St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, called St. B's by those who know it, sits on Belmont Park Terrace in the Forest Hills area of Nashville. Founded in 1954 from a vision of Bishop E. P. Dandridge and now the third-largest parish in the Diocese of Tennessee, St. B's is a congregation of more than 75 years that worships according to the Book of Common Prayer, runs a Children's Formation program built on the Montessori-based Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, hosts a South Sudanese congregation in Dinka and English each Sunday at 12:30 p.m., and sends volunteers and dollars to a long list of mission partners across Nashville and around the world.
From a Sunday School Prayer to a Half-Century Parish
The story of St. B's begins with a vision from Bishop E. P. Dandridge, who dreamed of planting an Episcopal congregation in the growing Green Hills neighborhood. With support from members of St. George's, the first worship service was held in 1954 at Glendale School. Seminarians from the University of the South at Sewanee led those early gatherings, and Holy Eucharist was celebrated once a month. Just a year later, in 1955, St. B's became an official parish of the Diocese of Tennessee.
By 1965 the congregation was ready for a sanctuary of its own. At the dedication that year, a cross, a newspaper, a Bible, and a Book of Common Prayer were placed in the cornerstone - symbols of the parish's commitment to Christ, the Church, and the world. Today St. B's stands as the third-largest parish in the Diocese of Tennessee, with more than 16,000 baptized members in 45 churches across Middle Tennessee.
Two threads of mission run through the parish's later decades. In the mid-1990s a Sunday School class prayed for a way to minister in Africa, and that prayer eventually grew into a refugee resettlement effort that today includes a weekly South Sudanese service. In 1986 St. B's was one of the original twelve congregations to join Father Charles Strobel's Room In The Inn program, and in 2005 it was a founding partner in Rooftop Nashville, the eviction-prevention collaborative that now pools resources from more than 50 congregations.
Sundays at St. B's
During the school year, two Sunday morning services are held at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. From Memorial Day to early August the parish gathers as one congregation at 9:30 a.m. The 8:30 service is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, with bulletins available to download before each service.
Services follow the Book of Common Prayer, grounding the congregation in Scripture and engaging body, mind, and spirit. The liturgy is printed in the bulletin so newcomers can follow along. Ushers greet at the door, hand out bulletins, and point visitors to restrooms and the nursery in the Parish Hall. Communion is open to all baptized Christians, and gluten-free wafers are available. Prayer during Communion is offered to the left of the altar rail.
Children are welcome in the sanctuary at every service. At the 8:30 a.m. service during the school year (9:30 in summer), children ages 3 through 6th grade are invited to follow the cross to Wallace Hall for a brief Children's Homily after the Gospel reading, returning to their families in time for Communion. Children's activity sheets are available in the narthex, and nursing mothers can use a private space in the Parish Hall. Dress ranges from jeans and sneakers to suits and heels.
At 12:30 p.m. each Sunday the parish's South Sudanese community gathers for worship in Wallace Hall. A Wednesday Holy Eucharist with Healing Prayer is offered at 12:15 p.m., and the Nave is open for private prayer weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The seven principal feasts of the Church year - Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and All Saints' Day - are celebrated with festive music, incense, and bell ringing, often followed by a parish gathering. The Feast of St. Bartholomew in August and St. Francis' Day in early October, marked by an Animal Blessing in the St. B's Garden, round out the calendar.
Music That Spans the Anglican Tradition
Music is described as a vital part of worship at St. B's, with the parish embracing a blend of traditional and contemporary music that reflects Anglican heritage and the diversity of the congregation. Organ hymns from the Anglican and Episcopal tradition interweave with contemporary music played by a band, and the music loft welcomes vocalists and instrumentalists of many kinds. Most musicians serve once a month, and the parish shares music and recordings in advance to help them prepare.
The Chamber Singers, an auditioned mixed choir, meet regularly throughout the program year, with seasonal singing opportunities open to all who want a shorter time commitment. Children sing during the Children's Homily and occasionally offer music during the Offertory.
