The Board of Trustees of Princeton Theological Seminary has announced the unanimous election of the Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes as its seventh president, and as professor of pastoral ministry.
Rev. Barnes, a 1981 master of divinity graduate of Princeton, has also served as a trustee of the seminary. He currently serves as the Robert Meneilly Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and pastor of the 1,100-member Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. He is married to Dawne and they will move to Princeton with their teenage sons, Karl and Erik.
Rev. Barnes earned his Ph.D. in American Church History from the University of Chicago, where Martin Marty served as his adviser. He has previously served pastorates at the First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wis., and the National Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C.
He is the author of eight books and serves as a columnist for The Christian Century. He is a frequent lecturer and preacher at conferences, in congregations and at academic gatherings across America.
Rev. Barnes states, “I fell in love with Princeton Seminary in 1978 when I began my master of divinity studies here. By the time I left the seminary, the words faith and learning were permanently engraved together on my heart.”
He will begin in his role as president and professor of pastoral ministry on Jan. 1. He will succeed the Rev. Dr. Iain Torrance, who has served as president of Princeton Theological Seminary since 2004 and announced his intention to retire from this role last year.
