Atlanta, GA — Matthew Wesley Williams has been appointed by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) to serve as Interim President of the Center, upon the retirement of current President, Dr. Edward L. Wheeler on July 31, 2019. This action will be ratified by the full Board of Trustees later this summer. Williams will begin his transition into the role on July 10, 2019.
“I am pleased that the Executive Committee of the ITC Board of Trustees has selected Rev. Matthew Wesley Williams to serve as the Interim President of the school, stated Edward L. Wheeler, current ITC President. “Matt is uniquely gifted to effectively lead ITC during this period of transition. He is a strategic thinker and has exceptional organizational expertise. He knows theological education and the challenges the enterprise faces. However, he is also acutely aware and appreciative of ITC’s history and the potential the school has to make a positive contribution to the needed transformation of the academy, the church, and local/global communities.”
Wesley, an ITC alumnus, and community leader currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE). In Matthew’s role at FTE, he has been instrumental in helping to restructure FTE’s operations to better achieve its mission amidst a changing religious landscape. While in this position, FTE’s ministry and doctoral initiatives have grown and expanded. In addition, after studying various challenges theological executives face in their institutions, Matthew established FTE’s Institutional Doctoral Network to teach and train theological executive leaders how to address systemic barriers to desirable change in their respective institutional context.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to return to my beloved alma mater to help facilitate the beginning of the next chapter of the Interdenominational Theological Center’s life and legacy,” stated Matthew Wesley Williams. “I am clear that our call is not to merely “save the ITC” as we know it. This is the beginning of an effort to co-create the ITC our communities need. This is village work. I look forward to joining with ITC’s faculty, staff, students, alumni and allies to co-author this next chapter.”
Wesley received a Master of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center and bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and philosophy and religion from Florida A&M University. He is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
“The Board of Trustees will be naming a Search Committee to direct the process of hiring a president for the ITC,” stated Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Chair ITC Board of Trustees. “The search will commence during the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year”.
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About the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC)
Established in 1958, The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a Christian Africentric ecumenical consortium of seminaries and a fellowship that educates students who commit to practicing justice and peace through a liberating and transforming spirituality to become leaders in the church, local and global communities. Its seminaries include the Morehouse School of Religion (Baptist); Gammon Theological Seminary (United Methodist); Turner Theological Seminary (African Methodist Episcopal); Phillips School of Theology (Christian Methodist Episcopal); and the Charles Harrison Mason Theological Seminary (Church of God and Christ). The Selma T. and Harry V. Richardson Ecumenical Fellowship provide theological training to students from various other faith traditions.
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Contact
Katrina Garnes/Director of Marketing and Communications
Phone: (404) 614-6394
Email: kgarnes@ITC.edu
Source: www.itc.edu
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