Leadership

Fr. Jim was ordained a Priest in the Diocese of Indianapolis in 1988 and served as the Vicar of St. Luke’s Mission Church, Cannelton, Indiana. For the ten years prior to ordination he was the only lay-reader leading Morning Prayer services for the mission. 
In 1998, at the age of 70, Jim retired as Vicar of St. Luke’s and returned to his North Carolina hometown after 21 years total service in Indiana – 10 years as lay-reader and 11 years as priest. 
Upon return to Elizabeth City he was asked to serve as Priest-in-Charge of Christ Church for three years. He remained there from Fall of 1998 until December, 2001. From then until 2004 he served St. Mary's, Gatesville, as a part-time priest-in-charge.
In January 2004, St. Luke’s (Currituck) was formed by Fr. McGee along with six Episcopalians. Fr. Jim retired from St. Luke’s, Currituck, June 5, 2016 at age 87, after serving the new congregation for twelve years.
Prior to priesthood, Jim was employed by an aluminum company as Superintendent of Loss Control for 28 years. Several years after ordination he took an early retirement so as to devote more time to the mission. In his earlier years he was a Special Agent of the FBI serving in locations from California to the Virgin Islands, and before that a high school mathematics teacher and football coach in New Bern and Roanoke, Virginia.. He is also a combat veteran of the Korean War.
Fr. Jim has been married to Beverly for 72 years and they have three daughters, two of whom are members of St. Luke’s. Throughout his years as priest, he and his wife have served as a ministry team.