On July 1, the number of clergy in the Mystic area increased by one. The Rev. Stacey Kohl began as a half-time curate at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Pearl Street.

Kohl, who interned earlier at the church, has completed the Masters of Divinity degree at Yale and on June 10 was ordained to the transitional diaconate by the Episcopal bishop of Connecticut.

In the Episcopal Church, a branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as in other liturgical churches, deacons are ordained clergy whose primary functions are to proclaim the Gospel, serve those in need and interpret the needs of the world to the church. Before the year is out, Kohl will very likely be ordained to the priesthood.

Father Adam Thomas, rector at St. Mark’s, has compared the role of a curate to that of a doctor in residence; someone who has completed studies and graduated, and is learning on the job, while being overseen by an attending physician.

Kohl, originally from Missouri, also works at Mystic Seaport, and lives in New London with her husband Zach, an attorney who works for the State Judicial Branch.