Episcopal Press and News
Bishop Cole Elected to Head Episcopal Church Board for Theological Education
Diocesan Press Service. March 25, 1972 [72036]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Rt. Rev. Ned Cole, bishop of the Diocese of Central New York, has been elected chairman of the Board for Theological Education of the Episcopal Church. He succeeds the Rt. Rev. Frederick J. Warnecke, former bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem, Pa., who is retiring.
Bishop Cole, elected by his fellow directors on the Board, cited progress made during its first five years in which the Board was active in planning for the minister's whole career, including seminary education and training, and advance study. "Results so far have been well worth the confidence of the 1967 General Convention, which authorized the Board," he said, "and of The Episcopal Church Foundation whose fiscal support has made the work possible."
The Foundation, which also had sponsored and financed the Dr. Nathan A. Pusey Committee study recommending formation of a permanent unit, is a national organization of laymen that initiates and underwrites projects in support of the work of the Church.
" The Board's planning and development stages are now well established," Bishop Cole said, "and we shall be moving more strongly into operational stages." He suggested there should be a national strategy for seminaries and concentration on the search for and the flexible education of "the new breed of clergy" as current objectives.
The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said, "It is most gratifying that the important work of the Board for Theological Education will be carried forward by a man so eminently qualified as Bishop Cole. Throughout his career he has been in the forefront of Church progress and now can bring his experience to bear on a most important activity in the life of the Church -- the broader education of its clergy and lay people. At the same time it is fitting to express our deepest appreciation of Bishop Warnecke's contribution to the Board's accomplishments. It was his understanding and dedication that give impetus and substance to Dr. Pusey's report, 'Ministry for Tomorrow,' the genesis of the Board."
Bishop Cole has been bishop of the Diocese of Central New York since 1969, after five years as bishop coadjutor there. Before that, in a career covering 24 years, he was dean of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Jefferson City, and curate of Calvary Episcopal Church, Columbia, all in Missouri.
He is or has been a member of many Church, ecumenical and civic organizations, including the general board of the National Council of Churches, various Episcopal House of Bishops committees, New York State Council of Churches, New York State Commission on Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission of Syracuse and Onondaga County and the Episcopal Delegation to the Consultation on Church Union.
Born in California, Mo., he received his B.A. degree in 1939 and his D.D. degree in 1957 at Westminster College in that state. In the intervening years he was a law school student at the University of Missouri, was secretary to the Missouri Secretary of State, served in the Air Transport Command of the United States Army, and received his B.D. degree at Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass. He and Mrs. Cole, the former Martha Dunlap of Jefferson City, and their four children live in Fayetteville, N. Y.
