Search Committee Members
Committee Chair
The Rev. Troy D. Mendez
Committee Members
Ms. Kirsten Adams
Mr. Michael Braxton
The Rt. Rev. Kevin Brown
Dr. David H. Charlton
The Rev. Dr. Harold J. Cobb, Jr.
The Rev. James W. Farwell
The Very Rev. Janettarose L. Greene
Mr. Stephen L. Humphrey
Ms. Mary E. Kostel
The Rt. Rev. Phoebe A. Roaf
The Rev. Hannah E. Atkins Romero
The Rev. Dr. April Stace
The Right Rev. E. Mark Stevenson
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Downing Thompson, Jr.
The Rev. Dr. Scott White
Search Committee Biographies
Ms. Kirsten Adams serves as Head of School at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, a position she has held since 2014. She previously held senior leadership and teaching roles at McDonogh, Hockaday, and National Cathedral School, with experience spanning academic administration, classroom instruction, and coaching. Ms. Adams holds a B.A. in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from Dartmouth College and a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University. She is Chair-elect of the Boards of GTS and VTS.
Mr. Michael Braxton is a senior nonprofit and higher education advancement professional with more than two decades of experience in philanthropy and development strategy. He currently serves as Associate Vice President for Planned Giving and Major Gifts at Duquesne University, overseeing major gifts, planned giving, and annual giving programs. Previously, he led Pittsburgh Opera’s largest-ever fundraising campaign, securing the organization’s two largest gifts. Mr. Braxton holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from Princeton University.
The Rt. Rev. Kevin Brown is the 11th Bishop of Delaware, ordained and consecrated in 2017. Kevin studied mathematics and psychology at Duke University and completed his Master of Business Administration at the University of West Florida while serving in the United States Air Force. He worked in finance and marketing at FedEx and launched an investment firm before earning a Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary. Bishop Brown currently serves as President of Province III of The Episcopal Church.
Dr. David H. Charlton currently chairs the Boards of GTS and VTS. His career in education includes leadership roles at Franklin and Marshall College, William and Mary, and Christchurch School, as well as service as President of the Episcopal Schools Corporation in the Diocese of Virginia. Deeply connected to VTS, he was instrumental in advancing the GTS–VTS affiliation.
The Rev. Dr. Harold J. Cobb, Jr. is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (Class of 1990) and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He retired as the eighth Rector of Grace Church in Norfolk, Virginia, following a distinguished career in parish ministry.
The Rev. James W. Farwell, Ph.D. is Professor of Theology and Liturgy at Virginia Theological Seminary and the H. Boone Porter Professor of Liturgics at The General Theological Seminary. His scholarship focuses on liturgical and sacramental theology, ritual theory, liturgy and trauma, and Christian comparative theology, with attention to the Soto Zen tradition. Dr. Farwell holds degrees from Emory University, The General Theological Seminary, and The Catholic University of America, and has served as an Episcopal priest for over three decades.
The Very Rev. Janettarose L. Greene is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (Class of 2023), where she served as Student Body President and received the Susan Ford Chair. She is Dean of the Arlington Region in the Diocese of Virginia, Senior Associate at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington and a member of The Compass Rose Society. Prior to seminary, Dean Greene completed 37 years of federal service with the Departments of Defense and Transportation.
Mr. Stephen L. Humphrey is a partner at law firm Cameron LLP in Washington, DC, where he advises U.S. and global companies on trademark registration and protection, brand management and related litigation. He serves as Vice Chair of the Boards of GTS and VTS. Mr. Humphrey is also Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Mengo Hospital Partners and a trustee of the Christ Church Foundation at Christ Church, Alexandria.
Ms. Mary E. Kostel serves as Chancellor to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, a post she has held since 2019.  Earlier, Ms. Kostel served as Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington for over a decade. Before focusing primarily on canon law and church dispute resolution, she practiced law as a litigator with the U.S. Department of Justice and two established Washington D.C.-based law firms.
The Rev. Troy D. Mendez serves as Executive Director of the Episcopal Evangelism Society. He previously served for over a decade as dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona. A graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (Class of 2009), he brings extensive experience in leadership, formation, and institutional governance.
The Rt. Rev. Phoebe A. Roaf is the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of West Tennessee, consecrated in 2019. Following her work as a public policy analyst and an attorney, she received her MDiv from Virginia Theological Seminary (Class of 2008) and was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Louisiana. She serves on the boards of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice as well as Episcopal Relief and Development, and she was a member of the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop from 2021 to 2024.
The Rev. Hannah E. Atkins Romero is an Episcopal priest, preacher, and advocate whose ministry is rooted in accompaniment with immigrant communities and a deep commitment to justice. She has an M.Div. from The General Theological Seminary and has lived and worked extensively in Latin America. Over her thirty years of ordained ministry, she has served in various capacities in parishes and street missions in El Salvador, Washington, D.C., and Houston, Texas. She is currently Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.
The Rev. Dr. April Stace serves as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Contextual Education at The General Theological Seminary. An Episcopal priest, she brings extensive experience in parish leadership, theological education, and institutional change. Her teaching and research interests include pastoral theology, formation for ministry, and the intersection of faith and contemporary cultural realities. She is particularly interested in processes of discernment, transparency, and trust-building during seasons of institutional transition.
The Right Rev. E. Mark Stevenson currently serves as the Bishop of Virginia. Ordained and consecrated bishop on December 3, 2022, he has pastoral responsibility for more than 65,000 laypersons and 250 clergy persons across more than 170 faith communities. Stevenson graduated Nashotah House Seminary, cum laude, in May 2000. In addition to parish ministry, he served on the staff of the Diocese of Louisiana and the staff of the Presiding Bishop, where his ministry included work with and among the most vulnerable in our society.
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Downing Thompson, Jr. is Seminary Librarian for Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary and teaches Practical Theology at VTS. His work centers on race, justice, intercultural formation, and the theological foundations of reparations. Dr. Thompson previously led multicultural ministries and helped design VTS’s reparations program.
The Rev. Dr. Scott White is a graduate of The General Theological Seminary (Class of 1996) and a graduate of the doctoral program at Virginia Theological Seminary (Class of 2012). He currently serves as the Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville, NC, and has served congregations in Raleigh, Charlotte and Eastern NC. He serves the wider church, and the formation of leaders, as a Conference Leader for CREDO and in his diocese currently through the Commission on Ministry and as a Fresh Start facilitator.