Clergy, Staff & Vestry

The Rev. Dr. R. Leigh Spruill

Rector

The Rev. Dr. R. Leigh Spruill has served as Rector of St. George’s since early 2005. Prior to his call to St. George's, Leigh served as Rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida, as Associate Rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama and as Assistant Rector at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia.

A native of Tappahannock, Virginia, Leigh received his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After college and following several years in the commercial real estate industry in Richmond, he attended the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was ordained in the Diocese of Virginia in 1996 and was awarded a Doctor of Ministry (D. Min) degree from Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto in 2018.

Leigh is married to Susalee, and the Spruills have three children, Eleanor, Peter and William.

The Rev. Dr. Kristine A. Blaess

Senior Associate Rector

The Rev. Dr. Kristine Blaess grew up in Bozeman, Montana where she enjoyed hiking and skiing. She received a BA in Music (Organ) from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. After seminary, Kristine and her husband Michael were awarded the Graduate Preaching Fellowship and spent a year in Australia studying, visiting Aboriginal communities, and working on a sheep station. Prior to her call here, for eleven years Kristine served a congregation in Rigby, Idaho and mentored a constellation of congregations and clergy up and down the Snake River Valley.

Kristine received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological seminary in 2012. Her project emerged from her passion for helping congregations and judicatories flourish as they live ever more deeply in God's kingdom and learn to make disciples who make more disciples. Her thesis considers the identity, character, and skills of the transformational leader.

Kristine and Michael are proud parents of Jack and Natalie.

The Rev. Samuel Adams

Associate Rector

Born and raised in the small southeast Texas town of Bridge City, The Rev. Samuel Adams graduated from Texas A&M University in 2007. After graduating, Sam spent a year in Rwanda working for a Christian relief and development organization, doing mostly economic development research and learning valuable lessons about the complexities of community development and cross-cultural engagement. Shortly after returning from Rwanda, Sam was confirmed in The Episcopal Church, having grown up Southern Baptist. He graduated in May 2014 from Wycliffe College in Toronto.

During Sam’s time in seminary, he had the opportunity to intern on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota for a summer, and he was honored to serve as the Senior Student (essentially the student body president) at Wycliffe during his final year.

Sam enjoys good conversation, natural light, French pressed coffee, recreational softball, exploring cities on bicycle, and growing tomatoes, among other things.

The Rev. Michael Blaess

Associate Rector

Born and raised in a suburb of Minneapolis, the Rev. Michael Blaess received his BA from the University of Minnesota. After dismissing stories of such things happening, Michael met his wife Kristine during Summer Greek at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota where they both received Master of Divinity degrees in 1999. He was also awarded the G.M. and Minnie Bruce Award in New Testament studies and, with his wife Kristine, was awarded the Graduate Preaching Fellowship which took them to Australia for a year. Prior to his call here, Michael served for nearly twelve years in Pocatello, Idaho.

Michael and Kristine are parents of two delightful kids, Jack and Natalie.

The Rev. Clinton Wilson

Associate Rector

The Rev. Clint Wilson was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, where he also attended college. In 2006 he moved to Denver, Colorado, to attend Denver Seminary and pursue a degree in Biblical Studies with the intention of future doctoral work and teaching. However, God called him to parish ministry through his involvement in a local congregation where he worked in missions, outreach, and church planting. Clint later attended Nashotah House Theological Seminary to finish a Master of Divinity degree.

Clint has been married to Theresa since 2007. She has a background in Student Affairs/Higher Education with a focus on student leadership development. She was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up primarily overseas in Panama where her parents were missionaries. Theresa and Clint are "people persons" and also love all things outdoors, music, movies, discovering new restaurants, and travel, as well as their dog, Denver!

The Rev. Richard Kew

Priest Associate

The Rev. Richard Kew was born and raised in England, was educated at the University of London and London College of Divinity, and was ordained to the priesthood at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, in 1970.

