The Reverend Penny A. Nash
Interim Rector
The Rev. Penny A. Nash was born and raised in Louisburg, North Carolina, attended Wake Forest University, earned a B.A. in creative writing from Florida State University, and worked in advertising and publishing in New York City before settling in Atlanta, Georgia. It was in The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, sponsored by her home parish All Saints Atlanta, that she was ordained to the diaconate in 2007 and the priesthood in 2008, after receiving her M.Div. from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Penny served in several parishes in the Diocese of Atlanta before moving to Williamsburg, Virginia, to serve at Bruton Parish Church as associate rector.
She arrived in Richmond in 2014 and served at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for six years as associate rector and vicar of the evening community there. In 2019 Penny began the coursework and certification process for intentional interim ministry and is certified by both the Interim Ministry Network and the Center for Congregational Health for this specialized ministry. She’s served two full-time interims as well as another part-time one, most recently as Interim Rector at All Saints Richmond. She is very at home in large parish systems.
A self-proclaimed Church nerd, Penny is passionate about Jesus, church liturgy and music, the Bible (she was raised in the Baptist tradition), and church art and architecture. She’s also an avid reader, photographer, and adventurer who loves to travel and plan travel (especially to visit churches). Penny is married to Tom Cox, a retired attorney who is involved as a teacher and student in the OSHER program at the University of Richmond and also serves as the chairman of the board of Communities in Schools Richmond. They are the parents of three adult children and the servants of two cats.
The Reverend Amelia Arthur
Sen. Associate Rector
A native of the Bay Area of California, Amelia spent most of her childhood in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. A lifelong Episcopalian, Amelia has loved Jesus and the Episcopal faith as long as she can remember. Amelia graduated from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina with a B.A. in History and concentrations in Art History and Gender Studies. Prior to ordination Amelia served on the staff of the Episcopal Service Corps, the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis and St. Catherine’s in Marietta, GA. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she was the first non-lutheran woman to serve as Student Body President. Prior to serving at St. James’s Amelia was the Associate for Formation at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Edina, Minnesota, and also served as President of the Standing Committee for the Diocese of Minnesota from 2021-2022. In addition to her work at St. James’s Amelia also serves on the boards of the St. James’s Children’s Center, and ACTSRva, and volunteers with the James River Association. You can often find Amelia spending her free time sailing or paddle boarding with her children and friends.
Contact Rev. Arthur