Nicola McNelly (née Calder; born 1 May 1962) is a British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

priest. From 2012 to 2017, she was the Provost of

St John's Cathedral, Oban St John's Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine (Scottish Gaelic ''Ard-eaglais Eòin an Diadhair'') is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church, located in the town of Oban. It is one of the two cathedrals of the Diocese o ...

in the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

. Since 2017, she has been Rector of St Cuthbert's Episcopal Church,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

.'McNELLY, Very Rev. Nicola', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, November 201
accessed 23 November 2017
/ref>

Early life and education

Nicola Calder was born on 1 May 1962 in Tredegar,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

, Wales. Her parents had separated before she was born, and she was brought up by her single mother. The family attended the local

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Chapel. When she was seven, her mother remarried and the family moved to

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr c ...

. There, they attended the local

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. McNelly was educated at Ebbw Vale Grammar School, a state

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Ebbw Vale. From 2007 to 2009, she trained for ordained ministry at

Cranmer Hall, Durham Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical tradition. Cranmer Hall ...

, an Evangelical Anglican

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

. She completed a Diploma in Theology and Ministry (DipTh) in 2009.

Career

Early career

Having finished school, McNelly joined the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC): she served in the Intelligence Corps between 1980 and 1984. Upon marriage, she took a short break from working and her later work would be dependent upon where her husband was stationed. From 1986 to 1989, she was the school secretary at Mountbatten Primary School in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

, West Germany. From 1990 to 1993, she was a

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duti ...

(PA) to the Customer Services Director of Magnet Kitchens. Between 2001 and 2004, she held a number of administrative positions with SSAFA Forces Help while living in Cyprus and Northern Ireland. Then, from 2004 to 2007, she was a volunteer development manager for SSAFA in Northern Ireland.

Ordained ministry

McNelly was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in the

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 2009 and as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 2010. From 2009 to 2012, she was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh in the

Diocese of Edinburgh The Diocese of Edinburgh is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers the City of Edinburgh, the Lothians, the Borders and Falkirk. The diocesan centre is St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. The Bishop of Edinburgh i ...

. On 31 August 2012, she was installed as the new Provost of

, one of two cathedrals of the Diocese of Argyll and The Isles. As provost, she was also the Rector of St James's Church, Ardbrecknish. In 2013, she was additionally made a canon of the Cathedral of The Isles, the other cathedral in the diocese. She left Oban to return to the Diocese of Edinburgh, and was installed as Rector of St Cuthbert's Episcopal Church, Colinton,

on 6 July 2017.

Personal life

In 1984 she married Iain McNelly. He was also serving with the British Army and, as she could not join his unit or be guaranteed the same posting, she had to leave the WRAC. Together they have two daughters. McNelly was baptised an

in 2001. She had attended

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

churches as a child. In 2006, she was encouraged to seek ordination by the then Chaplain General who told her she was being "disobedient" by not answering her

call to ordination A calling, in the religious sense of the word, is a religious vocation (which comes from the Latin for "call") that may be professional or voluntary and, idiosyncratic to different religions, may come from another person, from a divine messenger, ...

from God.

Styles

* 2009–2012: ''

The Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctl ...

'' Nicki McNelly * 2012–2017: '' The Very Reverend'' Nicki McNelly * 2017–present: ''The Reverend'' Nicki McNelly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNelly, Nicki 1962 births Living people 21st-century Anglican priests Provosts of St John's Cathedral, Oban Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham People from Tredegar Women's Royal Army Corps soldiers Intelligence Corps soldiers Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism