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 Rev. 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 LGBT 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.
Parish Administrator &
Communications Coordinator
Anna Reynolds
Interim Director of Music
Herbert Buffington
Herb comes to Church of the Ascension following a 25-year tenure as organist at Peachtree Christian Church. A native of Atlanta, he received early musical training as a chorister in the Men and Boys choir at the Cathedral of St. Philip, where he also held the position of Cathedral Sub-Organist for several years before entering undergraduate school.
He holds degrees from Duke University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He also studied abroad at the Vienna International Music Center and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. He maintains an active solo recital schedule and has appeared in concert at Washington National Cathedral, The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, the Cathedral of St. Philip, Bates Recital Hall at The University of Texas at Austin, National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and Duke University Chapel. A widely respected musician, he has won national awards for organ improvisation and frequently serves on the faculties of church music conferences and improvisation seminars across the country.
