Clergy
Fr. Stuart began his cure as rector of Grace in early January 2014, after serving as Senior Associate at St. Benedict’s in Smyrna, Georgia, for over five years. Working with the entire leadership team at Grace, Fr. Stuart has a particular passion for the intersection of contemplative practices and congregational development.
His broader work as a priest, retreat leader, and author is grounded in the Christian contemplative tradition. He has shared in ongoing conversations with friends from the New Contemplative Exchange, a fellowship first gathered by Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, Tilden Edwards, and Laurence Freeman at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado in August 2017. Since that time, Fr. Stuart contributed to and co-edited the volume Contemplation and Community: A Gathering of Fresh Voices for a Living Tradition (Crossroad, 2019) and is the author of The Heart of a Calling: Practicing Christian Mindfulness in Congregational Ministry (Crossroad, 2021).
He studied in the pre-med program at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas (B.S. in Biology, summa cum laude) and did his initial theological studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia (M.Div, honors in spiritual formation). He subsequently completed a certificate in Anglican Studies and the Doctor of Ministry degree from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee Tennessee.
With the global contemplative community, Fr. Stuart has worked with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, the World Community for Christian Meditation, Contemplative Outreach, the Candler School of Theology, Mepkin Abbey, and others. In addition, he continues his practice and research into the connections between the Christian contemplative tradition and Tibetan Buddhism, which he has explored for many years.
He and his wife, Lisa, have one daughter, Evelyn. They grew up in Southeastern Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta, with fried catfish, sweet tea, and mosquitoes the size of small birds.