St. Augustine's Episcopal Church

The Reverend Father James R. Anderson is the retired rector of St. Francis Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is currently servicing as the interim rector of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Newport News, Virginia. A native Virginian, he was born in Lynchburg in 1943. Following graduation from high school he attended Bluefield State College in West Virginia for a year before enlisting in the U.S Army. His army duties included service both in the United States and overseas in South Korea and West Germany. Following his years in the Army he returned to college at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD and obtained a BA degree. It was at the University of Maryland that he met his wife, the late Clara L. Piegols. While waiting to attend law school, Father Anderson discerned a call to the ordained ministry and subsequently entered the General Theological Seminary in New York City to study for the priesthood. Following ordination in 1974 he became an urban missioner at St. Philip’s Church, Washington, D.C. Learning of the need for Episcopal Chaplains in the Air Force he was commissioned as a captain in the Chaplain Corps in 1976, retiring in 1991 as a lieutenant colonel. During his career in the Air Force, he and his family traveled throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Following his retirement from the Air Force he became the vicar of Holy Redeemer Mission in Landover, MD, which he merged with Epiphany Church, Forestville in 1998, where he served as the rector until 2003. In July 2003 he became rector of St. Francis Church, Virginia Beach and retired in August 2010. His beloved wife, Clara L. Piegols, died in June 2009, leaving him with four children and four grandchildren.