Dr. David Madeira has served as Director of Music since 2014. Raised in Wheaton, Illinois, he holds undergraduate and master's degrees in theory and composition from Belmont University and a doctorate in Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Florida. His doctoral thesis focused on congregational psalmody and led to the development of a new form of psalm chant for modern congregations known as twelve-point chant. At St. B's he plans and leads musical worship on Sunday mornings, directs the choir, plays a variety of instruments, and has composed numerous works for the choirs of the parish. Jane Shepherd serves as organist, and Matthew Shepherd manages the audio and video team that handles livestreaming and sound for Sunday services.
Forming Faith from the Nursery Through Adulthood
St. B's understands formation as all the ways a community is shaped by God's Word, God's people, and God's Spirit at every age and stage of life. Sunday mornings during the school year include a Formation Hour at 10:00 a.m., with classes for children, youth, and adults running concurrently.
Children's Formation begins with a nursery for infants through age 3, staffed by trained, background-checked, COVID-vaccinated caregivers from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (9:15 to 10:45 in summer). During the 10 a.m. hour, two- and three-year-olds hear a Bible story, sing, and do simple crafts. From age 3 through third grade, children gather in atria - specially prepared spaces - for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based approach to spiritual formation in which children work with hands-on materials designed to help them explore the mystery of God's love. Level 1 centers on the parable of the Good Shepherd in John 10. Level 2 explores the True Vine in John 15 and the unfolding story of God through time. Children in fourth through sixth grades meet as 456 to study the covenants of God and the Good News of Jesus, gathering once a month for a service project or community celebration.
Youth Formation for grades 7 through 12 meets in the downstairs Youth Room on Sunday mornings from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. for games, Scripture study, and honest conversation led by adult volunteers. The youth ministry also hosts monthly social events, retreats, mission trips, and regular service in church ministries, with an annual Service and Learning Trip to Farmington, Maine, where the group works alongside the Mission at the Eastward on home repair projects. All youth volunteers complete background checks and Safe Church, Safe Communities training through the Diocese.
Young adults in their twenties and thirties gather for meals, conversation, and spiritual growth, supported by the Reverend Heather Daugherty as liaison. Adult Formation continues throughout the week with Bible studies, small groups, book studies, and seasonal series. Recent offerings include Sacred Conversations on Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation in the Spiritual Life; a Mission and Outreach series titled Come See Love in Action; The Book of Jonah in Art and Tradition; Faith and Doubt; Why the Mystics Still Matter Now; Creation Is for Lovers; and a multi-session exploration called The Nashville You Need to Know, featuring local leaders discussing housing, transportation, and education equity.
Small groups at St. B's are intentional micro-communities that meet weekly in intergenerational cohorts for eight-week seasons, with 1.5-hour sessions and a six-out-of-eight commitment encouraged. Supper Groups gather several times a year in members' homes or at local restaurants.
A South Sudanese Family of Faith
Since the late 1990s, St. B's has been home to one of the largest South Sudanese worshipping communities in the area. The ministry began in the mid-1990s when a Sunday School class prayed for a way to minister in Africa. What started with providing bicycles for priests in Sudan evolved into welcoming Sudanese refugees to Nashville, and in 1998 a Sudanese community began worshiping at St. B's in Dinka and English with lay pastors.
In 2003, Bishop Nathaniel Garang - later acting Archbishop of Sudan - came to Nashville to ordain Gur Maror and John Awan as Episcopal priests. Fathers Gur and John returned to South Sudan to serve as priests in their home country. Today the South Sudanese service meets at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays in Wallace Hall, led by the Reverend John Ajith and the Reverend Peter Mangok along with lay leaders, two of whom are in the discernment process for ordination.
Mission Partners Across Nashville and Around the World
The Mission and Outreach ministry at St. B's builds relationships with organizations and individuals locally, nationally, and globally who extend hope, healing, and restoration. Global partners include Mark and Susan, longtime St. B's missionaries with Barnabas International who offer pastoral care to global workers in southern Spain; Josh and Anna Hayden, who serve in Prague through Global Scholars, teaching at a secular international university and a Christian school and using Anna's background in classical ballet to build relationships through dance, including among Ukrainian families displaced by war; and New Life Restoration Ministries in Kibera, Kenya, founded in 1997 by Bishop Dr. Paul Mbithi and Reverend Grace Mbithi. That ministry now has 60 branches across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and serves more than 113 orphaned and vulnerable children through the Springs of Life Children's Restoration Center and more than 210 children through the Restoration Educational Centre.
