John Barker is new diocesan CFO

CHARLESTON – John Barker has joined the Diocese of Charleston as its new

chief financial officer.

Barker, 48, is the former chief financial officer of the Claremont Restaurant Group in Mooresville, N.C. The company manages Sagebrush Restaurants, casual-dining steakhouses located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Barker is a native of Ohio and graduated from Wake Forest University in North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He is a certified public accountant.

Barker told The Miscellany in an interview that he has served as a chief financial officer for various companies over the last 12 years and has lived in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Missouri and Florida.

“I’ve been a CFO for for-profit organizations my whole career, and because of the time that is involved in that position I was really limited in volunteer work that I could do,” Barker said.

He sees his new job as a vocation and as an opportunity to use his talents.

“Hopefully what I can do and bring to the diocese can benefit the church and its members,” he said.

Barker, a convert to Catholicism, found the faith thanks to his wife, Barbara. He converted in 1990, four years after their marriage.

“This feels comfortable to me,” he said of his faith.

He and his wife are members of Holy Spirit Church on John’s Island.