Meet the Chaplains

The Rev. Khristi Adams serves as the School’s Firestone Endowment Chaplain; Dean of Spiritual Life and Equity; and an Instructor of Religious Studies and Philosophy. The Rev. Adams earned her B.A. at Temple University (2003) and, in 2008, her M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary. She previously worked as a chaplain and campus pastor at both Georgetown University and Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) and as a program administrator for the Center for Black Church Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary; a counselor for adolescents and young adults at the Christian Wellness Center of New Jersey. The Rev. Adams is an accomplished author, speaker, and youth advocate. Her book Parable of the Brown Girl, which "highlights the cultural and spiritual truths that emerge from the lives of young black girls," was released in February 2020. The book has received awards for Best Young Adult Book from The African American Literary Awards and the New York Black Librarians Caucus. Her book, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way, was released in the spring of 2022.

Contact the Rev. Adams at kadams@thehill.org.

The Rev. Confer Martens grew up in York, Pennsylvania and came to The Hill School as a student in the fall of 1999, following in the footsteps of her brother and cousin. She graduated from The Hill in 2002. She has a B.A. in Religious Studies from Connecticut College, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, and an S.T.M. (Master of Sacred Theology) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In January 2016, she was ordained a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In addition to serving as the associate chaplain, the Rev. Confer Martens is the Chair of the Religious Studies and Philosophy Department and the Dr. W.K. Runyeon Instructor of Religious Studies and Philosophy. She is a dorm parent in Johnson House, where she lives with her husband, Eric, and sons, Andrew and Timothy.

Contact The Rev. Confer Martens at aconfermartens@thehill.org.