Meet the Ministry Team

The Rev. Anna Shine returned to St. Luke’s in July 2020, after having regularly attended as a child. She serves as St. Luke’s Missioner for Creation Care and Social Justice and as campus minister for the Presbyterian Episcopal Campus Ministry (PECM) at Appalachian State University.

Anna’s longing to learn about other faiths spurred a study of Judaism and Islam at Elon University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in German in 2009.

Born to a German mother, Anna’s dual citizenship allowed her to spend a gap year studying Middle Eastern languages and cultures at the University of Tübingen in Germany. While there, she enjoyed friendships with students of many different faiths.

Anna delved deeper into Christianity upon returning to the U.S., receiving a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in 2012. Although she identified with the narrative of Jesus, Anna struggled with the institution of the Christian Church and its past. She experienced a transformation in her faith journey while attending The Wild Goose Festival — an annual event that combines music, art, spirituality and faith-inspired social justice.

After much study, prayer and reflection, Anna answered the call to attend Virginia Theological Seminary. She earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) in 2018, was ordained that same year and served as Curate at Church of the Holy Cross in Valle Crucis before coming home to St. Luke’s.

The Rev. Cynthia (Cyndi) Banks has served as Rector of St. Luke’s since 2004 and has 26 years of experience as an ordained Episcopal priest. She grew up in the church and spent her childhood in Kentucky. In 1988, Cyndi received a B.S.B.A in Accounting from the University of Louisville. She worked as an accountant before re-engaging with the Church in her early 20s, when she felt a strong call to attend seminary.

Cyndi followed that call to The General Theological Seminary in New York City and earned a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) in 1994. After a decade of ministering in Kentucky, Cyndi’s deep desire to serve God and a community committed to Jesus’ radical way of love in a small-town context led her and her family to Boone and to St. Luke’s. 

A self-proclaimed seeker and questioner, Cyndi was drawn to St. Luke’s loving, authentic and inclusive community. St. Luke’s welcome is wide, embracing all the many glorious ways we embody our humanity and form households. At St. Luke’s, visitors and parishioners find a safe, loving environment that allows for questioning and discovery on their individual journeys of faith, while supporting one another in the whole of life.

Deacon Greg Erickson joined St. Luke’s in 2008. Deacon Greg icons servant ministry that flows from the heart as he brings the cares of the world to the church and the church to the cares of the world. From a Methodist background, he spent most of his childhood in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Hendersonville, North Carolina.

In 1974, Greg graduated from The Citadel with a B.S. in Business Administration and then served as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer for three years. Afterward, he took a job with what became Volvo Construction Equipment, where he retired after 30 years of service in 2007. He married his wife Jane in 1977 and gained a stepdaughter, Robin.

Greg began attending the Episcopal Church in Edneyville in 1999. A weekend Cursillo retreat in 2001 sparked a deep desire to do more for God’s people. Later, he prayerfully began the process of ordination. Following two years of study in a formation program for deacons, Greg was ordained in January 2006 and served his two-year internship at The Church of the Advocate, a church for the homeless in Asheville.

He and Jane settled in Ashe County in 2008, where they had connections to Roads End Retreat — a small, nonprofit spiritual retreat, where they now serve. Greg was then assigned to St. Luke’s.

A 10-year volunteer with Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care, Greg also mentors the area’s homeless through RISE, an initiative of Hospitality House, and served as a chaplain at Camp Henry Outdoor School for many years.