Shawn Potter has been a church musician for 24 years. He began playing the organ at St. James Anglican Church in Hants County, Nova Scotia, on the banks of the Avon river.
During his studies, Shawn served many music ministries in Nova Scotia (St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Windsor; Christ Church Anglican, Amherst); New Brunswick (St. Andrews, Presbyterian, Sackville; Mount Allison University Chapel), and Montreal (Christ Church Cathedral).
Shawn’s introduction to Anglo-Catholicism was at St. John the Evangelist in Montreal where, as an organ scholar, he deeply appreciated the way the worship services were crafted as a meaningful ritual that engages all the senses, and the whole person – body, mind, and spirit.
Currently, Shawn is also the Assistant Organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in downtown Ottawa, and was previously the Director of Music at First Baptist Church for 13 years. Shawn is a loving husband to Jenn (also a church musician, serving at First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa!) and father to two energetic children, who keep him very busy. In addition to being an organist, choir director, and teacher, Shawn is an avid baker, gardener, and paddler, and enjoys sharing his love of these hobbies with his children.
He is honoured to be entrusted with the tradition of excellent choral and organ music at St. Barnabas, and looks forward to a musically enriching and spiritually fulfilling liturgical season.