In October 2004, after leaving her position as Canon Evangelist at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in Detroit, the Reverend Canon Meredith Hunt become the first woman Rector of St. John's, Sturgis, Michigan. It was a homecoming for Canon Hunt.

"Merry", as she is known to her family and close friends, grew up in this community and graduated from Sturgis High School in 1966, before leaving for college. She never dreamed that she would have the privilege of serving a community which first served her so well.

Her educational endeavors include a junior year abroad spent in Paris, France, where she became fluent in French. (Spanish is the next language she would like to conquor, in order to better relate to the local latino community.) She graduated from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Arts (Religion), and then earned her Master of Divinity, with distinction, from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge , Massachusetts.

Meredith began her ministry as a Deacon in the Diocese of Massachusetts in 1974. In 1977 she was the first woman ordained as an Episcopal Priest in the State of Michigan, by the Right Reverend H. Coleman McGehee of the Diocese of Michigan.

In 1983 she was the first full-time woman Chaplain in the VA Medical Centers in the United States, serving in Allen Park, Michigan. In 1992 she was the first woman Canon at the Cathedral in Detroit, where her ministry includes regular preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and chaplaincy of the Herlong Cathedral School. She was also responsible for their Alpha Evangelism Program and overseeing a Healing ministry, which she herself established.

Since moving to Sturgis and becoming Rector, Meredith now serves on the Hospital Board, the Whittemore Foundation Board of the Diocese, and as a member of Rotary, International.

Meredith is married to the Reverend David Lillvis, who is a part-time Rector Under Contract at Trinity Episcopal Church in Three Rivers. David also works as an Operating Room Nurse in the Sturgis hospital.

They have two adult sons, Matthew and John Lillvis. Matthew is married to Vina Lam, and they live in New York City, where Matthew is a lawyer and Vina, a web designer. John is married to Denise Finley, and they live in Ferndale, Michigan, where Denise works for a non-profit bone marrow transplant education agency and John is pursuing an MD/PhD at Wayne State Medical School in genetic research.

Meredith is blessed to have many family members, and friends from high school, still living in the area. She is grateful to be able to share her spiritual journey with these significant people in her life.

Finally, Prince, the therapy dog, is an integral part of the church ministry team. Come and meet this gentle and intelligent Standard Poodle, who gives true meaning to the word: "Episcopoodle".