On behalf of the board of directors of In Trust, I am pleased to announce that the following persons have been elected to the board:
The two newly elected members are Jeremiah McCarthy and Roger McGrath.
The three members re-elected to a new term are Diane Ashley, Martha Horne, and Anne van den Berg.
The following seven persons were elected to serve until their current terms are completed, or until they are re-elected to a new term: George Brushaber, Ian Chapman, Robert Coutts, Douglass Lewis, Carol Lytch, Charles McKinney, and John Vissers.
John Vissers
Board Secretary, In Trust
On December 16, 2009, John Vissers, secretary of In Trust's board of directors, announced that In Trust's member schools have for the first time elected all 12 members of In Trust's board. Biographies of all board members are below.
Since becoming a supporting organization to its membership in July 2009, In Trust has adopted the bylaws and procedures to ensure that organization is governed by the membership through election of directors. This year, 110 ballots representing 69% of the electorate of 159 schools were returned. Two of these ballots were invalidated. Of the 108 valid ballots, 107 voted in the affirmative for the slate of new and renewing members, and 103 voted in the affirmative for the slate of members continuing their service.
Vissers reviewed the procedures of the election and the tally for accuracy and compliance with In Trust's revised bylaws. A copy of the bylaws is available here (PDF).
The electorate was made up of schools that had paid their membership fee by September 30, 2009, held status as public charities (recognized by either the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or Revenue Canada), and were accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (or by another accrediting agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation).
In Trust's full membership includes nearly 200 schools and organizations, including both voting members and others that did not fulfill all criteria for voting membership in 2009. However, nearly 80% of full members were approved by In Trust's board as voting members in this election.
Prior to this election, the In Trust's board was a self-perpetuating entity and elected its own directors to be representative of In Trust's broad constituency.
Newly Elected Members of the Board of Directors
Jeremiah McCarthy
Elected to the Board Class of 2012
- Professor of Moral Theology, Academic Liaison Officer, St. Patrick's Seminary and University, Menlo Park, California
Msgr. McCarthy is a Catholic priest of the diocese of Tucson, Arizona. In addition to ongoing service as an associate pastor and administrator in that diocese, he served for 18 years as professor of moral theology, academic dean, and rector-president of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. From 2002 to 2009, he was director of accreditation and institutional evaluation and secretary to the Board of Commissioners for the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).
Roger McGrath
Elected to the Board Class of 2011
- Vicar General and Director of Seminarians, Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey
A Catholic priest of the diocese of Camden, New Jersey, Msgr. McGrath served as both an associate pastor and pastor of parishes in the diocese before he was named director of diocesan relations at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Later he served on the faculty and then as vice rector of St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore. McGrath has also served on the boards of both institutions. For 12 years he was treasurer of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
Re-Elected Members of the Board of Directors
Diane Ashley
Elected to the Board Class of 2013
- Chair of the Board of Trustees, New York Theological Seminary
- Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Before joining the Federal Reserve, Ashley was senior vice president and director of supplier diversity at Citigroup. She has also worked for The Hollins Group Inc., Eric Salmon, and Gould, McCoy and Chadick.
A Baptist lay person, Ashley serves on the board of ThinkQuest NYC.
Martha Horne
Elected to the Board Class of 2013
- Dean and President Emerita, Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, Alexandria, Virginia
Horne retired in 2007 after heading the largest Episcopal seminary for 13 years. Previously she served on the seminary's faculty for eight years and was associate dean for six. She was president of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) from 1990 to 1992 and has served on several ATS committees and task forces. A member of the executive committee and board of the Washington Theological Consortium for many years, she received its distinguished service award in 2007.
Horne is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Since retiring, she has joined the faculty of CREDO, a vocational wellness initiative for clergy and lay leaders in the Episcopal Church. She also serves as dean of ATS leadership development initiatives for presidents of theological schools in the U.S. and Canada.
Anne van den Berg
Elected to the Board Class of 2013
- Chair of the Governance Committee of In Trust's Board of Directors
- Board of Trustees, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, New York
In addition to her service on the board of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, van den Berg has served as parish council president for the Orthodox Church of St. Stephen the Protomartyr in Orlando, Florida, and as capital campaign director for the parish. At St. Vladimir's she spearheaded a summer internship program for students.
