Profiles in Spirituality: Good Trouble and Humor with Reverend Claire Nevin-Field

For Rev. Claire Nevin-Field, a path of service has been a clear calling since her teen years, leading her to a career in nursing and midwifery and eventually to Episcopal seminary and St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia, where she served for 16 years. 

Familiar with Chestertown—both her daughters attended Washington College—Claire and her husband sought to retire on the Eastern Shore. However, retirement wasn’t in the cards when she responded to Emmanuel Church’s search for a new rector.

In December 2022, Rev. Nevin-Field became Chestertown’s 34th Rector of Emmanuel Church.

With a lifelong passion for social justice and care for the environment, Reverend Nevin-Field sees her new role at Emmanuel as a bridge-maker, building community partnerships, reaching out to and engaging with local organizations, businesses, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and community members to promote social, economic, and cultural development within the community.

Eschewing literalism in her discussions about biblical text, the confessed “Bible-nerd” looks at the context of the canonical books according to their time and applies the core metaphor to our own. 

Citing civil rights activist John Lewis’s theology of “good trouble” in the struggle for dignity and equality, Reverend Nevin-Field is also quick to point out writer Anne Lamott’s belief that humor is “carbonated holiness” and that the entwined principles provide a rich foundation for an active spiritual life.

The Spy recently interviewed Rev. Claire Nevin-Field and welcomes her to Chestertown.

This video is approximately 12 minutes in length. For more about Emmanuel Church, go here.