‘She is the future of our church.’ Winnie Varghese named first woman dean of St. John the Divine.

Born to immigrant Indian parents and raised in Dallas, Varghese first encountered the historic cathedral not in person, but in the pages of her local newspaper. She remembered, as a 12-year-old, reading about a winding procession of camels, elephants and other animals making their way around the church for its annual St. Francis Day celebration, a tradition that honors St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology.