Congregations
The Vail Interfaith Chapel is home to a diverse and vibrant community of congregations, each rooted in its own traditions while united by a shared spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. Together, these faith communities create a welcoming place for worship, reflection, service, and connection in the heart of the Vail Valley.
The congregations that call the chapel home include Mountain Community Church Baptist, led by Pastor Matt Wyatt; the Catholic parishes of the valley, including St. Mary, St. Clare, and St. Patrick Catholic Churches of Minturn and Vail, led by Father Jose Maria Quera; The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, led by Father Brooks Keith III; B’nai Vail Jewish Congregation, led by Rabbi Joel D. Newman; and Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Congregation, led by Reverend Dr. Scott Beebe. Each congregation brings its own voice, traditions, and leadership, enriching the spiritual life of the broader community.
What makes the Vail Interfaith Chapel truly distinctive is the way these faiths work together with openness, collaboration, and care. Under the stewardship of the Vail Religious Foundation, the congregations share the chapel with harmony and respect, creating a space where interfaith cooperation thrives. This shared commitment reflects the chapel’s mission to serve as a place of unity, hospitality, and spiritual nourishment for all who enter its doors.
Mountain Community Church - Baptist
Pastor Matt Wyatt
Pastor Matt Wyatt
Pastor Matthew has lived in Colorado for 17 years. He and his wife, Allison, have four children. Their favorite activities are hiking, camping, playing in the water, skiing and snowboarding, watching movies, and evening board games.
Pastor Matthew is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, with a Masters of Divinity, focused in pastoral ministry. He loves people and desires to see Jesus do an amazing work in the Vail Valley.
Mountain Community Church meets on Sunday night, 7:00pm, at the Vail Interfaith Chapel for its Sunday Night Bible Study. The church is partnered with Trinity Church in Edwards, Colorado, and has been a part of the Vail Chapel since the mid-1970’s.
Catholic Parishes of the Valley St. Mary, St. Clare, St. Patrick
Father Jose Maria Quera
Father Jose Maria Quera
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Fr. Jose Maria spent the first part of his life enjoying this beautiful city in the Mediterranean. There he studied and worked as an architect for several years.
A pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle St. James in Compostela, Spain, brought him to a deep encounter with our Lord, which led him to get much more involved in the Catholic Church, becoming a member of the Neocatechumenal Catholic Movement. After a while, walking in a parochial community of this movement, he started feeling God’s call to the priesthood, which was confirmed in another pilgrimage to Holy Land on the occasion of Pope John Paul II visiting Israel.
Fr. Jose Maria felt the call to become a missionary priest and was sent to the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater in Denver, where he finished his studies in Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained on May 14th, 2010, by Archbishop Chaput. He has developed his missionary ministry in different places, all in the United States. Prior to coming to St. Clare, he served as the Pastor of St. Mary Catholic parish in Rifle for 5 years. Since 2017 he has been assigned as the new pastor of the parishes of the Valley (Minturn, Vail, Edwards, Beaver Creek and Eagle). He enjoys being part of the faith formation of the children at the school.
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration
Father Brooks Keith III
Father Brooks Keith III
The Reverend Stuart Brooks Keith III, or simply Father Brooks, hails from Tampa, Florida. Following a tenure in professional youth ministry in Orlando, Florida, Father Brooks graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1992 before coming west to serve Saint John Chrysostom Episcopal Church in Golden, Colorado as a new priest.
He was called to Transfiguration as Associate Priest in 1995 and named Rector in 1998. Father Brooks enjoys leading a dynamic, growing local congregation while providing leadership at the regional and state levels of the Episcopal Church. He also enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountain west while remaining an avid reader, cinephile, student of biblical history and Holy Land pilgrimage, and fan of space exploration, science fiction, fantasy and everything Scottish.
B'nai Vail Congregation - Jewish
Rabbi Joel D. Newman
Rabbi Joel D. Newman, BA, BHL, FLBC, DD
Joel D. Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Columbia University in New York where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and concurrently attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew Literature.
From 1977 until 1981, Rabbi Newman lived in London, England while attending the Leo Baeck College and culminated in the conferring of his Rabbinic Ordination. He was also a Rabbi of two congregations in London, scribe to the Jewish Religious Court of London and Senior scribe to the “Precious Legacy,” repairing and cataloguing the 1,600 Holocaust Torah Scrolls (5 Books of Moses) saved from the Nazis.
He returned to the United States, where from 1981 until 1992 he served as the spiritual leader of congregations in St. Paul, Minnesota and in Denver, Colorado.
