Joy Fallon the newly named senior minister at King’s Chapel.
As she looks forward to assuming the role of senior minister at King’s Chapel on March 18, Joy Fallon said she views the position as one she shares with the entire congregation.
“We value everyone there and see every member of the church as being one of its ministers,” Fallon said.
A minister’s daughter, Fallon was raised in Maryland, Minnesota and New Jersey as her father served at different churches. She earned a bachelor’s degree in government with economics from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1978 before graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School four years later. In her role as senior attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Fallon oversaw the U.S. Attorney’s Boston Jobs Project, a coalition of African-American ministers and other city leaders that secured a multi-million dollar federal grant to educate and employ Boston youth, ages 16 to 24, in an effort, she said, “not simply to prosecute crimes, but to prevent crimes in first place.”
“With Mayor Menino’s office, Boston Police and business leaders, among others, we created a program that offered jobs and employment to some of the individuals who had been court involved,” Fallon said. “Ministers called it a ‘chance at redemption’ and said, ‘we’re not giving up on youth because God doesn’t give up on anybody.’”
Fallon left the legal profession in 2002 to serve as associate for urban and justice ministry and later managing director of the Trinity Boston Foundation.
“For five years, I oversaw their social justice programs dealing with homelessness, as well as a leadership and education program and counseling center for Boston kids,” Fallon said.
Afterwards, Fallon worked on the staff of several local churches before completing her clinical pastoral education at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the summer of 2011 and winning the scripture reading prize from Harvard Divinity School that same year. She was approved for ordination pending calling last April by the Metropolitan Boston Association, UCC.
Upon assuming her new role with King’s Chapel, Fallon acknowledges her respect for its long history of music and other traditions while envisioning the role of the church will play in the city’s future.
“When I met with church members, I shared with them my hope to offer vibrant programs for children and more offerings for people who work near King’s Chapel,” Fallon said. “The church also is deeply committed to understanding how it can best serve needs of the city, and together, we’ll be exploring how we can do that, including by partnering with excellent programs that already exist.”