Our People
Melanie Calabrigo, Gathering Priest
Melanie is an Anglican priest and spiritual director. She is a graduate of the Vancouver School of Theology – Master of Divinity, the Pacific Jubilee Program for Spiritual Direction, and the Pacific Coast Family Therapy Training Institute. Her background is in family systems, pastoral care, expressive arts, and spiritual practice and accompaniment. For Melanie, undergirding all of life is a deep, abiding, and tenacious belief in the love of God. As a priest, this is the good news she feels called to share. Melanie sees the unconditional and invitational love of God manifested through: a loving Creator; the person of Jesus Christ; and the ongoing experience of the Holy Spirit. She has a passion for art, beauty, and play, and a belief that we encounter God in both the sweetness and challenges of life. She supports practices that demonstrate our belief in and relationship with a loving and nurturing God. She seeks to envision, explore, and embody creativity in ministry. You can reach out with any questions to melanie@sthildegards.ca or 604.266.8096
Rikki Kooy (Spirit Elk Woman),
Indigenous Mentoring Elder
Rikki is an elder/artist/designer from the Secwepemc and St’atl’imc Nations and a fourth-generation residential school survivor. With passion and compassion, Rikki seeks to lead through a thoughtful and spirit-led faith. Her hope is to guide community towards healing through wisdom sharing, storytelling, and hands-on engagement in reconciliation through art. Rikki is the designer of the Feather Dance reconciliation project, which is the work of hands extended in friendship, reaching out to each other as we walk the journey of faith together. For Rikki, the action words of reconciliation are: Love. Purpose. Reconcile. Love’s purpose is to reconcile – with God, with others, and with ourselves. She is ever mindful that in the end, as in the beginning, it’s all about love and relationship.
Ben Dobyns,
Community Musician
Ben Dobyns (they/them) is a non-binary performer and media producer living on the unceded land of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nations in Burnaby, Metro Vancouver.
In addition to being the community musician for St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary, Ben currently serves as the Minister of Instrumental Music at Shaughnessy Heights United Church, the pianist-in-residence at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver, and the music director for Vancouver’s Broadway Chorus. Ben is also the online community and development manager for NYT bestselling authors Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon and serves on the board of the Royal Canadian College of Organists as their Director of Marketing.
