Clergy

Arthur Jenkins

Born in a small town in northeastern North Carolina, the Rev’d Arthur Jenkins graduated from Hargrave Military Academy, Chatham, VA and North Carolina State University. The first twelve years of his adult life he spent working with the family farm. During this time Arthur met Jesus in a very personal way. His favorite way to describe this is, “I had read the Book, but then I met the Man.” In the mid-eighties Arthur answered our Lord’s call to ministry and earned a Masters of Divinity at Virginia Theological Seminary. Ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, he served two years at Saint James Church, Charleston, South Carolina. In 1992 he was called as Rector of Christ Church, Fitchburg, Massachusetts in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. After serving in New England for five years he has since returned to Charleston as Sr. Pastor of Saint James Church An evangelical, Arthur’s ministry continues to be rooted in the Word of God and interested in the ministry of reconciliation, relationships, and intergenerational sin and men’s ministry. Ephesians 2:4 & 5, Luke 2:30, and 1 Corinthians 1:23 continue to be touchstones for his life and ministry. He is active on James Island with the James Island Out Reach Ministry and his ministry to the homeless. Arthur and his wife Kay have two daughters, Kate and Lawson.

ajenkins@saint-james.org

Louise Weld

Louise was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. As a young mother in her 20s, she committed her life to Jesus Christ and spent the next years in various kinds of ministry, from music to family counseling (and including raising a family). Midlife she returned to school for graduate degrees in counseling, creative writing, and finally in theology at Trinity School for Ministry. She has 4 children and 5 grandchildren. She has been at Saint James for 15 years. She is passionate about relationships in the body of Christ, about Christian community and small group discipleship; about sharing the gospel wherever and whenever it can be shared: from the pulpit, in families, among the homeless, in prisons. She loves to hear peoples’ faith stories. She also loves photography, poetry, music, and all things out of doors and on boats.

lweld@saint-james.org

Elizabeth Bumpas

Elizabeth was born and raised in Mississippi but moved to Charleston in 1989 and has called it home ever since. She has held numerous ministry positions over the last 20 years mostly focused on Spiritual Formation…helping people grow more into the image of Christ. She received a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2006. Most recently she spent three years (2014-2017) on the mission field (sent out by Saint James) in northern Uganda in the Anglican Diocese of Northern Uganda and was ordained to the priesthood there in 2016 by Bishop Johnson Gakumba. While in Uganda, Elizabeth served as the Bishop’s Assistant for International Relations, Curate in charge of the English service at Christ Church-Gulu and also taught at the Archbishop Janani Luwum Theological College. She also had a ministry taking the Jesus Film to villages in the Diocese as an evangelistic and discipleship tool. She returned to the US in June 2017 and is excited to be sharing in the life and ministry of Saint James. She is passionate about equipping the saints for the work of ministry and helping people discover that experiencing intimate communion with God is the ultimate meaning of life. She is single and has one child…her miniature dachshund, Daisy.

ebumpas@saint-james.org

Mark Cooke

The Rev. Mark Dean Cooke and his wife, Jane, were both raised in Christian homes in Charleston, and met in their youth group at Ashley River Baptist Church. After Mark finished the College of Charleston (BA,’78), they married and moved to Ft. Worth, Texas, where Mark attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.’81). Before Mark was ordained a Priest in February of 2008 in the Diocese of SC, he and Jane served for almost thirty years in Baptist and cross-denominational churches and ministries, across the country and around the world, as well as doing post-graduate, doctoral studies at Reformed Theological Seminary. A pastor, teacher, missionary and church planter, Mark comes to our Pastoral Team desiring to bring prophetic hope, healing grace, and the ministry of encouragement. Mark and Jane have been married for almost 40 years, have five grown children (3 married), and nine grandchildren. Between the children and themselves, they have ministered in 20+ countries on five continents.