The Rev. Lisa R. Neilson joined St. Martin’s in September 2019 as an Associate Rector. As Vicar for Pastoral Care, she is responsible for managing Pastoral Care ministries including care for those in the hospitals, for those experiencing grief, loss, or other pastoral needs as well as planning funerals. She also serves as the clergy liaison to the Episcopal Church Women (ECW), the Joy of Giving Committee and The Gathering. Before arriving at St. Martin’s, she served in College Station as Campus Missioner for Texas A&M University and Blinn College.

Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in political science from Syracuse University where she was also enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. She earned her Master in Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary, in Alexandria, Virginia.

After graduating from Syracuse, she was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and served on active duty for nine years as a logistics officer. She then worked in management for BNSF Railway in Chicago and Fort Worth. She and her husband Bob, a retired Army officer, have a spoiled chihuahua named Gizmo. They have a daughter, Heather, along with two grandchildren, Caleb and Peyton; and a son and daughter-in-law, Ian and Zoe.