An Introduction From Rev. Nonnemaker
The Rev. Dr. Brandon Nonnemaker will begin on Monday, July 24 with his first day in the office. I am enormously grateful for him, for Mallory and their two sons Fletcher and Finley, as they settle in here to begin with the community at Grace. I remain grateful for the hard work done by the Circle of Parents group, who met, prayed, and planned what might be possible for us as we take these next steps as a community, focusing intently on the spiritual lives of Children, Youth, and Families.
I asked Brandon to write an introduction letter to the community, and I am thankful for his willingness to share some of his own spiritual journey with you all.
Blessings,
Stuart
Hello people of Grace,
I am honored and eager to begin work with the children, youth, and families of Grace Church!
I am a father. I am a husband. I am a brother. I am a teacher. I am an artist. These are just some of the roles I embody as a child of God. I was born in southern California and was baptized as a four-day-old according to the Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. I am a son. I am a Christian.
Much of my early Christian formation was in the ways I was taught to love others by those who loved me and in the stories I heard read by my grandmother from a Children’s Bible.
My family moved to Sautee-Nacoochee, Georgia when I was about Fletcher and Finley’s age (my twin sons will be ten years old next month). As a musician, I spent time as a cantor in a Roman Catholic Church in high school, singing in a Presbyterian choir as a staff musician in college, and directing choirs in a Lutheran and a Methodist church after graduating college and while working on a graduate degree in music education.
Meanwhile, I also worked as a school teacher: first, teaching middle school chorus and drama; then, elementary music, with a couple of years teaching third grade; next, I taught high school chorus and drama, before heading back to elementary music; all the while, holding an interest in the identification of gifts and talents and the emotional development of all learners.
Mallory and I visited The Episcopal Church shortly after getting married and immediately knew it was the faith tradition in which we wanted to raise our children. We were soon active in children and youth ministry, including diocesan events, like New Beginnings, the middle school retreat weekend at Camp Mikell. At the start of the pandemic, our family moved to Alexandria, Virginia so that I could attend seminary. Mallory continued her work as a theatre teacher at Episcopal High School.
Over the past three years, I’ve attended to the spiritual needs of veterans at Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, North Carolina (completing requirements for clinical pastoral education) and served as seminarian and deacon with the people of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia.
Our family is excited to join the community of Grace in this season of growth and revisioning. Children and youth are the presence of the Church…but, we so often consider them to be only the future.
In Scripture, we hear story after story of God’s people exploring the roots of community and place (or the absence of such) and what that means for one’s understanding of identity. As a father, husband, teacher, etc., I desire a Christian community that sees and hears the voices of all disciples, regardless of age–young, old, and in-between–to wonder and discover God’s work in the world.
I cannot wait to wonder and discover together!
Brandon