Rowland Bates is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of New Seabury Homes, LLC, a resort development/construction company based in Cape Cod, MA. He actively manages all aspects of new home development at New Seabury resort and is also charged with expanding the Company’s portfolio of resort communities for the firm’s multi-billion-dollar investment company owner. Rowland has a 40-year track record of acquiring or developing resort communities in the US and Caribbean, then managing these assets to achieve best-in-market financial performance. His background in hospitality, residential, and golf development planning/implementation provides unique skills for leading diverse teams of real estate professionals including engineering, environmental, legal, marketing, sales, and construction. 

 

Rowland is a former vice chair of the Board of Trustees at Andover Newton Theological School and served on both the Finance and Building & Grounds committees. He was also involved in early-stage thinking and strategic discussions related to a possible ANTS/Yale partnership prior to his departure from the Board. Rowland was a long-time member of the Hingham Congregational Church, UCC, where he served as Chair for the Board of Deacons and Stewardship, a Moderator, Chair of the Senior Pastor search committee, and a Long-Range Planning Committee. Hi is currently a new member of the Waquoit Congregational Church on Cape Cod and has been asked to participate in a recently formed Visioning Committee.

 

Rowland received a BS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University as well as an MPS degree specializing in Finance and Real Estate from Cornell. He and his significant other Beth Mays live on Cape Cod with their trained therapy goldendoodle named Beau who visits nursing homes, schools, and libraries with Beth, bringing comfort and companionship to anyone needing unconditional love. Rowland has three sons and a daughter-in-law who all live and work in the Boston area. Beth and Rowland enjoy time with family, boating, golf, and long unleashed walks on the beach with Beau (his favorite).

 

Brad Bauer is a Lay Ministry/Faith at Work specialist with extensive complementary work history in Community Development, Business, Marketing, and Community Planning. He received a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin; an MA from the University of New Mexico; a Masters of Theological Studies from Boston University; a Graduate Certificate in Non-profit Management & Finance from Boston University; and a Doctorate of Ministry from Andover Newton Theological School now at Yale Divinity.

 

Mr. Bauer’s career includes work as Owner/Principal and Senior Planner for an Architecture/Engineering & Community Development firm serving clients throughout the upper mid-west and as a Professor of Community Development for the University of Wisconsin. Over the years, as a member of the Bauer Family Foundation, he has been dedicated to the building of human and institutional capacity in the areas of Lay Ministry, healthcare, education, justice and opportunity for those in the margins of society. He is an active member of Townsend Congregational church where he serves as the Minister for Congregational Care. In further Christian service, he is also extensively involved at the American Baptist Assembly/Green Lake Conference Center, on the Board of the American Baptist Churches International Ministries service, and with several other para-church non-profits across the country. 

 

Marquita Brooks is O’Melveny’s Director of Career Development. Marquita coordinates work assignments, case management and agency staffing in the Firm’s Legal Service Center in the Washington, DC office. She assists and advises attorneys regarding various e-discovery protocols, evidence analysis techniques, privilege issues and production issues. Marquita has managed review and fact development models for numerous complex litigation defense matters including a portion of the multi-district litigation defense of a pharmaceutical company and the defense of a major securities litigation matter.

 

Prior to joining O’Melveny, Marquita’s practice concentrated on business law particularly corporate governance and the laws of for-profit corporations as well as corporations exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). She has served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia Governor’s Motorcycle Advisory Council; as president of the Woodley House nonprofit corporation and endowment serving the mentally ill; as counsel to numerous senior ranking military retirees; and as a member of the adjunct faculty of Northern Virginia Community College teaching political science.

 

 

Cotto-Bonilla received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Pastoral Studies from the Theological University of the Caribbean in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. In the discernment to continue his studies in the United States, he arrived at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, MA in 2015 before transferring to Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT where he finished his Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology. Cotto-Bonilla was the Convener of the Student Founders Steering Committee at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School.

 

Davida Foy Crabtree is a retired (mostly) United Church of Christ minister who served in parish, campus, specialized, and Conference ministries throughout her life. She was the Conference Minister of the CT Conference of the UCC for fourteen years and worked to revitalize Silver Lake Conference Center during her tenure. Early in her career she was (and remains) an advocate for women, for the earth, and for justice and peace for all people. Influenced by many trips overseas, she is passionate about global issues, with particular care for the indigenous and Afro-descended people of Colombia. Twice she has served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement for Andover Newton and as a Trustee, from 1997-2010 and from 2017 to the present - now serving as an Advisory Council member. She believes an Andover Newton theological education is crucial to both society and church, and more urgent now than ever. Now living at Seabury retirement community in Bloomfield, CT, she enjoys gardening year-round and working to reduce Seabury’s carbon footprint. A member of First Church in Windsor, CT, she has served in various capacities there and is currently Clerk of the church.

