Thomas McKenzie, Nashville Anglican pastor, and eldest child killed in car crash

The Rev. Thomas McKenzie was on his first day of sabbatical, taking his 22-year-old to college in New Mexico.

Thomas McKenzie, Nashville Anglican pastor, and eldest child killed in car crash

The Rev. Thomas McKenzie, the rector of a prominent Anglican congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, and his eldest child, Charlie, were killed in a car crash Monday (Aug. 23).

Rev. McKenzie was 50.

Charlie McKenzie, who had recently changed their legal name, was 22.

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The two were headed to Texas, the first stop on a trip to New Mexico, when their car collided with a tractor-trailer about 9:50 a.m., according to a local news report.

“It is with deep sadness that I write to inform you that this morning, Thomas and his 22-year-old daughter Ella died in an accident on Interstate 40 west of Nashville,” the Rev. Kenny Benge, associate pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Nashville, told parishioners in an email message.

McKenzie was on the first day of a sabbatical from the church

“On August 23rd, I’ll be road-tripping with our eldest,” he wrote in a message to the church before his sabbatical. “Charlie (Ella) will be going to St. John’s College, Santa Fe campus, for senior year. I’ll spend a few days on that endeavor, and then fly home.”

Earlier in the morning, about a half-hour before the crash, McKenzie tweeted about the trip.

“Driving with my kid to New Mexico,” he posted. .” … Today’s goal? Shamrock, Texas.”

McKenzie was the longtime pastor of Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican Church in North America congregation, which he helped found after leaving the Episcopal Church. He was well-known in evangelical circles in Nashville, with friends across many denominations.

He was the author of “The Anglican Way” and several other books and was a frequent commentator about movies and current events on social media.