Who We Are

Before seminary and priesthood, Fr. Charleston was a creative entrepreneur in the restaurant, timber, and wine industries, working in a variety of capacities, including co-owning a fine-dining concept, managing the strategic human resources for a now-national restaurant chain, developing a large, rural tree farm, and consulting both nationally and internationally in the wine industry. He is a certified sommelier, and he enjoys all things gustatory (perhaps too much).

Fr. Charleston’s educational background includes a degree in religion from Samford University as well as a Master in Divinity (M.Div.) from Nashotah House Theological Seminary (cum laude).

Fr. Charleston serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Anglican Digest, the leading quarterly publication serving 67 countries of the Anglican Communion. Locally, Fr. Charleston serves as a President of the Board of Directors of Resurrection House, a resource center for the homeless, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center. He serves his seminary alma mater, Nashotah House, as a member of the Board of Visitors.

Married to Malacy (neé Touchstone) since 2006, they have two children, Robert Augustus “Gus” and Mary Camille. Fr. Charleston and his family like to travel.

Born in Minnesota, Fr. David has lived all over the United States as well as a short stint in Poland. He is a graduate of Boyce College, Southern Seminary, and Trinity School for Ministry. Before coming to Redeemer, David spent time serving as a missionary in Poland, leading student Bible studies in California, and as a youth minister in Kentucky and Georgia. In his spare time, David enjoys hanging out with family and friends, reading, video games, going to concerts, good coffee, jogging, and being in nature.

Fr. Castro was born in La Joya de Guerra, a small town near Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. In 1971, his father, Jose Wessin, died in Santo Domingo, and his mother, Ramona Castro, supported the family by cultivating and selling vegetables with the help of her six sons and two daughters. Four years later, in search of a better life for her family, Castro’s mother moved the family to the outskirts of a populous neighborhood called “Los Mina.”

In 1978, upon finishing his Baccalaureate studies, he began to study sociology at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. But within a few months, his true vocation was discovered: serving God. For the next ten years at Saint Vincent De Paul Seminary, Father Castro completed a four-year course in philosophy, trained as a novice for two years (specializing in church history), and completed his priestly training by studying theology for 4 years, achieving his degree in Religious Sciences.

From 1987 and 1991, Fr. Castro fulfilled various priestly responsibilities, and in 1991, he married Doña Lilly Zaiter and they settled in Tampa, Fl. 

In 1994, Fr. Castro and his family began attending St. Francis Episcopal Church; they eventually became very involved in parish life and worked with the community evangelizing. Fr. Castro served on the church’s vestry and held the position of senior warden.

Father Castro was received on Feb. 27, 2011. He may be reached at mcastro@redeemersarasota.org.

Prior to ordination, Fr. Strohm taught at the secondary level in Iowa and in youth advocacy programs in Rochester, New York. He has three children, Rebecca and Christopher, who both live in the Pacific Northwest, and Megan, who lives in Hamburg, New York, with her husband Andrew and their children Kayla (9 yrs.) and Maylee (6 yrs.).

In his spare time he is an avid history buff, a committed jogger, and a huge baseball fan.