 

James Dana is a Professor of Economics and Strategy in the Department of Economics at Northeastern University and the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. Prior to joining the faculty at Northeastern, Dana was an Associate Professor with tenure in the Management and Strategy department of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He began his career as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. His research is focused in the areas of industrial organization, competitive strategy, and operations management, with a specialization in pricing under uncertainty, corporate strategies for managing demand uncertainty, price discrimination, and revenue management. Dana has a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dana lives with his wife Kathryn Spier in Weston, Massachusetts, where he is a member of the First Parish Church of Weston (UUA) and recently served on their ministerial search committee.

 

Gregory G. Groover, Sr., is pastor of the Historic Charles Street A.M.E. Church in Roxbury, MA, where he has served in that capacity since 1994. During his tenure, over forty persons have entered the ministry and are presently serving as pastors, chaplains, seminary professors, and deans across the country. In addition to under-shepherding a growing urban congregation, Groover, Sr., serves as the chairperson of his denomination’s First Episcopal District and the New England Annual Conference Boards of Examiners.

His pastorate at Charles Street has involved him also serving on numerous boards, including: chairperson of the Boston School Committee, chairperson of Hamilton Garrett Music & Arts Academy, president of the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, and as a board member for the Boston Foundation, YMCA of Greater Boston, Gordon College, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Groover, Sr., obtained his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, his M.Div. and M.S.W. jointly from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University School of Social Work, and his D.Min. from New York Theological Seminary. Groover, Sr., is married to The Reverend Barbara Groover, an Andover Newton Theological School graduate, and they are proud parents to two adult children.

Charles (Chaz) Lattimore Howard is an Episcopal Priest and University Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania. He shares life with his beloved wife, Dr. Lia C. Howard, and their three daughters. Howard has served in both hospital and hospice chaplaincies, and as a street outreach worker to individuals experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. His writing has been featured in such publications as Black Theology: An International Journal, Daily Good, Sojourners Magazine, Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, The Huffington Post, The Christian Century, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Forward, and Slate. He is the author of five books, including most recently Pond River Ocean Rain, a collection of brief essays about going deeper with God, and most recently: The Bottom: A Theopoetic of the Streets.

 

Hannah Kane is State Representative for the Eleventh Worcester District, representing the towns of Shrewsbury and Westborough. Kane graduated from Boston University’s School of Management in 1993 and she has significant experience in both the public and private sectors. She is President of the Hannah Kane Charitable Foundation that hosts a charity golf tournament benefitting Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services, St. Anne’s Human Services, and Westborough Food Pantry. Kane is also a Trustee for the Seven Hills Foundation. A Founder and Co-chair of the first in the nation Legislative Food System Caucus, Kane also serves as the Ranking Minority Member on both the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and the Joint Committee on Public Health, and is a Member of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Committee and the newly established Joint Committee on Racial Equality, Civil Rights and Inclusion. Kane is a State Director for the nation Women in Government Foundation and a Board Member of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators. She served six years as the Chair of the Board of Deacons at the First Congregational Church of Shrewsbury where she belongs with her husband, Jim, and three children, Madison, Caitlin, and Patrick.

 

An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ since 1978, David Mehl retired to Rhode Island in November 2019 after serving congregations in New England and St. Louis for more than three decades. Before finishing his career, he served as the Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis - one of the oldest interfaith organizations in the country.  

 

Mehl grew up on the Eden Seminary campus in St. Louis where his father was on the faculty and his mother taught at the Seminary’s preschool. Theological education has always informed Mehl’s life and perspective; he is deeply interested 

in furthering vibrant relationships between the church and seminaries. During his years in pastoral ministry in St. Louis, he served as adjunct faculty at Eden and mentored students in contextual education placements. As an Andover Newton Seminary Advisor Council member, he is intrigued by the opportunity to support the creative ANS mission on the Yale campus.

 

Mehl is a graduate of Macalester College (BA 1974), Andover Newton (MDiv 1978) and Eden Seminary (DMin 2003). He recently completed six years on the board of the Missouri Mid-South Conference, UCC, during which he served two years as moderator, and two years as co-chair of the Conference Minister Search Committee. He was a General Synod delegate at the Cleveland (2015) and Baltimore (2017) Synods.

 

Mehl is married to Lynne Seacord, MD retired, and they have adult children in Boston, Chicago and Rockford, Illinois.  He and Lynne love to garden, bird watch, bike and walk to nearby Narragansett Bay. David and Lynne are members of Central Congregational Church in Providence and David has transferred his ministerial standing to the Rhode Island Association of the Southern New England Conference. He remains a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. 

 

Tim Moore holds the title Writer-in-Residence at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he previously served as pastor for nearly twenty years. The author of Practicing Midrash: Reading the Bible’s Arguments as an Invitation to Conversation (Wipf & Stock), he also writes a regular column, Practicing Congregation, for the Alliance of Baptists’ newsletter, contributes to the devotional guide Reflections (Smyth & Helwys), and provides liturgy for a worship resource at faithelement.net.

 

Moore currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance of Baptists, the Board of Advisors for the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School, and previously served on the Board of Trustees at Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, North Carolina.  He has extensive denominational service for both the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, currently serving as an advisor for CBF of North Carolina’s Lilly Endowment Grant, Helping Pastors Thrive, as well as a mentor for the grant’s new pastor cohorts.

