St. Hilary's Episcopal Church
Staff & Leaders

Denise Gray-Guinta

Denise Gray Guinta was born in Arlington, Va and grew up in Great Falls, Va. She is a “cradle Episcopalian” and the youngest of five children. She graduated from Herndon High School in 1980. Denise enlisted into the United States Coast Guard in 1986 and became a Drill Instructor. She met her husband, Ron Guinta, while stationed in Cape May, NJ and they were married in 1988. They have two college aged sons, Nicholas and Dustin. Denise received a BS in Commercial Recreation and Parks Administration with a minor in Business from University of South Alabama while stationed in Mobile. She began to discern a call to be an ordained Priest in the Episcopal Church while in Sitka, Alaska. She received a MA in Pastoral Theology degree from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in 2004. She was ordained a Deacon in Sitka, May 25th 2002 and ordained Priest on June 14th, 2003 in St.Petersburg, FL. Denise currently lives with her family in Palm Harbor, FL. Her passion for empowering the laity has led her to transitional ministry. Denise has experience as Assistant Interim Rector, Assistant Rector, Interim Rector, College Chaplain and Priest-In-Charge. She believes in the Priesthood of all believers and has geared her ministry to lifting up and celebrating the God-given gifts of all faithful people. She has extensive knowledge and experience in Church Consulting, Appreciative Inquiry, Family Systems Theory, recruiting and training lay leaders and Education for Ministry mentoring. She has a certificate in Church Consulting and Facilitating from The Center for Congregational Health with an emphasis in visioning and strategic planning for congregations. And is a trained Interim Ministry Network member. Because of her experience in growing healthy congregations, Denise was asked by Bishop Dabney Smith to begin a dormant Episcopal Chaplaincy at University of South Florida. She was subsequently asked to stay on the Diocesan staff in Southwest Florida as a Congregational Development troubleshooter and “FreshStart” facilitator. She has extensive experience in team building and creating collaborative models of leadership. She has achieved building community and a greater understanding of being “Christ’s body” among clergy and parishes