About Me

My name is Kelley Hudlow.
As a certified Homiletic Peer Coach, I help preachers explore their preaching identity, spirituality, and sermons in a supportive community of fellow preachers through peer groups, individual coaching, and sermon analysis.

As a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, I am an itinerant preacher, traveling to churches without regular clergy on Sundays. I also serve as the Missioner for Clergy Formation for our diocese. In this role, I am the director of our local ministry school that offers formation for those in the ordination process and lay leaders. I also coordinate and develop continuing education opportunities for our clergy, including a formation program for new clergy. In addition to my work with formation, I provide videography, live-streaming, and digital content creation for our diocese. I serve as the Lead Documentarian for the Alabama State Committee of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Prior to working for the church full time, I was a trial attorney and a director of a legal clinic at a law school.

My academic and professional training includes a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Juris Doctorate, the National Criminal Defense College, Education for Ministry through Sewanee, and the Alabama Ministry School. In 2021 I completed the David G. Buttrick Certificate Program in Homiletic Peer Coaching through Vanderbilt Divinity School. I am currently working on a Master of Arts in Theopoetics and Writing through Bethany Theological Seminary.

I live in Birmingham, Alabama, with my spouse, Shanti, and my menagerie: a beagle named Lucy, an orange cat named Julien, and a corgi named Brother Juniper.

My preaching life.

I have preached in a variety of settings, including bars, coffeeshops, parks, online, protests, and in a traditional church setting. These varied contexts have allowed me to utilize a variety of preaching methods. At present, my preaching life is focused on weekly lectionary preaching in small parishes. Because of the itinerant nature of my ministry, the Sunday sermon is my primary interaction with the congregations I serve. The primary purpose of the sermon is to proclaim the good news of God in Christ, but it is also a source of pastoral care and formation. As a preacher, sermon preparation is part of my weekly spiritual practice and it is my primary form of creative expression. I find great joy in being shaped by the rhythm of the Revised Common Lectionary and liturgical calendar, and the regular engagement of scripture for preaching.

My coaching life.

I was first introduced to coaching and peer learning while serving as the director of a law school clinical program. My goal was to create a community of learning for law students and young lawyers that would allow them to find their authentic voice and presence in the courtroom. As I studied homiletic peer coaching, I incorporated my prior coaching experience. Whether through individual coaching sessions or peer group sessions, my goal is to create a community of learning for preachers to explore their preaching life to develop their authentic voice and presence in the pulpit.