New Chaplain at Harvard

Adapted from the Diocese of Massachusetts

The Rev. Margery Kennelly, assistant rector at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, will be Harvard’s next Episcopal chaplain. She will begin her ministry at Harvard on June 1, and will serve a two-year appointment.

“We’re excited to have Margery serve as chaplain at this time,” said Chris Kaneb, president of the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard’s board of trustees. “She connects meaningfully with students, she is a thoughtful pastor and priest, and she knows the Harvard culture well.”

Kennelly succeeds the Rev. Luther Zeigler, the Episcopal chaplain at Harvard for six years. During that time, Zeigler led Harvard Chaplains as its president for two years and was the founding chairman of the university’s new Board of Religious, Spiritual and Ethical Life.

He and his wife, Pat, will move to Manchester-by-the-Sea, where he will continue to serve as the vicar of Emmanuel Church, a summer chapel. He will also join the staff of St. John’s Church in Beverly Farms as a priest affiliate during the rest of the year. Ziegler will continue to serve Harvard students in his capacity as a new trustee of the Phillips Brooks House Association, Harvard’s umbrella organization that oversees its community service, outreach, and justice initiatives for students.

Kennelly graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1987. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2010 and a Certificate of Advanced Theological Study from Episcopal Divinity School in 2011.

After her ordination to the priesthood, she joined the staff of the Church of the Redeemer as an assistant, where she has served since. Kennelly served as the interim Episcopal chaplain at Harvard this fall during Zeigler’s sabbatical.

Before her ordination, Kennelly was a professional painter, taught drama and music in schools, and directed an acting summer camp. She has written and directed plays and mimes in liturgical settings, and worked in a family shelter. She and her husband, Richard, have two children: Julia, who graduated from the Tisch School and is pursuing an acting career in New York City, and Henry, who is in his final year at Harvard.

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