The Bennett J. Sims
INSTITUTE FOR SERVANT LEADERSHIP
An educational ministry grounded in the understanding that the servanthood of God was manifested in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth
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Staff: President and Executive Director Senior Fellow Administrator
Martin recently retired as Managing Director of Coates Inks to take up the position as Executive Director of the Institute. Coates is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Chemical Corporation and a manufacturer of printing inks for the Flexible Packaging Market. Martin was born, raised and educated in England. Following graduation from the University of Aston in Birmingham, he joined the Coates organization at their central research laboratories south of London and became Technical Manager of one of their Operating Divisions. This position took him to various parts of the world introducing novel ink technology and offering application advice, not only to Coates locations worldwide but also to their customers. In 1978 Martin moved to the United States where he enjoyed a brief tenure with a printing company in the Midwest. While there he served in the capacity of market Development Manager and had responsibilities for product management. In 1981 he resumed employment with Coates Inks at their newly established U.S. headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina. He assumed the role of Managing Director in 1986. He attributes the growth and development of Coates to the practice of servant leadership in the workplace. Martin has given significant time to his community. He served on the Board of The Meyer Center and has been active in the local United Way efforts. Within his church community, he served on a committee to install a new pipe organ and is active in a number of current projects and activities. Martin and his wife, Loretta, currently reside in Greenville, South Carolina.
Dr. Burnham retired in 2003 as director of Trinity Institute, a program for the continuing theological education of clergy and laity sponsored by the Parish of Trinity Church, New York City. He was educated at Harvard College (physics), the Episcopal Divinity School (theology), Cambridge University, England (philosophy), and The John Hopkins University, where he received a PhD in the History of Science. He also holds an honorary degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He writes and lectures on the intersection between religion and culture. Keren joined the Institute as Administrator in January 2007. Originally from Wisconsin, Keren and her family moved to the Carolinas from Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2006. She has extensive experience in executive administrative support, as well as experience in the area of Human Resources Management.
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Katherine Avery Katherine Avery joined the Board of Trustees in the fall of 2006. She was very moved after attending the Annual Conference in 2006 and was very excited and honored to get more involved. Currently, Katherine is the Director of Program Development at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA. Before moving to Atlanta, she was the Volunteer Coordinator at St. Paul's Chapel, a part of Trinity Church Wall Street, in New York City. St. Paul's Chapel was a 24/7 relief center for all volunteers working in Ground Zero of the World Trade Center. She devised, coordinated and organized a 5000 person volunteer operation for nine months. For her work after 9/11, she was awarded a Certificate for Outstanding Achievement by the New York State Senate, a Letter of Proclamation for "unselfish, compassionate, and dedicated efforts" at Ground Zero from the Mayor of Spartanburg, SC, and was selected by CNN as one of ten "Heroes of Ground Zero" commemorating the one year anniversary of 9/11/01. She was educated at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The Rev. John Bolton, Atlanta, GA The Rev. John Bolton has been a priest of the Episcopal Church since he was ordained in Scotland in 1966. During this lengthy period John has worked in a variety of pastoral and teaching ministries. These include small parish leadership, interim appointments, hospital and school chaplaincies, supply work and Diocesan and national church committee/commission work. He has also maintained a counseling practice in pastoral psychotherapy for the past 25 years. John acquired a counseling degree in 1980 and was licensed as a professional counselor in the following year. He is also a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and has engaged regularly in further education in both core and related areas. This includes participation in two of the ISL Annual Conferences at Kanuga. At present John is Priest-in-Charge of a small, very old parish in an inner-city area of Atlanta known as Virginia Highland. The task is multifaceted and includes many situations and opportunities calling for "servant leadership." The challenge of this work is to define and apply the theology and practice of Servanthood in a wide variety of social, community and church-related settings. Membership of ISL is seen as a way to gain further insight into this approach to Christian ministry and to contribute many years of valuable and varied experiences in "formation." Dr. Courtney Cowart, New Orleans, LA Courtney currently holds the position of Strategic Director of the Office of Disaster Response working for the Bishop of Louisiana to craft faith-based social justice and economic development programs for the equitable recovery of New Orleans. She works tirelessly to channel the efforts of approximately 6,000 faith-based volunteers into assisting several devastated low to moderate income neighborhoods and has brought together multi-faith groups of activists in support of faith initiatives in the areas of citizen