 

Since his Andover Newton days, Moore has served churches in North and South Carolina. He and his wife, Magay Shepard, a Vice-President and Certified Financial Planner for Stifel Nicholaus, are the parents of college-age triplets: Abby, Hannah, and Michael. A native of West Virginia, Moore graduated from Mars Hill College (B.S.), Andover Newton Theological School (M.Div.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (D.Min.) and was ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA.

 

Donald Ng was the Senior Pastor of the historic First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco for 17 years, a church started by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society in 1880. He served as President of the American Baptist Churches, USA in 2014-2015, and retired from full-time ministry in June 2015.

Ng is currently the Chair of the Friends of the Northeast Christian University, India, co-coordinator of the ABC Asian Colloquium, Chair of the Pacific Coast Baptist Association (PCBA), member of the ABC Creation Justice Network, and Advisor to the ABC Young Adult Caucus. He has previously served as Vice President of the American Baptist Churches, USA, on the Board of the American Home Mission Societies, Trustee of the American Baptist Seminary of the West (Berkeley), President of the Asian Alliance of the American Baptist Churches, USA, and other ecumenical and denominational groups. Denominationally, Ng served as staff in ABC Educational Ministries in Valley Forge from 1978-1998 in the areas of youth ministry, Christian education, and leader development.

Ng is a graduate of Gordon College and received his MDiv. from Andover Newton Theological School. He completed doctoral coursework in education at Temple University. In May 2013, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from ABSW, and in May 2014, he received the Spirit of the Hill Award from Andover Newton Theological School. His publications include Asian Pacific American Youth Ministry (Judson, 1988) and numerous articles on Christian education, ministry, and life.

Ng has been married to Joy Shih Ng for 47 years and lives in Sausalito, California. They have two married children, Greg and Heather of North Carolina, and Lauren and Daniel of California, and six grandchildren.
 

Nancy Nienhuis has a doctorate in Religion, Gender, and Culture from Harvard Divinity School. Neinhuis’ career in student life and teaching spans decades, including serving as the Dean of Campus Life, Vice President of Operations, and Professor of Theology and Social Justice at Andover Newton Theological School for many years, where she taught courses on social justice and intimate partner violence. She has an interest in issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, particularly as those issues are addressed in the training of clergy. She has written widely on the subject and in 2018 her book entitled Saintly Women: Medieval Saints, Modern Women, and Intimate Partner Violence was published by Routledge Press, co-authored with colleague Dr. Beverly Mayne Kienzle.

Nienhuis is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University’s School of Theology where she teaches future faith leaders about domestic violence and sexual assault. She also works with the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence against Women and other partners to provide national trainings on elder abuse and abuse and faith in GLBTQ communities. In her spare time, she kayaks, cooks, and relaxes with spouse of 33 years, Tammy Zambo.

Diane Parrish practiced law at Shook, Hardy and Bacon for several years in the 1980s. Since leaving the practice she has held many leadership positions with various non-profit organizations, focusing on local government boards, educational institutions, and the arts. Her longest standing and most in-depth involvement has been with Greens Farms Church in Westport, Connecticut, where she has served as Moderator, Trustee, member, and member and Chair of many departments and committees for the past thirty years.
 

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Susan Townsley is the Associate Conference Minister for Innovation, Leadership and Change with the Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ. In this role, Townsley supports leadership development, creates “Blue Sky” spaces for creative, fun, and innovative thinking, and works to enhance the church’s capacity for change. Making imaginative and lively connections between people, ideas, organizations, patterns, play, art, and the everyday divine is integral to her approach.

In 2018, Townsley received a post-masters certificate in Leadership and Change from the New School in New York, where she studied how the Transformational Leadership model helps to bridge the gap between creative ideas and innovation implementation. Understanding the diversity and subtlety of responses to the uncertainty of change was central to this research.

A graduate of Smith College and Harvard Divinity School, Townsley has been ordained for 27 years and served in a variety of settings, including as co-pastor of the West Tokyo Union Church while her husband worked internationally with General Electric, and churches in Connecticut, New York, and Maine.

 

Bernard Wilson is the 35^th Senior Minister of Norfield Congregational Church in Weston, CT. A retired Navy Chaplain, Wilson has received numerous awards, medals, and citations for his stellar military career of 22 years. He has served as the Executive Minister of The Riverside Church in the City of New York, and as the Interim Minister of the Briarcliff Manor Congregational Church in New York.

Wilson has served as an Adjunct Preaching Professor at The New Brunswick Theological Seminary and at the Howard University School of Divinity for Continuing Education. He serves on the Board of Directors of the David and Dovetta Wilson Scholarship Fund (DDWSF), a non-profit organization with his eight brothers and sisters. Wilson served as the first Chair of the United Church of Christ Board, the first unified governing body of the United Church of Christ. He also serves as the Police Chaplain for the Town of Weston.

Wilson and his wife, Nereida, have two sons and five grandchildren.

 

The Reverend Dr. Sarah B. Drummond, Ex-officio

Founding Dean, Andover Newton Seminary