Our Pastor
(The Rev.) Scott A. Ciosek
Scott is a priest of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and is Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Dartmouth, MA where he has served since July 2013. He simultaneously serves as Executive Director and founder of The Bridge: A Center for Hope and Healing, a 501(c)(3) non-profit counseling and behavioral health center located on the campus of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Since January 2020, Scott serves as the Episcopal Chaplain of UMass Dartmouth in the Center of Religious and Spiritual Life.
A native of Somerset, Scott was a member of St. John of God Parish in Somerset and is a 1993 graduate of UMass Dartmouth. He then received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1996 and then completed his theological training by earning a Master of Divinity degree in 2000, both from St. John's Seminary in Brighton, MA.
Originally ordained on June 3, 2000 in the Roman Catholic tradition where he served as a priest for five years, Scott later received a Diploma of Anglican Studies from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge and was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church by the late Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Scott has also served as Adjunct Professor at Bristol Community College in Fall River where he taught a humanities course, “Coping with Life and Death” as well as "Introduction to Philosophy." Scott currently serves the diocese as Dean of the Mt. Hope-Buzzards Bay Deanery of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and lives in Dighton, MA with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children.
In a parish setting, Scott is energized by parish growth, contemporary liturgical music and spirit-filled liturgy, community outreach, making new disciples and revisioning and reimagining new models of church that are relevant to the contemporary world.
Our Music Director
Michael B. Moniz
Michael has been involved with Music Ministry since his early teenage years at the Parish of St. John the Baptist Church in New Bedford in the 1990s. He helped to form, then later direct a Youth Choir, which was previously nonexistent.
Michael was also deeply involved in building and running the Youth Ministry for the church. This environment created a place where Young Adults were able to grow and share both in their spirituality and friendships which have lasted through the decades.
Michael studied at UMass Dartmouth and worked many years mainly in Operations and Store General Manager roles. He has been happily married since 2005 and is the father of three boys, two of which are twins.
Over the last six years, Michael has been a Cantor at St. Francis of Assisi in Swansea. He also helped for nearly a year at St. John of God in Somerset, where he planned and lead the Portuguese Mass in song. In between those two churches, Michael had also been singing with his home Parish of St. John Neumann in East Freetown as a Cantor or singing Bass with the Choir. Michael joined the staff of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in February 2021 and has had a significant impact on building our contemporary music ministry.
Keyboard Accompanist
Chris Oliveira
Chris has been cultured around music since birth. Chris was known to have identified notes by ear on a keyboard crawling on the floor before he could walk. In 1st grade, Chris’ talent was noticed by Our Lady of Mount Carmel School’s Music Teacher and Piano Instructor, David Langevin. Chris began taking lessons with Mr. Langevin all through high school where he learned music theory and became a classically trained pianist. In the 5th grade, Chris began playing for school Masses and ultimately, became a liturgical pianist and organist.
Chris learned to play the church organ on the classic 1920’s built Hooks & Hastings full pipe organ at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in New Bedford under the direction of then-pastor Fr. Henry S. Arruda. At the age of 18, Chris then took a full-time organist position with the Parish of St. Anthony’s in Taunton. Since then, Chris has played at several different parishes and built musical bonds and connections with many other musicians.
Chris’ love for playing music has also gone far beyond the church walls. Chris played for several bands of various genres, continuously polishing his piano and keyboard skills. He has been a pianist for musicals such as: Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. just to name a few. Today, he is on his 7th year as a part of the house band for the International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA) which hosts world renowned artists from all over the world.
When Chris is not playing music, his occupation is in the Medical Gas field where he has many years of hands on experience and project managing teams of technicians to design, maintain, install, and certify Medical Gas systems in hospitals and urgent care centers throughout the Southcoast and beyond; as well as years of commercial plumbing and HVAC project management experience.
Chris has a passion for sharing his music with people. Music enhances prayer and is an important expression of everyone’s spirituality. Chris lives his life with a strong sense of family and he is beyond ecstatic to join the Music Team here at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. His goal is to create a bond through music with the team and all current and future parishioners.
