Friends and Followers of the Rev. Stephen Holton (MDiv 1988, STM 2013) relish his haiku as it has been popping up on social media for several years. Now some of the best have been gathered for his new book Haiku for the Road, recently published by Rivertowns Books and now available on Amazon. Some deal with the issues confronting our communities and the world, from the COVID pandemic to racial injustice. Others deal with the joys, challenges, and mysteries of our spiritual journey. Still others focus on the small, often unnoticed moments of humor, pathos, and connection that make daily life meaningful.

One day during morning prayer, Holton found himself arranging words "like puzzle pieces" in the traditional syllabic structure of Japanese haiku. Creating these simple three-line poems turned into a daily ritual — Holton's way of capturing and exploring momentary emotions, observations of nature and the world, and insights into faith and life.

“I see the haiku — singly and as a collection — as a natural extension to the work I did at General,” Holton told us, “making the faith accessible and nourishing to anyone of any background.” Holton’s STM thesis advisor, Prof. Clair McPherson, observes “these poignant, witty, and deep verbal snapshots constitute in fact a welcome 21st century contribution to the venerable genre of Wisdom Literature, and speak to the situation of the contemporary person of faith. Fr. Stephen’s life experience as a Christian minister, priest, and innovator,” McPherson continues, “inform that wisdom, and the terse, sharp form of the modified Haiku is the perfect mode for expressing it.”

The son of a U.S. Diplomat, Holton grew up in six different countries with his parents, his brother, and his sister. After ordination to the priesthood in 1989, he was married to his wife Charlotte. In the years since then, with their sons, they’ve lived and served in several different parishes – from his long term position as rector of St. Paul’s on the Hill in Ossining to a number of interim and associate positions, also in the Hudson Valley region of New York as with his current call to Christ Church, Warwick.