By the Rev’d Robert Camara, chair of the Search Committee for the new principal and an alumnus (M.Div., ’11) of the College.

A year ago last June the Board of Governors of the Montreal Diocesan Theological College (MDTC) were convened to strike up a search committee after the retirement of the Rev’d Dr. Donald Boisvert. The Search Committee consisted of the Rev. Robert Camara (Chair), Mrs. Ann Cumyn, Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson, Dr. Richard Virr and the Rev’d Rhonda Waters. Also on the Search Committee were Mr. Joel Amis, representing the Dio students; the Rev’d Dr. Roland De Vries, representing the Presbyterian College; the Rev’d Dr. Phil Joudrey, representing the United Theological College; the Rev’d Prof. Patricia Kirkpatrick, representing McGill’s School of Religious Studies; and Bishop Bruce Myers, representing the Diocese of Quebec.

The Search Committee received numerous applications and was tasked with discerning who to call as the next Principal of Dio from a pool of highly qualified and gifted applicants. It was a pleasure to work with this group of people who kept in mind the best interests of the College and its future as we interviewed the candidates.

In the interim this past year, the Search Committee and Board of Governors were very thankful for the leadership of the Rev’d Dr. Karen Egan as she took on the responsibilities of acting-Principal, and the Rev’d Dr. Neil Mancor, as he agreed to come on board the College staff as acting-Director of Pastoral Studies. Their commitment and leadership helped provide the College and its students the stability it needed while the Search Committee went through its process.

The College community is very excited to welcome the Rev’d Dr. Jesse Zink as the next principal of MDTC. His appointment was approved by the Board of Governors on March 27, 2017.

Dr. Zink is currently the director of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide in Cambridge, England, which is a member institution of the ecumenical Cambridge Theological Federation. He is also an affiliated lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity of Cambridge University.

A graduate of the Faculty of Divinity of Cambridge University, Dr. Zink has extensive experience in theological education and academic administration. Although he will be joining us from the UK, Dr. Zink is a Canadian, born in Vancouver and raised in the United States. In addition to his doctorate, he has degrees from Acadia University, the University of Chicago, and Yale Divinity School. He worked as a news reporter at a radio station in Alaska and as a missionary in South Africa before his ordination in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts in The Episcopal Church.

Dr. Zink is the author of three books about theology, mission, and the global church, including A Faith for the Future and Backpacking through the Anglican Communion: A Search for Unity. His doctoral research at Cambridge University was a study of the growth of the Anglican church during Sudan’s second civil war.

Dr. Zink will assume his new post on August 1, 2017 and we all look forward to welcoming him and his family to Montreal as they join our diocesan family.