Locally, St. B's partners with Young Life Nashville, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Siloam Health (a faith-based clinic for uninsured neighbors), St. Luke's Community House, the Village at Glencliff, Charis Ministries, The Branch of Nashville, Rooftop Nashville, Room In The Inn, and ShowerUp Nashville. The Branch, in the Antioch neighborhood where neighbors from over 20 languages call home, provides food boxes and English language services. Charis Ministries has spent more than 20 years delivering groceries to neighbors who cannot reach a food bank because of transportation, health, or caregiving barriers. Room In The Inn was the peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich ministry of Father Charles Strobel in 1985; St. B's joined as one of the original twelve congregations in 1986 and continues to host twelve pre-screened guests each Saturday night from November through March. ShowerUp Nashville brings mobile showers and dignity to neighbors experiencing homelessness.
Roofline collaborations stretch back decades. St. B's was a founding partner of Rooftop Nashville in 2005, joining with other congregations to pool resources and interrupt the eviction cycle. The parish also partners with Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet Middle School at Head Campus, providing volunteer and financial support to students, teachers, and staff as part of its reparative justice work. A discretionary grant program, administered by the Mission and Outreach Committee, supports one-time opportunities and unexpected needs beyond the established partner network.
Becoming Beloved Community in Nashville
St. B's is committed to its Baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being, and pursues that promise through the Justice Ministries. The parish participates in the Episcopal Church's Becoming Beloved Community initiative for racial healing and justice and offers several formation pathways, including Sacred Ground, an 11-week dialogue series on race and faith that more than 60 parishioners have completed. Pilgrimages have taken groups to Montgomery's Legacy Museum and to local Civil Rights commemorations.
The parish is part of NOAH - Nashville Organized for Action and Hope - a diverse coalition of congregations and nonprofits working for systemic change. Members serve on NOAH task forces for Affordable Housing, Transformational Justice, Economic Equity and Transportation, and Education, with current focus on the Education Task Force to align with the parish's reparative justice work. Justice Ministries also convenes Justice Conversations, evening forums that have covered voting rights, residential segregation, and criminal justice reform.
Pastoral Care and a Parish that Prays
Pastoral Care at St. B's is organized around walking with people through seasons of joy and sorrow. Clergy are available for pastoral conversations, hospital visits, and spiritual direction. The Manna Ministry organizes and delivers meals to parishioners during illness, surgery recovery, the loss of a loved one, or the arrival of a new baby. Lay Eucharistic Visitors bring consecrated bread and wine to those unable to attend due to illness or recovery, a sign of the whole community's care.
Several prayer ministries are woven through the parish. A Parish Prayer List receives requests at prayer@stbs.net. An Online Prayer Team prays confidentially for submitted requests. During Sunday services, trained intercessors are available at the Prayer Desk after Communion for anyone desiring personal prayer, with lay prayer teams offering the laying on of hands for those who come forward. The Prayer Desk is one of several prayer opportunities that also include the Healing Prayer portion of the Wednesday Eucharist.
Preschool, Parents Day Out, and the Soccer Academy
St. B's Preschool, licensed by the Tennessee Department of Human Services and consistently rated an A+ program, serves children age 3 through Pre-K. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from late August through May. The preschool follows the Tennessee Early Learning Standards and implements Developmentally Appropriate Practices, with center-based classrooms covering math, language, science, writing, music, art, and dramatic play. Curriculum highlights include the Handwriting Without Tears program, Zoo-Phonics, music class, Creative Connections, STEAM labs, in-house field trips, and guest speakers. Yearly traditions include Farm Day, Barnyard Music Day, Thanksgiving Feasts, the Christmas Program, and Mother's and Father's Day celebrations.
