Reverend William 'Bill' Terry

The Very Rev. William “Bill” Terry, a native of New Orleans, is Dean of the Downtown Deanery and Rector of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church. He is assigned as the Episcopal Chaplain for Tulane School of Medicine and serves as Faculty in the Program in Medical Ethics and Human Values.

After serving in the United States Navy in the Presidential Honor Guard and Inshore Warfare Group during the Vietnam era, Father Terry received an honorable discharge and began his studies at Tulane University, where he received his B.A.. After several years as a successful commercial insurance underwriter for both international firms and his own international marine underwriting firm, Father Terry was called to ministry.

Father Terry received a Master of Pastoral Studies degree from Loyola University and was admitted to Sigma Alpha Nu Jesuit Honor Society. He recieved his Master of Divinity degree from Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin . He was ordained in 2003 and was assigned to St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, located in Treme in New Orleans. Since that time, his church has gained both local and national attention as a progressive and social justice driven church. He has been featured in NPR's State of the Reunion, The New Yorker, CNN 360, PBS Great Museums of the World, and featured in periodicals from Germany to Australia. Generally, the subject of these writings is focused on urban violence, post-disaster relief efforts, and sanctuary programs for migrants. Father Terry has articles published in local columns and published a paper for the National Episcopal Church on advice to clergy for disaster response. You can read his blog here.

He is also a certified FEMA Chaplain. He and his church have received many awards including Innovator of the Year Awards by Gambit Publishing, the Martin Luther King Award, Trumpet Award for Best Community Church, and the Human Rights Committee Award for Faith Based Outreach.

Father Terry is currently enrolled in the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at Loyola Chicago in the Masters Level Program. He is married with three children and a granddaughter. He lives in Meraux with his four dogs of all sizes.