engagement, affordable housing, education, advocacy, anti-racism, faith-based organizing, and other anti-polity meausres. Prior to joining the Office of Disaster Response, Courtney was Program Associate for Spiritual Formation and Social Transformation at Trinity Grants in New York. She also brings with her wide experience in program development and teaching. Courtney has a Doctorate in Theology from General Theological Seminary. Dr. Annette Guiseppi-Elie, Anderson, SC Annette is a Principal Consultant on Exposure and Risk Assessment issues for the DuPont Company and an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson University. She is an Environmental Engineer/Scientist with expertise in the areas of site and risk assessment; specifically, exposure assessments, and has undertaken such assessments and implemented remediation options at facilities internationally. Dr. Guiseppi-Elie received a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry and Zoology and a M.Sc. in Crop Production Entomology from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad, in 1977 and 1979, respectively. She received a M.Sc. degree in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, England, in 1980, and her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park, U.S., in 1987. The Rev. Margaret Ferris Harney, Atlanta, GA Maggie Harney is the founding director of Mary & Martha's Place, a center for spiritual growth established in 1994. MMP develops conferences, workshops, book studies and rituals that support spiritual growth, ecological consciousness and social justice. Maggie's work at MMP combines her interests in the spiritual traditions of many religions, teaching, poetry and creating rituals such as the Summer Solstice Celebration and the Winter Solstice Service. MMP is located at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA, where she also serves as priest associate. Maggie entered the ordination process in 1982 when Bennett Sims was Bishop of Atlanta. She received the Masters of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 1988 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1989. She has served in the Diocese of Atlanta as chaplain and teacher at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, interim rector at St. Dunstan's Church and assistant rector at St. Matthew's Church. For 39 years, Maggie has been married to Tom Harney, an attorney with Kilpatrick Stockton. They have two adult daughters and a son-in-law. The Rev. Dr. Joe Monti, Atlanta, GA Joe Monti is Professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology at the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. After 26 years of teaching at Sewanee, he will retire in June 2009. Joe received his PhD in Christian Ethics from Vanderbilt University in 1981. He regularly teaches courses in the Foundations of Theology and Ethics for beginning seminarians, a course in Moral Theology and Moral Decision-Making in the context of parish life for second year students, and a course in Christian Social Ethics/Church and Society for seniors. He has also taught and written broadly about theological and ethical questions of contemporary interest to the Church, and in 1995 published Arguing About Sex: The Rhetoric of Christian Sexual Morality. Joe is married to the Rev. Patricia Templeton, Rector of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Tricia and Joe have one son, Joseph Henry, age seven, whom Joe coaches in Little League baseball. Dr. Robert Thomas, Atlanta, GA Bob is Professor of Leadership with the Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Georgia Institute of Technology. He has held faculty and administrative positions at public and private institutions of higher education before joining Georgia Tech in 2006. He completed his doctorate at the University of Georgia in 2005 and earned an MBA from Georgia State University in 1983. Prior to entering academia he held senior positions in business and the financial service sector. Dr. Thomas has extensive experience with foundations and universities in Central and Eastern Europe. He is the Executive Director of the Servant Leadership Alliance. The Rev. Dr. Deborah Little Wyman, Boston, MA Debbie was introduced to the Institute by Bennett Sims' daughter, Laura, on a snorkeling trip off Key West. Hearing about Debbie's ministry with homeless people in Boston, Laura said, "you have to meet my father." A conversation with Bennett resulted in an invitation to participate in a clergy retreat, and thereafter Debbie was invited to join the board of ISL. She has helped to lead and support pilgrimages to Ireland, Wales, and Israel and has contributed to Turning Point, ISL's newsletter. She was ordained into the priesthood in October 1995 to live out her desire to minister among homeless people, "to take the gifts of the church outdoors for people who cannot come in to receive them." She founded her ministry, Ecclesia Ministries, and an outdoor church, common cathedral. They are both thriving and in their third generation of clergy leadership. Debbie is currently Missioner of Ecclesia, helping to start street ministries in some 70 cities in the U.S. and beyond. Prior to her ordination, Debbie held a number of positions in communications, publications, and management at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, New England Telephone, Polaroid, and Harvard University. Her last "real job," as she calls it, was as Director of Communications at Harvard Law School. She holds a B.A. in English from Chatham College, an M.A. in American Studies from Boston University, an M.Div. from General Seminary, and a D.Min. from Episcopal Divinity School. Her dissertation was entitled "Church Under the Tree." She is also the author of Home Care for the Dying and "Theology of the Poor" published in Handbook of U.S. Theologies of Liberation.
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