Our staff is dedicated to serving the Parishioners at Church of the Ascension.
We strive to provide meaningful services to every member of our community.
Rector
The Reverend Alex Dyer
Alex most recently served a canon in the Office of the Bishop staff in the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. His responsibilities included congregational vitality, church governance, mission, social justice, and property management. Before moving to Colorado, he was the priest-in-charge at St. Thomas’ Parish, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Alex was born in East Tennessee and later moved to Maryland and then Virginia. He became a Christian at age 15, when he was baptized in Virginia Beach. A few years after his baptism, he felt a call to ordained ministry. He attended seminary a year after graduating Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.
Prior to seminary, Alex served as a camp counselor for the Diocese of Southern Virginia’s camp and as a missionary in Cairo, Egypt, working with Sudanese refugees. After graduating seminary, he served numerous parishes in New York City, Connecticut, and Washington, DC. With nearly two decades of ordained leadership in the Episcopal Church, Alex has served parishes of various sizes.
Alex is rooted in Ignatian Spirituality, which challenges him to be on the lookout for Christ in all aspects of his life, and to witness to the Gospel at work in his life and the world. He is a contemplative in action on the lookout for God’s new ways to join God’s mission of love and reconciliation.
He has a heart for the inclusion of all God’s people in the life of the Church, which was strengthened during his time at St. Luke in the Fields in New York City. At St. Luke in the Fields, he oversaw outreach programs for LGBTQ youth and a program for people with HIV/AIDS. In New Haven, Connecticut he began an outdoor worship service for those who did not feel comfortable worshiping inside a church building. Most of the people attending were experiencing homelessness.
Alex has been with his husband, Ryan, for over twenty years. Ryan attended the University of Georgia and the Columbia School of Social Work. He grew up in South Georgia and is excited to be closer to his family. Alex and Ryan have two young children. Alex enjoys football, cooking, hiking, and fishing.
Interim Priest Associate
for Administration and Christian Formation
The Reverend Denise Ronn
Email Denise
Denise is a retired Episcopal priest from the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. She began her career serving in the US Air Force as a climatologist. With the GI Bill she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Pacific Lutheran University. Later she completed a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Valdosta State University, and graduate work in Anglican Studies from the University of the South’s School of Theology. Denise has a doctorate degree in Human Services with a Counseling focus from Capella University. For 13 years she served as a School Counselor for children ages 4 to 18 years. Denise served three years as the Parish Administrator in Christ the King Episcopal Church in Valdosta. After her ordination, Denise served two congregations in the Diocese of Georgia: St. Barnabas, Valdosta, GA and St. Philips, Hinesville, GA.
From 2004-2019, Denise provided training for the Diocese of Georgia’s Church Development Institute (CDI), served as a certified Life Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), an enhanced practitioner of Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ), as well as being a qualified Myers Briggs (MBTI) and Emotional Social Competency (ESCI) administrator. She was a board member, trainer/facilitator and the chair of the Program, Staffing and Coaching Team for the Emotional Intelligence Human Relations (EQ-HR) international organization from 2011-2021.
Denise is a retired Episcopal priest from the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. She began her career serving in the US Air Force as a climatologist. With the GI Bill she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Pacific Lutheran University. Later she completed a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Valdosta State University, and graduate work in Anglican Studies from the University of the South’s School of Theology. Denise has a doctorate degree in Human Services with a Counseling focus from Capella University. For 13 years she served as a School Counselor for children ages 4 to 18 years. Denise served three years as the Parish Administrator in Christ the King Episcopal Church in Valdosta. After her ordination, Denise served two congregations in the Diocese of Georgia: St. Barnabas, Valdosta, GA and St. Philips, Hinesville, GA.
From 2004-2019, Denise provided training for the Diocese of Georgia’s Church Development Institute (CDI), served as a certified Life Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), an enhanced practitioner of Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ), as well as being a qualified Myers Briggs (MBTI) and Emotional Social Competency (ESCI) administrator. She was a board member, trainer/facilitator and the chair of the Program, Staffing and Coaching Team for the Emotional Intelligence Human Relations (EQ-HR) international organization from 2011-2021.
Director of Music
Dr. Robert Henry
Robert Henry is a native of Georgia. He has nearly twenty years of experience as organist/choirmaster in the Episcopal Church. He has earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, with additional studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Glinka Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Alongside his contributions as pianist and educator, Robert’s multifaceted career includes much choral and vocal work, as well as many decades of service to the liturgical arts. He began playing for church services at age nine. At age fifteen, his choral track continued at the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts, and he eventually double-majored in piano and voice at Kennesaw State University. In 2019, he assumed directorship of the Grammy award-winning Atlanta Boy Choir, and he regularly sings with The Meridian Herald, an Atlanta-based choral ensemble.
Career highlights include 2002 solo debut recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall. He is regularly heard on NPR’s Performance Today and The Atlanta Music Scene. Robert proudly serves as a tenured professor of Music and Coordinator of the Piano Area at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, GA. He is a founding member of the Summit Piano Trio. In 2023, He joined the faculty of the Adamant Music School, a summer music festival in Vermont. Robert joined the staff in February 2024.
Rector Emeritus
The Reverend Louis Tonsmeire
Father Louis was given the honorific title of “Rector Emeritus” in 2024. He was born in Mobile, Ala. in 1933, he attended church from the age of five and recognized his calling to the priesthood while in his teens. He received his BA from Spring Hill College in Mobile and was awarded the degree of Master of Divinity by the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.
Following his ordination in 1957, Father Louis’ first assignments were in Birmingham. His term as pastor of a blue-collar congregation awakened a commitment to social justice that was to serve him well when in 1960 he was assigned as pastor of three small churches in Silicauga, Ala.
As the civil rights movement gained momentum and met resistance, he left no doubt as to his allegiance. In a time of beatings, burnings and kneel-ins, he challenged the status quo and upheld the church’s role in bringing people of different races and views together to reject violence and find common purpose. As Vietnam, too, became a divisive issue, even within his own congregation, he successfully urged conversation over confrontation.
In 1965, his next move took the Father Louis to Cartersville, as Rector of the Church of the Ascension. Beyond pastoral duties, he engaged in a host of community activities, from revitalizing the Red Cross blood-donation program to serving on the Cartersville School Board for eight years.
Between 1981 and 1994, he served as rector of churches in east Cobb County and Chattanooga before returning to settle in Cartersville.
