Joan Gray
Joan S. Gray was elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) at the 217th General Assembly on June 15, 2006. As moderator, she served as the presiding officer of the week-long General Assembly meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by a two-year term as the ambassador-at-large for the denomination. She has also spent many years working in various churches and is currently serving as part of the faculty at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Education
Gray graduated from Presbyterian College with a B.A. in 1973. She then continued her education at Columbia Theological Seminary, where she earned her M.Div. in 1976. In 1993 she attended General Theological Seminary (Episcopal), where she earned a Master of Sacred Theology in spiritual direction and received her Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2009.
Career
Gray is considered an expert on church polity and structure, and is the co-author of Presbyterian Polity for Church Officers. She previously served as moderator of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission and a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Advisory Committee on the Constitution. Through five General Assemblies before and after Presbyterian reunion in 1983, she served on the Provisional Constitutional Committee. All of these are very important positions that provided Gray with insight and skill needed to be the moderator of the General Assembly.
Gray was ordained as a
She served as the interim dean of students and vice-president of student services at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Publications
- Presbyterian Polity for Church Officers, co-authored with Joyce C. Tucker, John Knox Press, 1986 (4th edition, 2012, Geneva Press)
- Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers, Geneva Press, 2009
- The Sail Boat Church: Helping your Church Rethink Its Mission and Purpose, Geneva Press, publication date: May, 2014
External links
- [1] — Official Biography of the Moderator of the PCUSA