Episcopal Press and News
Joseph Murrenz Constant, Rosemari Gaughan Sullivan appointed special coordinators for Haiti
Episcopal News Service. September 20, 2010 [092010-08]
ENS staff
The Rev. Joseph Murrenz Constant and the Rev. Rosemari Gaughan Sullivan have been appointed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to serve as special coordinators for Haiti, according to a press release from the Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs.
"The task of the special coordinators for Haiti will be to facilitate the multiple efforts among Episcopal churches, dioceses, networks, and organizations committed to the rebuilding of the Diocese of Haiti," the release said, noting that Constant and Sullivan will work closely with Haiti Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin and other diocesan leaders.
Haiti continues to face enormous challenges more than nine months after the magnitude-7 earthquake of Jan. 12 devastated much of the country. The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and its development arm, Centre Diocesain de Development et de Secours, continues recovery efforts in partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development.
The Episcopal Church's Executive Council, at its October 2010 meeting, "will review a new effort to focus on an appeal for the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the Diocese of Haiti," the release said. The effort is based on the February 2010 Executive Council resolution EC007, which challenged the church to raise at least $10 million for the initial reconstruction, based on priorities established by the diocese of Haiti.
Constant and Sullivan will continue in their current positions and their adjunct work as special coordinators for Haiti began Sept. 20.
Haitian-born Constant is director of racial and ethnic ministries and coordinator for recruitment at Virginia Theological Seminary, overseeing the seminary's partnerships with the dioceses of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Previously, he served as assistant rector at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. In 2005, he established a non-profit organization, Haiti Micah Project Inc., which centers on the Millennium Development Goals in addressing the needs of the many street and vulnerable children of the Central Plateau of Haiti. He organized the Association of Episcopal Haitian Clergy Living Abroad, a group composed of more than 40 Haitian clergy.
Constant holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Northeastern University and a master of divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Sullivan is rector of St. Paul's Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. She served as secretary of General Convention and executive officer of the Episcopal Church from 1998–2005. Previously, she was director of alumni affairs at Virginia Theological Seminary, rector of the Church of St. Clement and associate rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
Currently, Sullivan volunteers as the coordinator of the Haiti Long Term Recovery effort for the National Council of Churches of Christ, USA. In addition, she is on the boards of So Others Might Eat, Goodwin House Inc., and the chaplaincy council for the Episcopal Anglican Campus Ministry at the University of Maryland. She also served on the board of the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, the Evangelical Education Society and on several committees and commissions at the diocesan level and for the Episcopal Church.
Sullivan holds bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the Catholic University of America, a master in divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and a doctor of ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. Virginia Theological Seminary awarded Sullivan the honorary degree of doctor in divinity in 2005.