Cathy Zappa joined our clergy staff in September 2024 as Interim Rector. A native of Atlanta, Cathy has spent as much time as possible in Savannah since she was nine years old, when she started visiting the Montgomery-based family of a childhood and now lifelong friend. She grew up Presbyterian and discovered the Episcopal Church as a young adult. Participation in church community, Sunday-school classes, Education for Ministry, and Lay Eucharistic Ministry led her deeper into the Episcopal Church and eventually to seminary at Candler School of Theology. Along the way, she became involved in homeless ministry through Church of the Common Ground and in prison ministry through a theology program at a women’s prison.

After being ordained in 2013 and serving as a curate at Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Cumming, she came to the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, where she served for ten years—six of them as Canon for Liturgy and Pastoral Care. She loves teaching and learning with others, especially about Jesus, the Bible, liturgy, and the Episcopal Church.

She is married to Vince Zappa, and they have three young-adult children: Evan, Lindsay, and Kate. They also have a dog named Piper, who lets them use her furniture.