Welcome to Laughing Water. My name is Neil Alan Willard. I’ve been the Rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Edina, Minnesota, since 2007. I moved to the “Deep North” from Williamsburg, Virginia, where I was Associate Rector at Bruton Parish Church for over six years. Before that I lived in South Carolina, serving parishes on Hilton Head Island and in Surfside Beach. I’ve also worked as Bishop’s Clerk for the Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia in Richmond.
I received my Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and Diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School, both in New Haven, Connecticut. At Berkeley, I was selected to attend the Excellence in Preaching Conference sponsored by the Episcopal Evangelism Foundation. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At Wake Forest, I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received the Religion Department’s Abritton Award for Excellence in Biblical Studies.
A native of the Old North State, I was baptized and my faith was nurtured in the Moravian Church. It was during my college years that the words of the Book of Common Prayer and a desire to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” drew me into the sacramental life of the Episcopal Church. They continue to do so even now in my ordained ministry as a presbyter – elder, priest, or pastor – within this corner of Christ’s vineyard.
My wife and I live in St. Louis Park. She’s my best friend and a wonderful mother to our two sons. We also have a Labrador Retriever in the household. Outside the house are chipmunks and raccoons. No kidding. Last bit of trivia: my father-in-law is an Episcopal priest in Wisconsin; my brother-in-law is an Episcopal priest in Hawaii; and my sister-in-law’s husband is an Episcopal priest in South Carolina. No kidding.