Admitted to the bar in two states, van den Berg currently tends her family of six children ranging age from grade school to college.
Members of the Board of Directors Elected to Continue Existing Terms
George Brushaber
Board Class of 2010
- Vice Chair of In Trust's Board of Directors
- President Emeritus, Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota
Brushaber served Bethel College and Seminary for 27 years, leading the institution to university status and a name change to Bethel University. Before being called to the presidency, Brushaber served as vice president and chief academic officer at Bethel and at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
Brushaber has also had a dual career in religious journalism, including a decade as executive editor and chair of the editorial committee of Christianity Today. He has chaired the Minnesota Private College Council and the Consortium of Minnesota Theological Seminaries, and he has served on various national boards and organizations in higher education and ministry.
Brushaber is an ordained minister of the Baptist General Conference.
Ian Chapman
Board Class of 2010
- Consultant to the Pastoral Ministry Program, Kern Family Foundation
- Chair of the Board of Trustees, Moscow Theological Seminary
For 13 years, Chapman was president of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, before retiring in 2001. The former pastor of Third Baptist Church of St. Louis, Missouri, he is also president of Russian Leadership Ministries, an organization that supports theological education in Russia.
Ordained in the American Baptist Churches USA, Chapman is a graduate of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary) in Philadelphia.
Robert Coutts
Board Class of 2012
- Board of Governors, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.
- Retired Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Electronic Systems
- Former Chair of the Board, Sandia Corporation
Coutts has served on the boards of directors of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Lockheed Martin United Kingdom, and Lockheed Martin España, and he is an elected member of three New York Stock Exchange boards of directors. He is a member of the endowment investment committee at Wesley Theological Seminary and has served on the seminary's board for 12 years. He is a member of University Methodist Church in Syracuse, New York, and an associate member of Hunt's Memorial United Methodist Church in Riderwood, Maryland.
G. Douglass Lewis
Board Class of 2012
- Chair of In Trust's Board of Directors
- President Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C.
Lewis was named president emeritus of Wesley Theological Seminary in 2002 after having served as president for 20 years. He helped transform Wesley's board of trustees and created a program of trustee development for United Methodist seminaries. He is past president of the Association of Theological Schools and a consultant for Auburn Seminary's "Leadership That Works" research project.
Ordained in the United Methodist Church, Lewis was co-editor of A Handbook for Seminary Presidents.
Carol Lytch
Board Class of 2011
- Assistant Executive Director, Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Before joining ATS, Lytch was coordinator of two Lilly endowment grant programs for theological schools. An ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Lytch has also served as a pastor and as an adjunct faculty member at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
The author of numerous articles on theological education and a fellow of the Fund for Theological Education, she is a frequent speaker on issues related to theological education.
Charles McKinney
Board Class of 2010
- Treasurer of In Trust's Board of Directors
- Board of Trustees, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, Missouri
- Board of Trustees, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Retired Assistant to the President and University Ombudsman, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida
McKinney joined the administration of Florida Gulf Coast University, a brand-new campus of the state university system, in 1997. Previously he retired from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he served in a number of administrative positions including dean, registrar, and dean of admissions.
An Assemblies of God layman, McKinney serves on the board of Fort Myers Christian School. He is the former president of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
John Vissers
Board Class of 2012
- Secretary of In Trust's Board of Directors
- Principal, The Presbyterian College, Montreal
Before joining The Presbyterian College in 1999, Vissers held academic posts at Knox College and then at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, where he continues to be an adjunct professor. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Vissers has pastored three Presbyterian congregations, including the historic Knox Presbyterian Church in Toronto.
Vissers is the author of two books and many articles and editorials for a variety of publications.
Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Directors
Christa Klein
Klein was cofounder of In Trust in 1989 and served on the organization's board from 1995 until 2003. For the past six years, she has served as president and executive director of In Trust, overseeing an expansion of its services and its transformation into a true member service organization with an award-winning magazine and on-site services promoting good governance among North American theological schools.
Over 30 years, Klein has worked as an independent consultant on governance and on teaching and learning in theological education with Lilly Endowment Inc., the Bonfils Stanton Trust, the Association of Governing Boards, the Association of Theological Schools, and with several dozen theological seminaries. She formerly taught American church history at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and American Catholic history at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, where she was founding dean of its Center for Continuing Formation. She has also served on the board of trustees of Valparaiso University.