Parents Day Out (PDO) provides care, activities, and teaching for children 15 months to 2 years old for one or two days per week from late August through May. Concepts are taught through Bible stories, related art and music activities, prayer, and sharing among children. While PDO is not licensed by the Department of Human Services because classes meet only two days per week, the program meets all health and safety standards. Both programs accept rolling applications, with priority for currently enrolled students, siblings, and members of St. B's.
The St. B's Soccer Academy is a children's soccer league for ages 3 through 9, geared around education for players and parents about the game of soccer, helping children progress in their skills, and success in coaching. The academy prepares younger players appropriately for the next level if they choose to play at the club soccer level.
Fellowship, Small Groups, and Pickleball
Fellowship at St. B's is built around a deep belief that extending hospitality is a sacred calling. The Fellowship and Welcome Teams help create an inviting environment each Sunday by greeting guests, preparing and serving coffee, distributing welcome mugs, and offering directions, with the wider Fellowship Team planning and hosting parish-wide gatherings such as receptions, parties, and holiday events.
Several regular gatherings mark the parish calendar. The Second Tuesday Men's Group meets monthly from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at M.L. Rose on 8th Avenue for casual conversation. Women's ministry includes monthly lunches on the second Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. at the Crow's Nest in Green Hills, plus service projects, game nights, craft days, Radnor Lake walks, line dancing, and an annual Christmas party. Pickleball has become one of the most active fellowship offerings, with women's play on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and co-ed play on Sundays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. All skill levels are welcome.
The Gift Gallery, located inside the gym, is both a shop and a favorite place to relax and connect on Sundays and through the week. Stocked with parishioners' art, books, jewelry, cards, Thistle Farms items, and St. B's swag, it has been around since the 1960s and hosts a winter Gift Fair each year, with a percentage of every artisan's sale supporting the Gallery.
A Parish Shaped by Creation Care
The Creation Care Committee (CCC) reflects the parish's belief that caring for the earth is an act of worship, justice, and stewardship. Recent initiatives include composting and recycling across campus, reducing or eliminating single-use products and decorations, hosting educational events and seasonal initiatives, transitioning from a landscaping to a landskeeping mindset, and exploring solar panel options and community partnerships. St. B's recently participated in a year-long cohort of Nashville churches organized by the international ecumenical network A Rocha, working together to live out a shared call to environmental stewardship. The CCC publishes a monthly email newsletter and welcomes new volunteers for waste teams at church events.
Safe Church, Safe Communities
St. B's is committed to creating a safe, caring environment for everyone, especially children and youth, older adults, and those who are differently abled. Guided by the Baptismal covenant and the policies of the Diocese of Tennessee and the wider Episcopal Church, the parish takes seriously its responsibility to protect and care for the most vulnerable among them. All staff, ministry leaders, and volunteers who work with children and youth or participate in pastoral care are required to complete Safe Church, Safe Communities training, equipping participants with the knowledge and tools to recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse.
Beliefs Rooted in Scripture and the Prayer Book
St. B's identity is rooted in four commitments. The parish is Biblical, believing that God speaks through Holy Scripture; Trinitarian, affirming the Apostles and Nicene Creeds as expressions of the faith; Liturgical, worshipping using the Book of Common Prayer; and Sacramental, celebrating Holy Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and other sacramental rites as visible signs of God's grace. Baptism is celebrated using the Trinitarian formula through the sprinkling of water, and the bishop visits St. B's annually in late spring or early summer for confirmations, receptions, and reaffirmations. Weddings and funerals are offered using the liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer, with receptions often held in Wallace Hall or the Gym.
Practical Details for Visitors
St. Bartholomew's is located at 4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville, TN 37215. Ample parking is available, with handicap and visitor parking spaces right across from the front doors to the sanctuary. The Nave is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for private prayer. The church office is reachable at 615-377-4750 and churchoffice@stbs.net, monitored Tuesdays through Fridays, and the parish offers a Connect Card for newcomers to fill out online or in person. Sunday worship is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, sermons are available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and giving can be made online, by mail, or by check placed in the Sunday offering plate. A Year of Formation video library covers series on Jonah, Indigenous People and the Church, Faith and Doubt, the Mystics, Creation Care, Immigration, and the Nashville context.