WORCESTER — A Holyoke kindergarten teacher, who was a former priest at Episcopal churches in Providence and Cranston, has resigned after FBI agents raided the rectory at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Worcester.

Agents armed with a warrant went to the home of Gregory Lisby at 919 Pleasant St., the church rectory, on Wednesday. In August, investigators had reviewed data provided by Microsoft for Lisby’s account and identified approximately 180 images and about 15 videos that appeared to depict child porn, according to court documents.

Agents sought a criminal complaint against Lisby in U.S. District Court for possession of child pornography.

Lisby is married to the Rev. Timothy Burger, rector of the Episcopal church, according to court documents. Lisby is a former rector of All Saints Church in Worcester. From 2005 to 2010, he served in the Rhode Island Diocese as a curate, which is an assistant priest, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Providence; and as rector, or head priest, at Church of the Ascension in Cranston, according to a spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

Additional files of child pornography were subsequently found during the investigation, authorities said.

Agents said they also uncovered a document belonging to Lisby for a post-baccalaureate teacher licensure program on which he states: “If I could teach any grade, I would love to be a kindergarten teacher. The joy, spontaneity, and openness to learning of younger children is what attracts me to early childhood education.”

Lisby worked at the Morgan School in Holyoke, which is under state receivership.

On Thursday, Holyoke Receiver-Superintendent Stephen Zrike forwarded Lisby’s resignation letter to the FBI.

“Last night I was accused of an awful crime that could put Holyoke children in harm’s way,” the email began.

The receiver issued a letter to parents confirming Lisby had resigned from his teaching post at Morgan School on Thursday, asserting the allegations were “troubling news.”

In a letter to parishioners on Friday, the Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, addressed the charges against Lisby, noting his marriage to Burger of St. Luke’s. The bishop noted that Lisby was suspended at one time for an “inappropriate relationship with an adult that did not involve sexual contact.”

“When trust has been violated, God’s people and God’s mission suffer,” he wrote.

A spokesman for the Western Massachusetts Diocese, Jim Naughton, said the case prompted Rhode Island Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely Jr., to look through records from Lisby’s time in the state. Naughton said Knisely told him Friday that he did not find any complaints about Lisby's conduct.

The rectors of both St. Martin’s and Ascension have written members of both congregations to notify them of the case and to ask them to share any information or concerns they might have, said Naughton.

An email sent to parishioners from St. Martin's rector, the Rev. Mark Robert Sutherland, said: "Many of you will remember Greg Lisby as a former curate at St. Martin's.

"News media outlets in Massachusetts are reporting his arrest by the FBI on possession of child pornography charges. I did not know Greg, but I have heard many at St. Martin's speak of his time here with warmth and affection and so I know this news will come as an unexpected and deeply disturbing shock.

"After speaking with Bishop Nicholas and consulting with the Church Wardens I am now asking anyone who is deeply affected by this news to speak to me directly."

-With Providence Journal staff reports