Welcome to
St. Marguerite Faith Community
Bishop Linda Pilato
Associate Pastor, Saint Marguerite Faith Community · Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Sts. Joseph and George
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Associate Pastor · Auxiliary Bishop
Linda describes herself as “unique, unconventional and spirited.” At Saint Marguerite, she brings traditional worship together with a progressive, welcoming, and genuinely open community.
“I understand God less but know God better.”
Faith as experience with God
Linda’s spiritual path has not been a straight line. It includes a UCC baptism, Lutheran confirmation, time in different churches, Jewish and Jehovah’s Witness relatives, and years of independent reading. She describes faith now as experience with God—something lived, questioned, and encountered rather than reduced to a checklist.
Her life outside ministry is just as unexpected: she is a retired electrician with an interest in quantum physics. When she connects ideas from quantum entanglement with spiritual connectedness, this page presents that as Linda’s theological understanding and personal lens—not as a claim about what physics proves.
Faith and science can grow together
Linda writes that she and her sister grew up in a home where faith and science were not opposites. Her training as an electrician and her interest in quantum physics have not created a conflict; they have helped her see that our understanding of God can deepen and change as we learn and grow.
She connects quantum entanglement with the mystery she experiences in Eucharistic consecration. This is Linda’s personal theological lens—not a claim about what physics proves. “My faith is the same but my belief became greater.”
That same openness shapes her full acceptance of transgender people and the way they identify: “It’s not my place to tell God what to do or not do.”
A welcome you can feel
Linda describes Saint Marguerite as traditional in worship while progressive and welcoming in outlook. For her, “open and affirming” is not a decorative phrase: she is a woman bishop, James is a gay bishop, and people who have been left out are genuinely invited in. Pastoral care also means people are not pressured to “tough it out” through material that is painful or triggering.
Her hope is straightforward: that people find her approachable enough to want to meet her—and to meet Saint Marguerite.
A Conversation with Linda
How would you describe yourself?
“Unique, unconventional and spirited.”
What does faith mean to you now?
“Faith is experience with God.”
What kind of community is Saint Marguerite?
Traditional in worship, progressive and welcoming in outlook—and committed to making room for people who have been excluded elsewhere.