Rt. Rev. Charles Nalls, Rector
A native of the District of Columbia, the Right Reverend Charles H. Nalls holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) (summa cum laude)
from The Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. (The STL program prepares the graduate to teach theology in a college, seminary, or university, to function as a chaplain to various
professional groups, and to act as a theological resource for a diocese and diocesan agencies.) ‘Bishop Nalls’ areas of concentration were spiritual theology and homiletic theology. As well,
‘Bishop Nalls received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) and a Master’s of Theology, both with honors, also from Dominican House. He holds additional certifications as a PREP® Marriage retreat
leader, suicide intervention and prevention instructor, and as an instructor on issues pertaining to the identification and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
‘Bishop Nalls was ordained to the diaconate in June 2001 and to the priesthood in June 2002 by the late Archbishop Robert Sherwood Morse.
He was consecrated bishop on St. Nicholas’ Day 2022 at Church of the Good Shepherd, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Currently, he serves as the rector of the Church of the Epiphany in Amherst,
Virginia. Prior to arriving at Epiphany, ‘Bishop Nalls was Dean of St. Alban’s Pro-Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia for more than nine year. He has served traditional Anglican parishes in
Washington, D.C., Newport News, Glen Allen, Virginia and Centreville, Virginia, and as a mission church planter in Virginia. As well, he and his late wife Elizabeth established a retreat house,
Edgewood, in an historic house in the heart of Amherst.
A canon lawyer, ‘Bishop Nalls became the Executive Director of the Canon Law Institute in Washington, D.C. in
1998, and the CEO of its parent charity the Ecclesiastical Lawyer’s Guild, a 501(c)(3) exempt organization. Additionally, he heads the Bp. Charles C. Grafton Theological Institute, a recently
formed charity dedicated to religious education. He has been a lecturer on matters pertaining to religious law and history, church property and ecclesiastic discipline and various theological
topics. The author of a number of articles and papers in theology and law, in 2009 ‘Bishop Nalls completed his first short book, Prayer: A Field Guide. His
second book, Lent for Busy People, was published in the fall of 2018.
For nearly twelve years ‘Bishop Nalls was a chaplain in the Military Departments of Maryland and Virginia, and was chief chaplain (Colonel) in
the defense forces of both states. He was responsible for reorganizing, professionalizing and directing a corps of 10-15 chaplains to serve both the defense forces and the national guards in those
respective states. As well, he was called to state active duty to provide pastoral care to mass casualty victims of Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, to direct spiritual support and counseling during
Operation Lebanon Repatriation and, most recently, to conduct religious services and counseling to National Guard forces during the civil unrest in Baltimore. After his retirement from the Virginia
Defense Force, he returned to Maryland as a battalion chaplain to the 110th IO BN, Maryland Army Guard, from which he retired in 2016. He has been recognized with the Maryland Distinguished
Service Cross, the Maryland National Guard’s highest state award and the Virginia Distinguished Service Medal.
In addition to his academic work in theology, ‘Bishop Nalls holds bachelor’s degrees in history and political science (magna cum laude)
from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, earning them in 1979 and 1982 respectively. At Georgetown he was an editor of
the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business.
Before his ordination to the priesthood, ‘Bishop Nalls was Assistant General Counsel, U.S. International Trade Commission and a technical
adviser to the U.S. Trade Representative on NAFTA and other international trade matters before returning to private law practice in 1993. In addition to his work as an attorney, following
commissioning as an Ensign in the Naval Reserve, he was an intelligence officer for 20 years with tours of duty at the Pentagon, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Marine Corps Intelligence
Activity, and the Naval Explosive Ordnance Technical Center. He has been active in a number of veteran’s organizations.
He and Elizabeth Ferre Carroll (Nalls) were married for thirty-nine years until her death from cancer in 2024. Their daughter Laura
completed her undergraduate work at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, with degrees in archaeology and classical studies and recently was awarded a master of arts in teaching through
Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The family makes its home a short walk from Epiphany in the center of Amherst.
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