Commissioned as a Naval Officer in 1990, Rabbi Newman received orders to serve with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, California. As a Navy Chaplain, for the next 23 years, he traveled to East Africa, Ecuador, Singapore, Guam, Okinawa, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Horn of Africa, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bahrain, including the ships in the Persian Gulf. He traveled through Kuwait on his way to Afghanistan for his tenth “combat deployment” in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While serving with the Marines, he deployed a thirteenth time to the Arabian Gulf for “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Rabbi Newman arrived at the United States Naval Academy in June of 2002 where he served as the Jewish Chaplain and as an Ethics instructor in the “Moral Reasoning for Naval Leaders” Ethics Class taught to sophomores. While at the Naval Academy, he spent three years in the design and planning of the new Commodore Uriah P. Levy Jewish Chapel.
Commander Newman retired from the Navy on 01 June 2014 after over 23 years of honorable service and 27 deployments.
During his rabbinic career, Rabbi Newman was made a “Senior Fellow of the Leo Baeck College” London, England and he received a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, from the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York.
Rabbi Newman is married to Janet, who was an Adjunct Professor with the School of Education at the University of Maryland, taught for 35 years in public and private schools in California and Colorado. She completed her Ph.D. in Education at the University of Denver in 1996. They have two daughters.
Mount of the Holy Cross - Lutheran
Reverend Dr. Scott Beebe
Reverend Dr. Scott Beebe
When I arrived at Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in February 2009, the moving van pulled into the church parking lot and offloaded a chair, boxes full of books and a lot of hopes and dreams. I spent the day unpacking and wondering what the future had in store for me at Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church. I had a copy of the congregational profile in hand; I also had several stories that members of the congregation had shared during the interview process, but really, what did I know about this congregation? What did they know about me? I recalled some words a Bishop told me soon after I was ordained, Well Scott, when you get to your first parish, there will be you and there will be people, you take it from there. Preach good sermons, love them, and if you can’t help them, at least try not to hurt them.
Back in the spring of 1999, the congregation I was then serving (along with our community of Littleton, CO), was shaken to its core by the tragic shootings at Columbine High School. Cherished assumptions of safety and security were thrown out the window as we wrestled with what it meant to be “church” in the midst of this great communal catastrophe. I was in the midst of my doctoral work at the time, and as a way of working through my own pain and confusion, I began formulating a document, which I have come to call my Pastoral Rule. Its purpose is to help me remember in the midst of the give and take of ministry, which is central to my Call, my vocation as a minister of the Gospel.
It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of ministry that I forget why I’m doing what I’m doing. Self-reflection is critical … for all of us if we are to stay centered. In early 2000, I began sharing this document with my Council leadership and New Member classes as a way of letting folks know what I’m about as a pastor and what they can expect from me. We all carry in our heads some idea of what a pastor is or does or ought to do. I think that self-definition is imperative if I am to stay centered in the midst of a host of competing voices that would like to tell me who I am. I revisit my Rule on a yearly basis and ask myself, does this living document continue to reflect who I am and who I believe myself to be as a minister of the Gospel? By “living,” I mean that this document is growing, changing, adapting to different times and changing circumstances. I share it with you in hopes of stimulating further conversation. I invite both your reflections and comments.
Pastor Matt Wyatt
Pastor Matthew has lived in Colorado for 17 years. He and his wife, Allison, have four children. Their favorite activities are hiking, camping, playing in the water, skiing and snowboarding, watching movies, and evening board games.
Pastor Matthew is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, with a Masters of Divinity, focused in pastoral ministry. He loves people and desires to see Jesus do an amazing work in the Vail Valley.
Mountain Community Church meets on Sunday night, 7:00pm, at the Vail Interfaith Chapel for its Sunday Night Bible Study. The church is partnered with Trinity Church in Edwards, Colorado, and has been a part of the Vail Chapel since the mid-1970’s.
Father Jose Maria Quera
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Fr. Jose Maria spent the first part of his life enjoying this beautiful city in the Mediterranean. There he studied and worked as an architect for several years.
A pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle St. James in Compostela, Spain, brought him to a deep encounter with our Lord, which led him to get much more involved in the Catholic Church, becoming a member of the Neocatechumenal Catholic Movement. After a while, walking in a parochial community of this movement, he started feeling God’s call to the priesthood, which was confirmed in another pilgrimage to Holy Land on the occasion of Pope John Paul II visiting Israel.
Fr. Jose Maria felt the call to become a missionary priest and was sent to the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater in Denver, where he finished his studies in Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained on May 14th, 2010, by Archbishop Chaput. He has developed his missionary ministry in different places, all in the United States. Prior to coming to St. Clare, he served as the Pastor of St. Mary Catholic parish in Rifle for 5 years. Since 2017 he has been assigned as the new pastor of the parishes of the Valley (Minturn, Vail, Edwards, Beaver Creek and Eagle). He enjoys being part of the faith formation of the children at the school.
