Fr. Danny Bryant
Priest
danny@stmarysnashville.com
Danny serves as a priest at St. Mary of Bethany Parish and as a Spiritual Director for The Center for Hope and Healing in Nashville, TN. He is also a co-founder of the Black Mental Health Counselor Reparations Foundation and serves as Abbot of The Order of Berrigan and Day. He is passionate about seeking practical, just, and merciful healing in the world and enjoys life with his wife and four children.
He is the author of “Unless a Seed Falls to the Ground: Welcoming the Death of the Whiteness Gospel” and “Doing Anarchy Together: A Church for the Free and Playfully Brave.”
Rev. Flo Oakes
Priest and Children’s Pastor
flo@stmarysnashville.com
Rev. Flo is a priest and children’s pastor at St. Mary’s, and she is passionate about ethical, child-centered spirituality and helping caregivers hand down faith without trauma.
She is a co-author of the book Little Prayers for Ordinary Days and a member of the children’s band Rain for Roots.
Flo received her MDiv from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2025 and lives just outside of Nashville with her husband Josh. She has two adult children studying at MTSU, a dog named Minnie, and one rescue cat, Dolly Purrton, who is spoiled beyond belief.
She loves animals, birding, listening to audiobooks, iced coffee, and eating everything Josh bakes for her.
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 grew up in Orlando, where he met his wife, Lauren. He spent his college years studying fine art, splitting his time between printing in a darkroom and playing guitar in bands. After college, he and his young family lived in LA for 4 years, where he continued to play music, and worked at an art gallery before moving to Nashville in 2016.
During the working week, Joey is an architectural photographer who plays lots of music in his spare time. His wife, Lauren, is an interior designer, and his two boys, Henry and Arlo, love to play music.
Emily Baird-Chrisohon
Music coordinator
emily@stmarysnashville.com
Emily 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.