Nashotah House, the Episcopal Church's most Anglo-Catholic seminary, has elected the Rev. Robert S. Munday, a former Baptist minister and currently a professor at the church's most evangelical seminary, to be its next dean and president.

Promising to work as a reconciler, Fr. Munday said he hopes to refocus the tradition-bound seminary back toward its roots in mission and forward toward the new millennium.

One of the first problems Fr. Munday is likely to encounter at the Wisconsin seminary is the fact that women do not celebrate the Eucharist there. According to school policy, only faculty members of the seminary may celebrate the Eucharist in the school's chapel. There are currently no women on the faculty but there have been women students for many years.

Fr. Munday, who is currently professor of systematic theology and dean of library and information services at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, told TLC his own record with respect to support for women priests is a good one. He said his job will be to reach out to those previously unfamiliar with Nashotah House without alienating the seminary's traditional base of supporters and alumni.

"I think there is a tendency to look at all 11 (Episcopal) seminaries and peg them," he said. "Nashotah House may be one of the best-kept secrets in the Episcopal Church today. I hope it will become more than just a seminary, but rather a central focal point for the renewal of the catholic tradition in Anglicanism."

An emphasis on liturgy was one of the primary factors that drew Fr. Munday away from his Baptist roots where he had served nine years as a minister. Ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1989, he has served as a professor at Trinity for the past 15 years. He has also been a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Quincy (where he is canonically resident) three times.

One of the more ambitious resolutions from the last General Convention called on the church to double its membership within the next 20 years. If that is to happen, Fr. Munday believes there must be a change in mindset, and a closer working relationship between seminaries and diocesan commissions on ministry is the place where it has to start.

"We're facing a clergy shortage right now," he said. "I'm not sure that fact is fully appreciated by every commission on ministry. We need to move from a role as gatekeepers to one of active solicitors of clergy and we need people of a more entrepreneurial mindset."

Fr. Munday will succeed the Very Rev. Gary W. Kriss as dean and president. Dean Kriss announced two years ago he would resign when his contract expires. He has been at Nashotah since 1992.