Gerardo Marti
Louisville Institute
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in partnership with Louisville Institute, has appointed Gerardo Marti, Ph.D., as the interim executive director of Louisville Institute for the 2022-23 academic year.
A longstanding member of the institute’s advisory board and chair and professor of Sociology at Davidson College, Marti succeeds the Rev. Dr. Edwin Aponte, who served as executive director of the institute from 2015 to 2022, and is now dean of Drew Theological School.
Marti earned both his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California, and holds a B.A. from Pepperdine University. His research focus is race, religion, and social change. He currently serves as president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and he was in his third term as a member of the board of directors of the Louisville Institute when he was appointed as interim executive director.
The institute is funded by the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment Inc. Its mission is to bridge church and academy through grants and fellowships awarded to those who study North American religious institutions, practices, and movements.
Barton Priebe
Northwest Seminary and College
The Northwest Seminary and College Board of Governors appointed Dr. Barton Priebe as the institution’s 11th president, effective Aug. 1. He succeeds Ruth McGilvray, who served in an interim role following the 2020 resignation of Dr. Kenton Anderson, who spent a decade in the role.
Priebe brings over 20 years of experience in pastoral ministry and teaching to his new role at Northwest, the official theological education and leadership development agency of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches of British Columbia, the Yukon, and Territories (Fellowship Pacific), and Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (Fellowship Prairies).
The author of two scholarly books, Priebe earned his bachelor’s degree in Missions from Columbia Bible College, and Master of Arts and Doctor of Ministry from the Associated Canadian Theological Schools.
Priebe served as lead pastor at two Fellowship churches in British Columbia, where he built a strong record of leadership, discipleship, and church growth. He also is among the first Fellowship Pacific pastors to embrace Northwest’s mentored, in-context competency-based model of theological education.
Dennis R. Edwards
North Park University
North Park University has appointed Rev. Dennis R. Edwards, Ph.D., as Dean of North Park Theological Seminary and Vice President for Church Relations. He reports directly to North Park President Mary K. Surridge and serves as a member of the institution’s senior leadership team.
Edwards, who began his tenure on Aug. 1, was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) and is an accomplished New Testament scholar.
He has served as a professor of Biblical studies at eight institutions over the past 24 years, including as associate professor of New Testament at North Park since August 2019. He also has been a church planter and a pastor in Brooklyn, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, his M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Catholic University of America.
North Park is the university of the ECC.
Kent Eaton
Pacific Theological Seminary
Kent Eaton, Ph.D., a widely published scholar, teacher, and experienced senior academic administrator, began his duties on Aug. 1 as president of Pacific Theological Seminary in San Diego, California.
Eaton most recently served as senior vice president and interim Academic Dean for Simpson College, and Dean of General Education and Professional Studies for Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology.
He earned his Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Wales at Lampeter, a Th.M. from Dallas Seminary, and his B.A. in Religious Studies from Texas Christian University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Eaton succeeds John Lillis, who announced his retirement after four years of service as president and as a member of the Pacific board.
(Editor's note: The print version incorrectly stated this was Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, which is in Berkeley, California, and part of the Graduate Theological Union. Pacific Theological Seminary is in San Diego and is not connected to Graduate Theological Union. In Trust magazine regrets the error.)
Kirk Stevan Smith
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Rt. Rev. Kirk Stevan Smith, Ph.D., retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, was appointed in March by the Board of Trustees as interim president and dean of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), the Board of Trustees announced. He began his duties in June.
Smith succeeds the Very Rev. W. Mark Richardson, who announced in January that he would retire as president and dean of CDSP at the end of the academic year.
Before and after his retirement in 2019, Smith taught church history courses at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, General Theological Seminary, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and Virginia Theological Seminary. He served as Bishop-in-Residence at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale for the Spring term 2021.
Prior to serving as bishop for the Diocese of Arizona from 2004-19, Bishop Smith led parishes in Connecticut and California.
Smith received his bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College, M.Div. from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Smith will serve as interim president and dean of CDSP until a new president and dean is selected. The Board of Trustees of CDSP has launched a search.
Bryan C. Hollon
Trinity School for Ministry
The Trinity School for Ministry Board of Trustees announced in May the appointment of the Rev. Canon Dr. Bryan C. Hollon, Ph.D., as its eighth Dean President. He succeeds the Very Rev. Dr. Henry L. Thompson, who announced his retirement at the beginning of the 2021-22 academic year.
Hollon, a pastor, scholar and administrator, previously served as professor of Theology at Malone University in Canton, Ohio, director of the C.S. Lewis Institute of Northeast Ohio, and Canon Theologian of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. He is also the chair of the Executive Committee of the Society of Anglican Theologians, which seeks to serve the Anglican Church in North America and the broader church by identifying and bringing into fellowship Anglican scholars across the theological disciplines.
He earned a Ph.D. in Religion from Baylor University in 2006, and an M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2001.
Ordained a priest in the Anglican Church in North America in 2015, he planted and pastored St. John’s Anglican Church in Canton, Ohio from 2017 until a full-time rector was called in May of 2021. He and his wife, Suzanne Bryan, have three children, Harrison, Claire, and John.
John F. Kutsko
Atla
John F. Kutsko, Ph.D., executive director of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) since 2010, will become Atla’s next executive director, effective Dec. 30, the Atla Board of Directors has announced. He succeeds Brenda Bailey-Hainer, who announced her retirement, effective Aug. 31, after 11 years of leading Atla.
He earned a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 1997 and holds a M.A. degree from the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan. He is also an affiliate professor of biblical studies at the Candler School of Theology of Emory University. Before joining SBL, he was an associate publisher at Abingdon Press.
Widely published, Kutsko is a contributing editor of The SBL Handbook of Style and directed its second edition. He serves on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of General Education.
Atla was established in 1946 as the American Theological Library Association. It is a membership association of librarians and information professionals, and it is a producer of research tools for the study of religion and theology and promoting scholarly communication in religion and theology by advancing the work of libraries and related information providers.