St. Paul’s is very pleased to welcome Julia Nelson as our new Parish Administrator. Julia began work in the office on May 28th, and will be shadowing Sam Nelson (no relation) in the office for about three weeks before Sam leaves the Parish Administrator role to take a job at Marshall & Ogletree Organ Builders.
We wanted to take a moment to get to know Julia a bit better.
Born and raised in the Boston area, Julia now lives in Woburn. She just finished her BA in Music at UMass Boston, singing at her own graduation ceremony on May 31st (as well as the graduate commencement the day before).
Julia’s been singing in churches for about 10 years. She took the choir section leader job at St. Paul’s in January 2017 – the same day she found out that her position at St. Francis Catholic Church in Medford was being eliminated due to budget cuts to the music ministry. Moments after learning that her role at St. Francis had abruptly come to an end, Julia saw on Facebook that Sam was seeking a section leader for St. Paul’s. She got in touch and, “By the time I finished driving home from St. Francis, it was settled,” she said, "I felt very fortunate."
Julia will continue to sing in St. Paul’s choir in addition to working in the office. She’ll also remain on the Voice Faculty at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, direct their Overture program (a summer theatre program for kids), and continue teaching in her private studio. Needless to say, Julia is a master multi-tasker.
St. Paul’s is the first church in which Julia has worked that allows women to be priests and hold leadership positions, and she likes the commitment to equality, respect, and inclusivity that the Episcopal Church promotes. “I love that St. Paul’s practices what its preaches,” she said, “and that the church gives back to the community, and is really a part of the community. When I first came to St. Paul’s, I would talk about it as ‘the church I work for,’” she said. “But somewhere along the way, St. Paul’s truly became ‘my church.’”
Julia is looking forward to being part of the daily operation of St. Paul’s and helping to facilitate all the wonderful things we do. As an educator at heart, she’s especially looking forward to working with the Bethlehem School and its director, Carm Padovani. And we’re all looking forward to working with you, Julia. Welcome!
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