Father Brooks Keith III
The Reverend Stuart Brooks Keith III, or simply Father Brooks, hails from Tampa, Florida. Following a tenure in professional youth ministry in Orlando, Florida, Father Brooks graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1992 before coming west to serve Saint John Chrysostom Episcopal Church in Golden, Colorado as a new priest.
He was called to Transfiguration as Associate Priest in 1995 and named Rector in 1998. Father Brooks enjoys leading a dynamic, growing local congregation while providing leadership at the regional and state levels of the Episcopal Church. He also enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountain west while remaining an avid reader, cinephile, student of biblical history and Holy Land pilgrimage, and fan of space exploration, science fiction, fantasy and everything Scottish.
Rabbi Joel D. Newman, BA, BHL, FLBC, DD
Joel D. Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Columbia University in New York where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and concurrently attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew Literature.
From 1977 until 1981, Rabbi Newman lived in London, England while attending the Leo Baeck College and culminated in the conferring of his Rabbinic Ordination. He was also a Rabbi of two congregations in London, scribe to the Jewish Religious Court of London and Senior scribe to the “Precious Legacy,” repairing and cataloguing the 1,600 Holocaust Torah Scrolls (5 Books of Moses) saved from the Nazis.
He returned to the United States, where from 1981 until 1992 he served as the spiritual leader of congregations in St. Paul, Minnesota and in Denver, Colorado.
Commissioned as a Naval Officer in 1990, Rabbi Newman received orders to serve with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, California. As a Navy Chaplain, for the next 23 years, he traveled to East Africa, Ecuador, Singapore, Guam, Okinawa, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Horn of Africa, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bahrain, including the ships in the Persian Gulf. He traveled through Kuwait on his way to Afghanistan for his tenth “combat deployment” in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While serving with the Marines, he deployed a thirteenth time to the Arabian Gulf for “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
Rabbi Newman arrived at the United States Naval Academy in June of 2002 where he served as the Jewish Chaplain and as an Ethics instructor in the “Moral Reasoning for Naval Leaders” Ethics Class taught to sophomores. While at the Naval Academy, he spent three years in the design and planning of the new Commodore Uriah P. Levy Jewish Chapel.
Commander Newman retired from the Navy on 01 June 2014 after over 23 years of honorable service and 27 deployments.
During his rabbinic career, Rabbi Newman was made a “Senior Fellow of the Leo Baeck College” London, England and he received a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, from the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York.
Rabbi Newman is married to Janet, who was an Adjunct Professor with the School of Education at the University of Maryland, taught for 35 years in public and private schools in California and Colorado. She completed her Ph.D. in Education at the University of Denver in 1996. They have two daughters.
Reverend Dr. Scott Beebe
When I arrived at Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in February 2009, the moving van pulled into the church parking lot and offloaded a chair, boxes full of books and a lot of hopes and dreams. I spent the day unpacking and wondering what the future had in store for me at Mount of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church. I had a copy of the congregational profile in hand; I also had several stories that members of the congregation had shared during the interview process, but really, what did I know about this congregation? What did they know about me? I recalled some words a Bishop told me soon after I was ordained, Well Scott, when you get to your first parish, there will be you and there will be people, you take it from there. Preach good sermons, love them, and if you can’t help them, at least try not to hurt them.
Back in the spring of 1999, the congregation I was then serving (along with our community of Littleton, CO), was shaken to its core by the tragic shootings at Columbine High School. Cherished assumptions of safety and security were thrown out the window as we wrestled with what it meant to be “church” in the midst of this great communal catastrophe. I was in the midst of my doctoral work at the time, and as a way of working through my own pain and confusion, I began formulating a document, which I have come to call my Pastoral Rule. Its purpose is to help me remember in the midst of the give and take of ministry, which is central to my Call, my vocation as a minister of the Gospel.
It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of ministry that I forget why I’m doing what I’m doing. Self-reflection is critical … for all of us if we are to stay centered. In early 2000, I began sharing this document with my Council leadership and New Member classes as a way of letting folks know what I’m about as a pastor and what they can expect from me. We all carry in our heads some idea of what a pastor is or does or ought to do. I think that self-definition is imperative if I am to stay centered in the midst of a host of competing voices that would like to tell me who I am. I revisit my Rule on a yearly basis and ask myself, does this living document continue to reflect who I am and who I believe myself to be as a minister of the Gospel? By “living,” I mean that this document is growing, changing, adapting to different times and changing circumstances. I share it with you in hopes of stimulating further conversation. I invite both your reflections and comments.
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Vail Interfaith Chapel
Vail Religious Foundation
19 Vail Road, Vail, CO 81657
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