October 26 and 27 marked a stepping stone in the life of Episcopal Divinity School as the Board met for the first time at Union’s campus in New York City.
From Episcopal Divinity School
Over the course of two days the board elected new officers, passed a budget and learned of the hiring of a new staff member. The board also received reports on the marketing of the seminary’s former campus in Cambridge, and the placement of its books, artwork and artifacts, and archive.
The Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, dean of EDS@Union, welcomed the board with a report on her first two months in office. “How would I describe this affiliation? The word that continues to come to me is synergy,” she said. “It has truly been a synergy—when two things come together and new things happen for both. Our institutions have shared visions, and that is creating new energy for transformative ministry.”
Affiliating with a non-denominational seminary, Douglas said, strengthens EDS’s vocation to train leaders for a worldwide church. “The Episcopal Church isn’t so diverse, but the Anglican Communion is,” Douglas said. “Union pushes us to connect more with the Anglican Communion. If we’re going to be committed to what Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls the Jesus Movement, we have to be global in scope.”
New officers were elected. Bonnie Anderson was elected president, Gregory Straub, was elected vice president and secretary, and Dennis Stark was reelected as treasurer. New members of the board are Philip Jackson, vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street, Kay Kramer, owner of Birchwood Financial Partners and a member of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis and Mark Miliotto, director of finance for the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
Read more on disposal of books from EDS library and of the property in Cambridge, new budget, and more here.
Image: EDS board officers from news release