Anne Bolles-Beaven ’88 Installed as Rector, St. Columba’s Chapel

The Rev. Anne Bolles-Beaven, Class of 1988, has been installed as Rector at St. Columba’s Chapel, Middletown, RI, after serving as Priest-in-Charge since February 2020. She is the ninth, and first woman, rector of the 137-year-old Episcopal parish.

“Words fail to express what it means to have been called as the rector of St. Columba’s,” said Bolles-Beaven. “My great grandmother brought my mother to church here as a child. My parents brought me as a child. It’s always been an important touchstone in my life. I feel extraordinarily blessed and grateful to be part of this incredible parish.”

The daughter of the Rev. Hébert W. Bolles, Class of 1951, and Newport native Elizabeth Sands Bolles, Bolles-Beaven attended St. Columba’s as a child with her family and lived in the area on and off while her father served as a U.S. Navy Chaplin. Sponsored for priesthood by the Diocese of RI, after earning her Master of Divinity from General she served as a priest in New York and New Jersey for 25 years before returning to Aquidneck Island with her husband, Paul Bolles-Beaven. They have two grown children and a rescue dog, Teddy.