Peyton Williams

Peyton leads all things children and youth at St. Paul’s while also coordinating our mission and service programs. Since joining our team in 2019, she has drawn Christian formation out of the Sunday School room and into the life of our parish and the Charlottesville community at large. Through storytelling, service, and fellowship with all ages, she encourages curiosity, openness, and a rich understanding of the ways in which our identity at St. Paul’s folds into the larger Christian narrative.

Although she did not grow up regularly attending church, Peyton’s spiritual curiosity was sparked at a young age. She studied Religious Studies and Psychology at the University of Virginia and was a Fellow at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville before heading to Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2016. While at Vanderbilt, Peyton concentrated in Prison & Carceral Studies and worked as a street chaplain with Open Table Nashville. The friendships she formed with folks living on the streets and on death row informed her understanding of the church as God’s hands and feet in the world and continue to inform her ministry today.