The Reverend Nancy Benson-Nicol
The Rev. Nancy Benson-Nicol
organizes and leads the university’s weekly chapel service and other convocations. She also provides spiritual counseling for the campus community, coordinates mission and outreach efforts, and serves as the university’s liaison to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Nancy commenced her ministry as University Chaplain in August 2006. She served from 2003-2006 as Associate Pastor of First United Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Nancy began ordained ministry as a Lilly Resident in Parish Ministry in at First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2001.
A native of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Nancy earned the Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Sociology & Anthropology and Religion from Swarthmore College in 1998, and the Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School in 2001. While at Harvard, Nancy served as Seminarian in The Memorial Church, Harvard University, under the direction of The Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes.
Her editorial and liturgical submissions have been published in Horizons magazine on two occasions; most recently, her Celebrate the Gifts of Women 2008: Celebrating the Women Within has been distributed nationally and is being utilized by congregations and worship groups across the country. Her service to the denomination includes a three-year term (1996-1999) on the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In 2005, Nancy served as worship leader for the Synod of the Sun’s College Connection weeklong retreat at Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt, TX. In its July 2004 cover story, the publication Presbyterians Today featured Nancy in “40 Under 40: Ones to Watch” as “rising star” in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Academic and professional areas of interest to Nancy include religious pluralism, spiritual formation, and contemporary religious fiction and nonfiction.
