Clergy and Staff

Tomas Carey

Rev. Tomas Carey was born in Los Angeles, the scion of a family of actors. His father, Harry Carey, Jr., was a well-known character actor (Red River, The Searchers, Tombstone), as were both his grandfathers (Harry Carey and Paul Fix). After high school Tom studied acting with Jack Garfein and Stella Adler. He appears in several feature films and TV shows, among them Plaza Suite, The Day of the Locust, and The Blue Knight. After moving to New York City in 1977, he fronted for the punk rock band, “The Beeks,” and was literary assistant to poets James Schuyler and John Ashbery. He earned a degree in Spanish at Columbia University.

Fr. Tom’s book of poems Desire (Painted Leaf Press 1997) was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. His poems have appeared in Word of Mouth: An anthology of Gay American Poetry, and The KGB Reader, as well as in numerous magazines and quarterlies. His first novel Small Crimes was published by BlazeVox Books in 2011.

Between 1988 adn 2014, Fr. Tom was a Franciscan brother of the Society of St. Francis, an Anglican religious order, and lived at various times in Brooklyn, Long Island, San Francisco, Brazil and the U.K. In Brooklyn, he ran a theater program for inner city kids for six years, and taught poetry in New York City’s public schools for a decade. He was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 2003.

From 2010 to 2022, Fr. Tom served as priest at The Church of the Epiphany (Iglesia de la Epifania) in Lincoln Height, Los Angeles. He served as the Interim priest at The Church of the Redeemer in Astoria, Queens, from November 2022 to November 2025. He is currently Priest-in-Charge at St. Athanasius at St. Paul’s Commons and the Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights.

Charissa Harjo

Charissa Harjo is a California native and third generation musician. In addition to the organ, she also sings soprano, plays the piano, and rings handbells. She has been a church organist since 1996, and an Episcopal musician since 2001. She owns and operates her own piano lesson studio, and is a member of two performing music groups: The Caroling Companie: Victorian Carolers, and Belle Musique: a handbell duo. 

Rachel Labovitch

Mezzo-Soprano Rachel Labovitch began her artistic career as an actress in London before discovering her love and talent for opera.

Her extensive career as an opera singer has included such roles as Carmen in Carmen, Dorabella – Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart), Nicklausse -Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach), Romeo – I Capuleti e I Montecchi (Bellini), Olga – Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky), Prince Orlofsky – Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss), Polina/Milovzor – Queen of Spades,  (Tchaikovsky) Flora – La Traviata (Verdi), Cherubino – Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart).  Mrs. Herring – Albert Herring (Britten), Angel – Demon (Rubinstein) and many more.

Rachel debuted her operatic career playing Karolka in Janacek’s Jenufa with Opera Slavica NYC and has sung in numerous recitals and concerts across the United States and Europe with such focus as German Lieder, sacred music, and Mozart.

Concert work includes: alto soloist for Mozart’s Requiem in Santa Clarita, alto soloist for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and alto soloist for Beethoven’s Mass in C both for the Rolling Hills United Methodist church. Rachel is proud to be the cantor for St Athanasius at the Cathedral Center of St Paul.  

Roberto A. Salazar

Roberto Salazar began serving as a musician for the Episcopal Church in 1990, currently alternating between St. Stephen’s Church in Hollywood and St. Athanasius in Echo Park. He has also served in the music ministry for the cursillista movement for several years.

Mr. Salazar works as a specialist in financial publications, is married, and has four children.