Meet our Clergy & Staff
Reverend Dr. James A. Weldon, Jr.
Rector
The Reverend Dr. James A. Weldon, Jr. is the twelfth rector of the Parish of the Good Shepherd. He is responsible for all areas of parish life and oversees worship, music, Christian education, outreach, and community activities.
Fr. Jay is originally from Georgia and has served at parishes up and down the east coast. Previous to his arrival in Waban in 2016, he was Rector of St. Patrick’s in Albany, GA, Assistant Rector at Grace Church in New York City, and Curate at King of Peace, Kingsland, GA. Before ordination, he worked in finance, homeless ministry at First Presbyterian, Atlanta, GA, and youth ministry at Peachtree Christian (Disciples of Christ) in Atlanta. He earned degrees from the University of Georgia, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, General Seminary, and Emory University.
Jay is married to Alison and they have two children, Ella and James.
Dr. Rachel Teubner
Head of Christian Education & Confirmation
Dr. Rachel Teubner is a 2011 graduate of Yale Divinity School and currently works as a Visiting Scholar in Medieval Studies at Harvard. She is married to Jonathan and brings three children to PGS- Ella, Isaiah, and Asa. Rachel works with Children’s Christian Ed, Confirmation and formation with teenagers, as well as support adult formation.
Rachel was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Maine. She and her husband Jonathan started their family in Charlottesville, Virginia, and after that lived in Melbourne, AU, and Berlin prior to moving to the Boston area in 2021.
She is a teacher of literature and theology and the author of Dante and the Practice of Humility: A Theological Commentary on the Divine Comedy (2023). She worked for five years at Australian Catholic University, where she was a research fellow in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Prior to her doctoral work, Rachel held jobs in bookstores, libraries, university public engagement, Catholic Worker ministries, Lutheran summer camps, and community college teaching. She holds degrees in religion and literature from St. Olaf College, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Virginia.
Jamie Apgar
Organist & Choirmaster
Jamie Apgar is a versatile musician. He came to Good Shepherd from Berkeley, CA, where he held a joint appointment directing the wide-ranging music programs at All Souls Episcopal Parish and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a seminary of the Episcopal Church.
A scholar specializing in early modern England, Jamie earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018, and has published several essays on the role of music in post-Reformation religious politics. His reconstruction of Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder’s Da pacem, Domine has been recorded by the Byrd Ensemble (Seattle) and has been sung in concert by Musica Intima (Vancouver). He also has extensive experience as a consort singer, most recently with Schola Cantorum of Boston.
When not engaged with music, he can usually be found in the company of his wife Melanie, whether on a walk, baking cookies, or watching pro football.
