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. Colin Ambrose

Vice Rector

The Rev. Colin Ambrose joined the St. George’s team in 2019.  Prior to his call to St. George’s, Colin served for a decade at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mufreesboro, Tennessee.

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Colin received his BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following college, Colin worked with Lehman Brothers in New York as a financial analyst followed by five years as Managing Partner and CFO of a company in the construction and remodeling industry that he co-founded in Chapel Hill, NC.  Discerning a call to ministry, Colin received his Master of Divinity, cum laude, from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 2009.

Colin is married to Trisha, and the Ambroses have three children, Clara, Henry, and Adel.

The Rev. David Barr

Associate Rector

The Rev. David Barr has been on staff at St. George’s since the summer of 2019. Before working at St. George’s he was in Charleston, South Carolina at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul.

David grew up in South Carolina and went to Covenant College on Lookout Mountain. He then completed a Master’s degree in Theology and Ethics from the University of Virginia and is completing a PhD in theology from the University of Toronto. He and his wife Caroline are proud parents of William.

The Rev. Roger Senechal

Priest Associate for Senior Ministries

After serving parishes in New England, Roger became Priest Associate at St. George's in 2007 and retired in 2017, after which he remained in various ministries at the church, focusing attention on Ministry to Seniors.  In October 2019 he accepted the invitation to rejoin the staff as Priest Associate for Senior Ministries.

Roger is passionate about beekeeping and astronomy, and is married to Diana; their son, Gerry, serves St. George's as Associate Director of Music Ministries & Organist.

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. Dr. Martin Odidi

Priest Associate

Martin is a priest in the Anglican Church of Nigeria in the Diocese of Kaduna. He has recently been awared his Doctor of Ministry degree from The University of Sewanee 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.