Black History Month
By Nelson A. King
A young Caribbean-American
priest who was born in
Crown Heights and grew up in
East Flatbush – both in Brooklyn
– says she’s “come home to
myself” since ordained a priest
on Sept. 15, 2018.
“I feel that I’ve come home
to myself, because what I do in
my ministry as a teacher, a pastor
and a prophetic preacher –
all of those things have always
been a part of who I am,” said
the Rev. Leandra Lisa Lambert
in an exclusive Caribbean Life
interview.
Rev. Lambert, whose parents
– Leandra “Virginia” Baptiste
and Joseph Lambert – hail from
Bogles, Carriacou, the larger of
Grenada’s two sister isles – was
ordained a priest at The Cathedral
of the Incarnation, Garden
City New York.
Since then, Rev. Lambert,
who only gave her age as in the
early 30s, has been serving as
Associate Rector at St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church, East Hampton,
New York, where there are
over 600 active congregants.
The church’s rector is The
Very Rev. Denis C. Brunelle,
who grew up in New Hampshire,
but whose family is
French-Canadian.
Rev. Lambert said, since The
Very Rev. Brunelle is currently
on a three-month sabbatical,
she manages the day-to-day
pastoral and administrative
responsibilities.
When The Very Rev. Brunelle
is present, Rev. Lambert said
she preaches on alternate Sundays
but administers other sacraments
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She said the East End, Long
Is., which encompasses the far
end of Long Is., has the highest
income inequality per capita in
the country, “with a high concentration
of wealthy individuals
and families, and a thriving
year-end community who
makes life possible here.”
“Those stories don’t often
get told,” she said. “They are
often eclipsed by the wealth
and opulence.”
From the time she was
assigned to St. Luke’s Episcopal
Church, East Hampton,
Rev. Lambert said parishioners
“have gone out of their way to
welcome me in the community,
which is reflective of their
core values as a worshipping
congregation and community
of faith.
“Everyone who walks into
St. Luke’s is received in a spirit
of love and hospitality, because
we understand that, all of us,
not matter where we come
from, are children of God,” she
said.
Rev. Lambert added that
“the ministry, certainly, has its
challenges, but the great blessing
of the journey is that we
don’t live, and we don’t work,
and we don’t serve in isolation.
Rev. Leandra Lambert. Adomako Aman Photography
“And so, my ministry has
been enriched because of my
colleagues and friends and
family who continue to support
me,” she disclosed.
Six months before becoming
a priest, on Mar. 1 2018,
Rev. Lambert was ordained a
deacon at her previous home
church, St. Gabriel’s Episcopal
Church, on Hawthorne Street,
in Brooklyn.
‘I’ve come home to myself’ since
becoming a priest: Rev. L. Lambert
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