New Editor-Elect for Religious Education

The REA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of Rev. Dr. Joyce Ann Mercer as Editor-Elect of the Association’s 108-year-old journal, Religious Education. Dr. Mercer, Professor of Practical Theology and Arthur Lee Kinsolving Chair in Pastoral Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary, will begin her work in September 2014. She will work with Editor Jack Seymour for the next year and 1/2 to review submissions and plan issues of the journal. She will become editor in January of 2016.

Under Jack Seymour’s thoughtful and wise leadership as Editor, our journal has become internationally recognized for its contributions to thinking, teaching and practicing religious education in diverse communities all over the world. In order for that tradition to continue to grow, the Board of REA knew it must select an exceptional Editor-Elect to work with and learn from the Editor during a transition time so that the Journal would sustain a smooth flow of excellent leadership.

A diverse, international search committee was charged to seek an Editor-Elect who has vision and imagination to continue the work of shaping our field as it responds to the opportunities present in our global world of faith and culture. The selection of Dr. Mercer is the successful and grace-filled conclusion of their work. She knows the journal, the field, and the issues of enhancing the work and understandings of religious education internationally.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Joyce’s long history with REA and APRRE makes her familiar to many of our members. Her commitment to the Association and the field of religious education is manifest in her scholarship and active representation of our field in broader contexts such as the Association of Practical Theology and the American Academy of Religion, and the International Academy of Practical Theology. You can read more about Joyce and access her CV and personal blog on her Virginia Theological Seminary webpage.

The Search Committee made the recommendation after a long and difficult selection process due to a number of extremely impressive applications. Thank you to all of those individual applicants who represent extraordinary commitment to the vitality and successful future of our field. Your contributions to REA are a foundation of hope.

Joyce will begin her position on September 1, 2014, working with current editor Jack Seymour through a transition period until his retirement at the end of 2015. At that time she will assume the editorship of Religious Education for a three-year renewable term. Please welcome and support Joyce in this new position!

Members of the Search Committee:
–  Elizabeth Caldwell, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chair
–  Theodore Brelsford, Orchard Park Community Church
–  Deborah Court, Bar Ilan University
–  Bert Roebben, Dortmund University
–  Yolanda Smith, Yale Divinity School
–  Lucinda Huffaker, Executive Director, REA, ex-officio

We express our sincere gratitude to the members of the Search Committee for their hard work and congratulate them on this successful outcome!