Christ Church Bellport welcomes a new priest

Rev. Elliot Conrad, the new Priest-in-Charge at Christ Church Bellport, appreciates the power of storytelling.

Conrad, who started Feb. 1, studied for a graduate degree in creative writing at Brooklyn College. He sometimes weaves stories from his life into his sermons, like a recent one about trying to coax his family’s housecat Woody down from a tree.

Conrad, 42, didn’t start out wanting to become an Episcopal priest.

He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Fox Lake, where his parents owned a diner. Sunday mornings were a busy time at the restaurant, so Conrad spent his Sundays in a diner booth rather than a church pew.

He went to the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee to study experimental film and English.

But at age 20, Conrad read the Gospel of Matthew. It was a transformative experience.

“I was converted at that point,” he said.

Conrad was baptized three years later.

After moving to New York in 2006 to attend Brooklyn College, Conrad worked in the restaurant industry, which is where he met his future wife, Lillian. The couple have three children.

Some years later, Conrad felt the calling to become a priest.

He’d seen the profession up close because his father-in-law, Rev. Roger Joslin, is Vicar of Church of the Redeemer, in Mattituck, and Holy Trinity Church, in Greenport.

Conrad attended the School of Theology at Sewanee, the University of the South, from which he received a Master of Divinity degree in 2023. He was ordained by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island in September 2023.

He served at Caroline Episcopal Church in Setauket and Christ Episcopal Church in Port Jefferson before coming to Christ Church Bellport.

Conrad says he feels like he and his family have found a home at Christ Church Bellport.

He appreciates the love the congregation has for their historic building, which dates back to the 1890s.

“It’s a piece of Bellport Village history,” he said.

And as for Conrad’s parents, who split their time between Florida and Wisconsin, they now get to watch their son’s sermons over the internet.