a sponsored training plan. I then studied a Master of Divinity at the Atlantic School of Theology, graduating in May 2026. During my three year theological degree I had the opportunity to serve in various parishes across Nova Scotia and across the theological and liturgical spectrum of Anglicanism, where I learned to see the grace of God active in so many different people and in so many different ways. Following my ordination to the Diaconate on June 29th 2026, I have begun to serve a 2 year curacy here at St. George’s, after which I will be returning to full-time employment as a Chaplain in the Canadian Forces.