Media Coverage
Censured leader to leave seminary 3 months early
By JEFF DIAMANT, Star-Ledger Staff
Thursday, March 10, 2005


The New Brunswick Theological Seminary president who was reprimanded by school trustees for officiating at his daughter's same-sex wedding last June will be replaced on March 28, three months before his contract expires, school officials announced this week.

Trustees at the school, which trains mainline Protestant clergy, had previously said the Rev. Norman Kansfield would finish his term on June 30.

Yesterday, a trustee, the Rev. Larry Williams, declined to characterize the latest move as a firing, saying it was unrelated to Kansfield's role at the wedding.

The move was designed to help the Rev. Edwin Mulder, selected as interim president, better prepare for the role while the school is in full session rather than during the lightened summer schedule, said Williams.

"It has to do mostly with what seems like the best thing for the seminary for the next (academic) season," Williams said.

Kansfield, who turns 65 later this month, declined to comment when reached last night at his home on the campus.

Mulder, formerly general secretary for the Reformed Church in America, also could not be reached for comment. He is in his mid-70s and is not viewed as a candidate to permanently replace Kansfield, Williams said.

Still, the timing of his start highlights the strained relations between the school and Kansfield, president for 12 years and considered one of the most learned theologians in the Reformed Church in America, which is associated with the seminary.

Last June, Kansfield wrote trustees a letter about 10 days before his daughter Ann's wedding to another woman. Kansfield said he would preside at the wedding, and that he was not asking trustees' permission. The wedding occurred in Massachusetts shortly after that state began allowing same-sex marriages.

The Reformed Church in America, one of the more conservative denominations in the National Council of Churches, opposes gay marriage.

In January, trustees decided not to renew Kansfield's contract beyond June, despite earlier talk of a possible extension. His role at his daughter's wedding was one reason among several for that decision, Williams said, adding that the school also wanted to hire a younger president who would be able to see it through the next decade.

Williams said yesterday that the idea to have the interim president start at the end of March was reasonable given the trustees' previous decision to not renew Kansfield's contract after June.

Williams said that asking Kansfield to stay beyond his contract would be "inappropriate given the circumstances."

"If I were in were in Norm's shoes, if you told me my contract was up June 30 and then asked me if I minded sticking around to help me get to the next round ... it would be a outrageous request," Williams said.

The school, which has classes at night and enrolls about 220 students, is in the midst of strategic planning for the next decade, and trustees want Mulder's input on that, Williams said.

Before becoming the Reformed Church's general secretary, Mulder served as pastor at five churches, including two in New Jersey -- English Neighborhood Reformed Church in Ridgefield from 1954 to 1957, and Second Reformed Church in Hackensack from 1970 to 1979.

Paul Boice, a spokesman for the Reformed Church at the denomination's headquarters in Grand Rapids, was also unavailable for comment.

Jeff Diamant covers religion. He may be reached at jdiamant@star ledger.com or (973) 392-1547.


ecclesia reformata, sed semper reformanda