Candler Dean Jan Love has announced two new appointments in Candler’s Episcopal and Anglican Studies Program (EASP). The Rev. Canon C. John Thompson-Quartey and The Rev. Dr. Stuart Higginbotham will join Candler in fall 2023, Thompson-Quartey as director of the program and professor in the practice of church leadership, and Higginbotham as assistant professor in the practice of spiritual formation and ministry, supervising the contextual education course for Episcopal and Anglican students.

The appointments come during a transition in the program’s leadership, with the outgoing director serving through the summer to ensure a smooth handoff.

Love consulted Candler faculty who belong to The Episcopal Church to nominate candidates for these positions and worked with The Right Rev. Robert C. Wright, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, to secure new leaders for the program.

“We are excited about Canon John Thompson Quartey’s and The Rev. Stuart Higginbotham’s new calls at Candler School of Theology,” says Wright. “It represents the convergence of their individual gifts and our ongoing commitment as a diocese to this mission-critical partnership.”

Thompson-Quartey has served as Canon for Ministry in the diocese of Atlanta since 2014. In this role, he initiated a plan for congregational vitality that culminated in the creation of the diocese’s College for Congregational Development. He has also worked to revitalize campus ministries and increase student participation, which has included the launch of three new campus ministries. Prior to arriving in Atlanta, Thompson-Quartey served as rector of St. Mary’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, for nine years. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Rutgers University and a master of divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York. He is trained in adaptive leadership through the Clergy Leadership Project, which equips experienced clergy with skills for navigating leadership challenges in parish ministry. He has held numerous leadership positions and is the current vice president for social justice for the National Brotherhood of St. Andrew.

Higginbotham has served as rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia, since 2014. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 2008, he has served in many leadership roles within the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and has also led retreats and workshops throughout the United States. He earned a master of divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary and a certificate in Anglican studies and a doctor of ministry from The School of Theology at Sewanee, the University of the South. Higginbotham is the author of The Heart of a Calling: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness in Congregational Ministry (Crossroads, 2021) and co-editor of Contemplation and Communion: A Gathering of Fresh Voices for a Living Tradition (Crossroads, 2019).

“We at Candler couldn’t be more thrilled that these two will be joining our Episcopal and Anglican Studies Program this fall,” says Love.

Established in the 1970s, Candler’s Episcopal and Anglican Studies Program is a fellowship dedicated to equipping students for ministry in the Episcopal Church and all the churches in the Anglican Communion. Master of divinity students who are preparing for ordained parish ministry under the supervision of a bishop may earn a certificate in Episcopal and Anglican Studies and fulfill specific contextual education requirements by working in an Episcopal or Anglican parish for three years.

Story originally shared by Candler School of Theology.