Almost forty years ago the Kew family moved to the US for what they thought would be a few years! Since then Richard has served parishes and ministries in Massachusetts and Upstate New York, moving to the Diocese of Tennessee in 1985. He was for a year Interim Rector at the Church of the Resurrection, Franklin. From 2007 until his retirement in 2013, Richard was Development Director at Ridley Hall theological seminary, Cambridge, England, during which time he was appointed a Canon Missioner of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Owerri, Nigeria. The Kews returned to their home in Williamson County in 2015.

Rosemary Kew taught foreign languages and literatures at Middle Tennessee State University for nearly twenty years. The Kews have two grown daughters, Olivia and Lindy, and are immensely proud of their four grandchildren.

The Ven. Martin Odidi

Priest Associate

Martin is a priest in the Anglican Church of Nigeria in the Diocese of Kaduna. He has spent the past 20 months at The University of Sewanee working on his Doctor of Ministry degree which will be awarded this summer. Fr. Martin is married to Funmi, and the Odidis desire to remain in the US gaining further experience in a strong local congregation before returning to Nigeria in a couple of years or so. In addition to having experience as vicar (rector) of congregations in his native Nigeria, Fr. Martin served as Diocesan Education Secretary for the Diocese of Kaduna, Nigeria from 2011 to 2016.

The Rev. Timus Taylor

Priest Associate

The Rev. Tim Taylor joined St. George's clergy staff in 1993. Originally from western Kentucky, he attended Vanderbilt University, was a member of the US Air Force, and attended Yale Divinity School and Virginia Seminary. He was ordained in 1964 at Washington National Cathedral.

Father Taylor has served churches in Maryland, California, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. He was the first director of Paducah Cooperative Ministry, an organization of 40 local churches serving the needy.

Tim married Mary Ready Weaver Parrent of Belle Meade in 1957. His family at St. George's includes son, Stephen, daughter-in-law, Carolyn, and grandchildren Avery and Eleanor Taylor.

Dr. Woosug Kang

Director of Music Ministries

Hailing from New Zealand, Woosug Kang began his position as the Director of Music Ministries at St. George’s in 2016. He was previously the Director of Music at St. Philip’s In The Hills Episcopal Church in Tucson, Arizona, where he directed a vibrant music program with several choral ensembles. He was responsible for all musical activities, including the First Sunday Music series, integrating major choral and orchestral works with traditional liturgy. During his time at St. Philip’s, he developed a Canterbury Apprentice program to educate young singers with changing voices and expose them to high-caliber choral repertoire. Under his direction, the chorister program at St. Philip’s grew to be one of the largest Royal School of Church Music programs in the Southwest, and he took his choristers to UK for a week-long choral residency at historic Worcester Cathedral in 2016.

Off the podium, Woosug has a reputation as a premier concert organist, and has performed both as a soloist and featured guest with various ensembles in the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.  He was recently featured as the soloist for the US premiere of Organ Concerto by New Zealand composer John Wells, along with Concerto in G minor for Organ by Francis Poulenc with the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. His recent and future engagements include a concert at Fred Fox School of Music at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, and St. Bartholomew in Atlanta. His experience as the Belinda Godfrey Organ Scholar of Holy Trinity Auckland Cathedral, and the organist of Music Sacra, Inc. in New Zealand, showcased his skill as a liturgical organist.

In May of 2017 Woosug was awarded his Doctorate in Music in Organ Performance at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with Dr. Larry Smith and Todd Wilson. He studied organ with Prof. Thomas Murray, improvisation with Dr. William Porter, and harpsichord with late Prof. Richard Rephann at Yale University while he completed his Masters of Music in Organ Performance. During this time he received the Charles Ives award and H.F. Bozyan scholarship for excelling in organ performance.

He also founded the choir for the Episcopal Church at Yale, which still thrives in the historic Dwight Chapel. He has taught organ lessons at many levels privately and through institutions. Mr. Kang is the founding Artistic Director and current Director Emeritus of Friends of Music at Emanuel, Inc., a non-profit organization to enrich the community through musical concerts in Connecticut.