The Rev. Martha Sterne grew up in the fifties and sixties as a cosseted white child, shielded from the broader world. When she arrived in the big city, she encountered a reality where unspoken truths were being shouted out loud, and untold stories were tumbling out.

Realizing she had little understanding of the world’s complexities, she decided to attend seminary. After serving at All Saints’ for ten years, she enjoyed a decade as a rector of St. Andrew’s in Maryville, Tennessee, a small town on the edge of the Smokies.

Throughout her journey, she has enjoyed herself immensely. Though not intending to be sexist, she notes that women clergy have traditionally been leaders in every faith community except the Baptists and Roman Catholics, a remarkable fact in her view.

When grandchildren arrived, she and her family returned to Atlanta. She served at Holy Innocents’, authored several short books that are primarily stories disguised as sermons, and faced a severe health challenge with a serious blood cancer. Thanks to remarkable medicine, she has experienced a significant recovery. Being a part of this video profile project, she recognizes, perhaps for the first time, both the physical toll of her illness and the gifts of being fully alive now.

She now resides at Canterbury Court with two mischievous small dogs, numerous relatives, and friends. She had worried that former parishioners—of whom there are many—might expect her to maintain a priestly demeanor, but this has not been an issue. She continues to spend as much time as possible in Mississippi, where she shares an old farm with many of her cousins, and they all continue to tell varied versions of the same events—both old stories and new ones they invent along the way.