We are excited to share that St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, has called their next rector, the Rev. Eric Long from St. John’s Episcopal Church, Roanoke, Virginia. Below are notes from the Senior Warden of St. Paul’s and Rev. Long.
From David Spiller, Senior Warden
Dear Fellow St. Paul’s Parishioners,
On behalf of our Vestry, and with excitement, gratitude, and healthy anticipation of many next steps, I am honored to announce that The Rev. Eric Long will be St. Paul’s next Rector. Father Eric’s first Sunday with us will be January 11, The Feast of Our Lord.
We’ve all been faithfully and patiently praying for this moment for a good while now, and so has Father Eric and his family as they’ve discerned this new calling. Can I get an “Amen!” “Huzzah!” or sweet Episcopalian, “Thanks be to God?”
Originally from Memphis, and with family there and in Nashville and daughters at Sewanee, Father Eric is coming home to Tennessee. He joins us after serving more than eleven years as Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke, and before that as Rector in Pensacola, a Founding Priest and Associate Rector
in Kansas City, and a US Navy Chaplain.
Father Eric is passionate about downtown ministry and teaching – as is his wife Shelley Henderson-Long, who specializes in speech education / reading. Our Search Committee and Vestry unanimously recommended and approved his calling to our parish. We truly believe that Father Eric embodies the qualities our congregation seeks in its next pastor and spiritual leader.
We need to give thanks for the hard work and care of the many people involved in our Rector search. The Vestry appointed a Search Committee from the congregation last year, and we are grateful to the entire committee for their tireless work: co-chairs Amy Arrowsmith and OJ Morgan, Julie Brandao, Lynzi Gruetzemacher, Mary Beth Hopping, Greg Miller (Vestry Liaison), The Rev. Deborah Jackson, Brad Pope, and Marie Williams.
The Search Committee engaged in an extensive process including parish conversations, developing the Parish Profile, reviewing applications – listening to so many sermons!, video and on-site interviews at candidate parishes, and extensive finalist visits to Chattanooga, all culminating with the recommendation to the Vestry and call to Father Eric. College football coach searches get all the news, but this search was a rigorous and
deeply felt process.
Thank you to the Committee, to the Diocese for its guidance and support, to our Clergy and staff for their support, to all those who applied for their interest and time, and to Father Eric and Shelley for discerning and accepting the call. And to you all for your trust and patience.
I draw your attention to our Annual Meeting on November 16, where we will hear more. Also, as you prayerfully consider your pledge to St. Paul’s for 2026, please consider how helpful it would be to have pledges committed by the time Father Eric arrives. Talk to us Vestry members and our Clergy if we can help you discern how to help St. Paul’s rise to this occasion.
With six baptisms this past Sunday, needless to say it is an exciting time for our strong and growing community of faith here at St. Paul’s.
Amen! Huzzah! and Thanks Be to God,
David Spiller
Senior Warden
From the Rev. Eric Long
Dear People of St. Paul’s,
Grace and peace to you.
I am deeply honored and overjoyed to be called as your next Rector. From my very first encounter with St. Paul’s, I was struck by the energy and faithfulness that radiate through your community – a vibrant downtown parish whose commitment to worship, service, and fellowship is both inspiring and contagious.
My wife, Shelley, and I so very much enjoyed the time we spent with the members of your Search Committee. They were immediately easy to know and love, and we found ourselves thinking, “If this is what the people of St. Paul’s are like, how fast can we be part?” Getting to know your Senior Warden, David Spiller, and my interactions with your staff has only confirmed that sense. The devotion of these leaders of your church makes us all the more eager to join the good work God is doing through your outpost of Christ’s Kingdom.
For Shelley and me, this new call is also a kind of homecoming. We both grew up in Memphis, and our hearts have always been rooted in Tennessee. To return to this state we love, and to a parish so alive with history, vitality, and possibility, is a gift beyond measure. As David mentioned, our daughters, Abigail and Madalene, are students at the University of the South (Sewanee); my parents and sister are in Nashville; and Shelley’s family lives in, and near, Memphis. So, this move also brings our family much closer together — something for which we are deeply grateful.
David’s letter shares much of my background in ordained ministry. What I’d like to add is that my time at St. John’s in Roanoke — a downtown parish much like St. Paul’s — has given me a deep love for and sense of call to downtown ministry. Being rooted in the heart of a city is both a tremendous gift and a sacred responsibility, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us together in Chattanooga.
The most important thing I want you to know about me is my commitment as a disciple of Jesus Christ. My call as a priest is to walk with others on that same journey of discipleship and to help the Church live fully into what Jesus calls us to be — nothing less and nothing more. That calling takes different shapes in different contexts, and I am eager to discover what the Spirit is summoning St. Paul’s to do next in Jesus’ name. God knows the world needs it — and as followers of Jesus, so do we.
Shelley and I can’t wait to join you — to worship and work alongside you, to learn from you, and to discern together where the Holy Spirit is leading us all. The journey ahead is exciting, and I am eager to get it started. Until we are together in person, please know that I am already giving thanks for each of you and for the
ministry we will share.
In faith, hope, and love,
Eric+