SEWANEE, TN--The Rev. Joseph H. Ballard, Jr., has been called as rector of Otey Memorial Parish here, according to Margaret Donohue, senior warden of the parish.

The Rev. Mr. Ballard, 56, has been rector of St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville, TN, since 1996. Prior to that, he served as assistant rector of St. Luke's Church, Cleveland, TN, and as chaplain of Camp Gailor-Maxon, Monteagle, TN. He was a staff member of the Marketing Company president of Eastman Kodak before attending the School of Theology at Sewanee: the University of the South and graduating in 1992.

He holds a Bachelor degree and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and has done graduate work at Rutgers University, the University of Geneva, Switzerland, St. John’s School of Theology in Auckland, New Zealand, and the College of Preachers.

He served as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee (1996-2006), as a member of the school's admissions committee (1989-2001), as deputy to 2003 General Convention and as president of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of East Tennessee (2001-02) as well as a number of other church and civic related activities.

He currently co-chairs the Stewardship Commission of his diocese, is a member of its Insurance Committee, spiritual director of "Happening," the high school youth activity (2006-7) and recently stepped down as a member of the Advisory Board the Junior League of Knoxville, and the Curriculum Committee of Leadership Knoxville.

He was the 1991 recipient of the John M. Allin Fellowship and the recipient of a Lilly Foundation Sabbatical Grant in 2003. In 2002, his parish in Knoxville was designated as a Jubilee Ministry Center by the Episcopal Church USA in recognition of its outreach programs.

The Rev. Mr. Ballard and his wife Bobbye are the parents of two grown daughters, Jenny, an actress in Knoxville, and Catie, an attorney in Chicago.