Holy Trinity Welcomes New Upper School Chaplain as Church, Academy Partnership Grows

MELBOURNE — Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy have welcomed Tucker Fleming to Melbourne as Upper School chaplain and student ministry associate.

Fleming brings more than a decade of ministry experience and most recently served as director of youth and family ministry programs at Decatur Presbyterian Church in Georgia. He has also served with Rooted Ministry and written on youth ministry for The Gospel Coalition.

“HTEA and HTEC are incredible places,” Fleming told Nina Keck in a Sept. 22 story for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. “Both organizations are seeking to use the gifts of God to serve their students and families as well as they can.”

Fleming will serve alongside the Rev. Garcia Barnswell-Schmidt, the academy’s head chaplain, while also working with students through Holy Trinity’s parish ministry.

Holy Trinity has served Melbourne since 1884 and is the city’s oldest congregation. Its ministry to local families also includes Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, founded in 1957 with 90 students and six classrooms. Today, the academy serves more than 900 students between its Lower School campus adjoining the church on Fee Avenue and its Upper School campus off Pineda Causeway.

Fleming’s arrival also comes as he explores a call to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. He is expected to enter the Diocese of Central Florida’s discernment process toward the priesthood through Holy Trinity.

Tom Philips, rector of Holy Trinity, said Fleming’s arrival is an answer to prayer.

“I really do feel that the Lord called him to this position,” Philips said. “His love for Christ is exemplary, and his experience ministering to students in both church and school settings makes him the right candidate to continue strengthening the growing partnership between Holy Trinity Church and School.”

Fleming holds a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Mississippi State University. He and his wife, Kaleigh, have a 5-year-old son.

Reporting for this story draws in part from a Sept. 22 article by Nina Keck for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.

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