Episcopal Identity
ESN is founded by people who believe serving others is an integral part of our lives and service to God. As such, we find God in and through each other. Our Episcopal identity informs our vision for diversity, inclusiveness, and a sense of community.
Our Episcopal identity is central because it informs who we are, how we learn, and how we foster our school community.
This doesn’t create a religious requirement for our students, but shapes our deep belief of every student’s intrinsic value, supports the personal and professional care we provide your children, and helps guide how we measure success.
Diversity, inclusiveness, and a sense of community are vitally important at ESN. We know that all people are special in the eyes of God; therefore we have intentionally cultivated a culture of inclusiveness that values each student’s uniqueness and celebrates differences.
We welcome the intellectual, spiritual, physical, and financial contributions of people of all faiths as we seek to uplift the values that unite us. The Episcopal School of Nashville is proud to be a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES). NAES schools generally share the following characteristics:
Ecumenical + Diverse: They’re a communities for people of all faiths and backgrounds. This includes Episcopalians and non-Episcopalians, Christians and non-Christians, and people of no faith traditions. They welcome a rich variety of people from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds. The intentional pluralism of most Episcopal schools is a hallmark of their missions.
Integrated Spiritual Formation: They seek to integrate religious and spiritual formation into the overall curriculum and life of each school community.
A Dignity of All: They exist not merely to educate, but to demonstrate and proclaim the unique worth and beauty of all human beings as creations of a loving, empowering God.
Weekly Chapel
Chapel is integral to who we are as a school community. While chapel incorporates liturgical elements that are distinctly Episcopal, the overall goal is to give every student the opportunity to support and explore his/her own spiritual development.
We will not seek to convert others, rather, we will encourage others to have a faith that builds and grows over a lifetime. Remembering that we are all on spiritual journeys, we join with students and families to learn and grow together.
-
School worship that is creative, inclusive, draws fully upon the liturgical resources of the Episcopal Church and is a regular part of school life for all faculty and students.
-
Community life, in which reflection, prayer, and matters of the spirit are honored and cultivated and the physical, mental, and emotional health of all are supported and nurtured.
-
Religious formation and study that is meaningful, academically substantive, and age-appropriate; and in teaching the Christian tradition, fosters dialogue with other faith traditions.
-
Social justice, which is the integration of the ideals and concepts of equity, justice, and a just society throughout the life of the school and the embracing and honoring of diversity
-
The inclusion of community service and service-learning as an integral part of the life of the school.
ESN’S EPISCOPALIAN PRINCIPLES
ARE EXPRESSED THROUGH:
Welcoming Chaplain
Heather Daugherty
Following a national search and thoughtful discernment process, we’ve appointed Heather Daugherty as our first full-time Chaplain. This position marks a new chapter at ESN reflecting our commitment to spiritual formation, whole-child education, and a school culture rooted in inclusion, inquiry, and faith-in-action.
Heather will lead weekly chapel services, provide pastoral care, and guide the spiritual formation program for grades 1-6. She’ll play a key role in supporting service learning initiatives which help students live out ESN’s values by connecting compassion to action. Through this work, Heather will help anchor our community’s commitment to forming graduates who are intellectually curious, spiritually grounded, and responsibly engaged with their world.
We're sure you might have some questions, such as: what exactly does a chaplain do? Click here to learn more!