A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, the Rev'd Peter Helman comes to Alabama from the Diocese of Arizona, where he served as Parochial Vicar of St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, Tucson, for seven years. While there he guided the core work of the parish, day to day, overseeing St. Philip’s worship, pastoral care, and prayer life, and supervising adult formation programming. He was a member of the diocesan Commission on Ministry and served on the Board of Directors for the local nonprofit Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network. Prior to ministry there, Peter served for three years as Priest-in-Charge of Saint Mary’s, Middlesboro, an historic mountain parish on the Cumberland Gap.

He holds a Master of Sacred Theology from the School of Divinity at Yale University, a Certificate in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned degrees in history and Biblical and theological studies from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. He was ordained in the Diocese of New Jersey and sponsored to Holy Orders by The Episcopal Church at Princeton University. He is a member of the Guild of All Souls, the North American branch of the Society of Catholic Priests, and is a Priest Associate of the Holy House of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Peter grew up broadly evangelical and after a long and circuitous road found The Episcopal Church in his first semester of seminary as a Presbyterian. He and a close friend decided on a whim to attend mass one Sunday evening, and six months later he was confirmed. He is a longtime archaeologist in Northern Jordan and a clergy mentor-coach.

He and his fiancé Jenna Honan were engaged this summer and will be married in April 2024. Jenna is a Research Specialist and Environmental Health Sciences PhD Candidate in the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona.