The Rev. Dr. Nancee Martin Appointed Interim University Chaplain
September 5, 2024
Vice-Chancellor Rob Pearigen and Chancellor Jacob W. Owensby announced the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Nancee Martin as interim University chaplain in an email to campus earlier today. Martin will begin her service on Oct. 1.
“It’s a delight to welcome the Rev. Dr. Nancee Martin as our interim chaplain,” says Owensby. “Nancee and I first became acquainted when she was a seminarian at the School of Theology, and we have remained friends and interacted as colleagues over the years. She is a gifted priest, an insightful spiritual director, and a caring counselor.”
Martin succeeds the Rev. Peter Gray, who served as University chaplain from 2020 to 2024. “Over the last four years, Peter has reimagined our chapel life, offered creative leadership around student engagement, expanded chaplaincy support for a religiously diverse campus, and given us his very best from the pulpit at All Saints’ Chapel,” Pearigen wrote. Gray will preach for the final time as University chaplain on Sunday, Sept. 29, at the 11 a.m. service, and will speak at Growing in Grace at 6:30 p.m.
A graduate of the School of Theology (M.Div. in 2000 and D.Min. in 2008), Martin currently serves on the Alumni Council of the School of Theology and has served on the Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents. Her ministry has included serving as campus chaplain for the Episcopal Church at the University of Florida; rector of St. George Episcopal Church on St. George Island, Florida; cathedral canon at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle; associate rector at St. John’s Church, Boulder, Colorado; and, most recently, interim rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Norman, Oklahoma.
“I am full of gratitude and delight at being appointed the interim University chaplain,” says Martin. “I look forward to beloved Sewanee being the next destination in my life’s pilgrimage and encountering God’s grace there on the Mountain.”
Martin will assume her new role alongside three recent appointees to the staff of All Saints’ Chapel: Interim Associate University Chaplain Leigh Preston, Lay Chaplain Mary Margaret Murdock, C’19, and Assistant University Organist Stephanie Yoder.
“With all these new beginnings,” wrote Pearigen, “we will use the coming months to discern not only the future leadership at All Saints’ Chapel but also how our Episcopal heritage and identity are manifest on campus and in the wider Episcopal Church.”
