Saint John's Church in Passaic - Anglican + Episcopal
Traditional Worship + Progressive Values + Faithful Service
Our Priest
Our Music Director
Recognized for her sense of style and musicality, Mun-Tzung Wong is a multi-faceted musician, leading a professional career as a pianist, conductor, mezzo-soprano, vocal and instrumental coach, and teaching artist. She has appeared on WQXR and performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall, Steinway Hall, and Lincoln Center. She has been on staff at the Manhattan School of Music since 2008.
A Hong Kong native, Ms. Wong started piano at the age of 4. She studied organ and harpsichord intensively and, at the age of 14, she performed on one of the largest tracker organs in Southeast Asia (Rieger Orgelbau, Hong Kong Cultural Centre).
Featured in an article on music entrepreneurship in Forbes Magazine, Ms. Wong is the founder and executive director of the New York Conducting Institute.
Ms. Wong has been serving in the music ministry at Saint John’s since 2009 and is currently sharing the duties of music directorship with her husband, David Štech. She currently resides in New York City with David and their two wonderful kitties, Cleo and Niles. She enjoys cooking in her free time.
Our Organist and Choirmaster
Organist and Choirmaster DAVID ŠTECH has served St. John’s since 2009. He and his wife MunTzung Wong share in the leadership of our church’s music program. David has been a professional organist and/or choirmaster in churches since 1991 and is currently the artistic director of the New York Conducting Institute, which he and MunTzung established in 2016. He is also the assistant conductor of the Missouri Symphony and a frequent collaborator with opera singers in New York, where he has an active vocal coaching studio.
He has also worked as a professional choral singer for many years and was music director of Chicago Choral Artists, 2005-2009. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Florida Orchestra, the North Shore Choral Society (Evanston, IL), Bella Voce (Chicago), and on tour with the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter’s-in-the-loop (Chicago). He has served as music director of American Opera Group, Chicago Choral Artists, and the Astoria Symphony, and associate conductor at New York Lyric Opera. He works frequently with opera companies throughout the country, including Sarasota Opera, Opera Southwest, St. Petersburg Opera, Williamsburg Opera, and Charlottesville Opera. David has served on the faculties of DePaul and Roosevelt Universities, the University of Illinois in Chicago, and the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he conducted premieres of student works, played dozens of recitals, and coached singers.
In addition to the traditional classical canon, David’s diverse tastes lead him to learn Eastern European folk music and dance, early music, and music of a wide variety of church traditions.
Our Vestry
Sr. Warden: Ernesto Munoz
Jr. Warden: Lystra Huntley
Treasurer: Gemina Galloway
Joann Dalton Barbara Sanders
Shirley Signorat Rich Koffel
Kendra McPherson Elizabeth Harwood
Norman Hunter
Our Bishop
On May 19, 2018, the Rev. Carlye J. Hughes was elected as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Newark on the first ballot. Upon her consecration on September 22, 2018 at NJPAC, she became the first woman and African American to serve as bishop of this diocese.
A life-long Episcopalian, Hughes was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Ft. Worth, Texas. She earned a BA in Drama from the University of Texas in Austin, and for 20 years she made her home in New York City, while pursuing a career in Human Resources as a corporate trainer, mostly in the hotel industry.
While in NYC she discerned a call to the priesthood and attended Virginia Theological seminary, earning a M.Div. in 2005. After a Lilly Fellowship at St. James’ Church in New York City, she was called to serve as rector first at St. Peter’s Church, Peekskill, NY; and most recently at Trinity Church, Ft. Worth, TX. Hughes describes her ministry there as one in which she helped others “discover the ways they are called to serve God and God’s people… supporting, encouraging, and empowering them to go and do what God created them to do. Because, Hughes stated, “Today’s church is not one that can rest on the past while waiting for people to come and ask about the faith. Instead God is guiding us to be active participants in the world. An important element of my ministry… is to nurture and guide our capacity to build relationships with neighbors locally or on the other side of the globe.”
Hughes has been active on the Board of Trustees of The Virginia Theological Seminary; as a member of the Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, Diocesan Convention Chaplain in the Diocese of New York, and in the former Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth as a member of the Standing Committee and as a General Convention Delegate. At the national level, she has served the General Convention on the Task Force on the Study of Marriage and the Racial Justice & Reconciliation.
Hughes is married to David Smedley and they have a dog, Abbey.