Fr. Danny Bryant
Priest
danny@stmarysnashville.com
Danny Bryant serves as the priest of St. Mary of Bethany Parish. He and his wife Rebecca have four children. Danny has lived in middle Tennessee for over twenty years and grew up in southern California.
He became a pastor in 2010 after teaching elementary school and coaching high school basketball and softball for ten years. He also serves as Athletic Director at Intrepid College Prep.
He enjoys reading, hiking, music, playing and watching sports, and spending time with family and friends.
Rev. Flo Oakes
Children’s Pastor
flo@stmarysnashville.com
Flo Oakes is passionate about children’s spirituality and creating art and resources that affirm the dignity of children. She is a co-author of the book Little Prayers for Ordinary Days and a member of the children’s band Rain for Roots.
She enjoys planting flowers, re-re-re-reading Anne of Green Gables, dreaming up farm plans with her husband Josh, making up song parodies with her kids, and snuggling her giant dogs. Flo is a current Mdiv student at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Chris Thiessen
Parish Administrator
OFFICE@stmarysnashville.com
Chris, who first visited St. Mary's with his family in early 2020, is a 2025 graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, where he will earn a Master of Arts in Theology this June. His studies focus on the theological and relational/justice-driving dimensions of popular music and culture, with a particular love for the work of Kendrick Lamar and the liberative possibilities found in hip-hop. He believes music and storytelling invite us to experience the divine presence in unexpected places.
As a writer, Chris has contributed to The Christian Century and an upcoming book about theology and David Lynch's Twin Peaks. He currently works in Belmont University's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
Chris also enjoys walks with his family (Annaleigh, Ollie, and Teddy) through Shelby Park or the Nashville Zoo, trying out new foods, and catching concerts or films with friends.
Joey Bradshaw
Music coordinator
joey@stmarysnashville.com
Joey serves at St. Mary’s by organizing and unifying the music for each Sunday. He studied fine art at the University of Central Florida and spent his college years split between a darkroom and playing guitar in bands. After school, he and his young family moved to Los Angeles and for 4 years he wrote and played music, worked at an art gallery, and went camping.
His wife, Lauren, is an interior designer, and Joey puts his art studies to use photographing projects for her and for other interior designers and architects. In his spare time Joey loves to read books, make photo essays, and go to restaurants and the movies all by himself. His two boys, Henry and Arlo, love to make home movies and play music in their soon to be famous band: Smile Sons.
Emily Baird-Chrisohon
Music coordinator
emily@stmarysnashville.com
We're excited to announce that Emily is joining the St. Mary's team as a music coordinator alongside Joey. She started singing around the same time she started talking. Unsure of what to do with a singer in the family, her mom enrolled her in church choir as early as possible. This led to a lifelong love for music and the role it plays in spaces of worship.
Emily holds a Master of Divinity with a certificate in Religion in the Arts from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from Berry College. Emily is currently the Program Manager with the American Immigration Council’s Center for Inclusion and Belonging, where she utilizes her experience in advocacy, narrative change, and program development to shape public narrative campaigns and foster inclusive communities.
In her spare time, you can find Emily hiking, reading a good book (or a bad one sometimes), planning her next travel adventure, baking gluten free, dairy free, yeast free, egg free, nut free bread (or as her husband, Nick, calls it “bread free bread”), drinking swiss water processed decaf coffee and wishing it was caffeinated, or hammocking outside with her cat, Kirby.