About Our Staff
Reverend Dr. Adam Tierney-Eliot
Minister
Reverend Dr. Adam Tierney-Eliot has been the Pastor of Eliot Church since 2003. Previously he served two churches simultaneously in northwestern Maine.
Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maine and a Master of Divinity degree from Meadville/Lombard Theological School in Chicago. He also recently received his Doctor of Ministry degree with a focus on Preaching from Chicago Theological Seminary.
Active in both the denomination and the community, Adam currently serves on the boards of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship and the Council of Christian Churches in the UUA. He is also on the board of Metropolitan Congregations Acting for Hope, an interfaith social justice organization addressing economic issues in the MetroWest region. Adam is in Full Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association and has Dual-Standing with the United Church of Christ.
To learn more about Adam and his ministry, please take a look at his web page and his web log, Burbania Posts.
While Reverend Dr. Adam Tierney-Eliot is on sabbatical, Reverend Dr. Ned Allyn Parker will be preaching at The Eliot Church. He is the Associate Dean for Institutional Advancement at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. In this role, Ned is responsible for Andover Newton’s external communications and relationships, which includes work with and preaching in local churches. Before returning to Andover Newton in this current capacity, Ned also was one of five pastors at Seattle First Baptist Church, a Welcoming and Affirming church in the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
Ned received his BA from Hampshire College with a dual concentration in oral traditions and archaeology, a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in 2010, and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching and homiletics from Seattle University in 2016. He is currently seeking Dual Fellowship with the UUA.
In his spare time, Ned enjoys drawing mandalas, reading J.R.R. Tolkien, and long drives with the windows down with his dog Lucky.
Sabbatical Minister
Dr. Stephen James
Music Director
Stephen James, music director at the Eliot Church, has performed for the Tanglewood Music Center Chamber Series, the WICN Radio concert series at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Omnibus Series at Boston University, and on many other concert series in New England.
He is a composer as well as a pianist and organist, and completed his doctoral degree in composition at Boston University, where he received the graduate composition prize in 1984, the Malloy Miller Composition Award in 1986, and an award for continuing musical excellence in 1987. His music has been performed by nationally known ensembles and soloists, including baritone Sanford Sylvan, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Washington Music Ensemble, and the Atlantic Brass Quintet. He has taught composition, piano performance, music theory and related courses at Amherst College, Boston University, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and Bridgewater and Worcester State Colleges.
For information about Stephen’s compositions and performances as a pianist, or to inquire about lessons, please visit his website.