Announcing the New Dean
October 20, 2015
Dear Members and Friends of Trinity Cathedral,
We are pleased to announce the selection of the Rev. Dr. Christoph Keller, III as the new Dean and Rector of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The Bishop and the Vestry will discontinue Dr. Keller’s interim status as of November 28. He becomes standing Dean effective Sunday, November 29, the beginning of the new church year.
Over the past two years, Dr. Keller has provided transformational guidance to better prepare the parish for new leadership. Those preparations have borne fruit through love-filled worship, financial stability and innovative programming. As the search for a new Dean and Rector experienced an unexpected pause, Dr. Keller felt called to offer himself. That personal call allowed us the opportunity to include Dr. Keller in the search process, and prayerfully discern his request to be considered and his commitment to serve. After careful deliberation, the Search Committee recommended Dr. Keller to the Bishop and the Vestry.
As you know, the Bishop appoints the Dean, while the Vestry elects the Rector. Those two actions have been taken in the affirmative, and we welcome Dr. Keller as Trinity Cathedral’s 20th Dean and Rector.
Dr. Keller will discuss his decision and his vision for the Cathedral and parish this Sunday, October 25, at all three morning worship services, and answer questions during the Dean’s Class at 10:15 a.m. in Morrison Hall.
In addition, a celebration of Julie and Chris Keller will be held Thursday, October 29, at the “Bliss” fundraising event. The installation of The Rev. Dr. Keller as the Cathedral’s new Dean and Rector is being planned for the afternoon of Sunday, December 6.
With thankful hearts for God’s grace, we are
Sincerely,
The Rt. Rev. Larry R. Benfield, Bishop of Arkansas
Jack Harvey, Senior Warden
Craig Douglass, Chair, Search Committee
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More About The Rev. Dr. Christoph Keller
The Rev. Dr. Christoph Keller, III, is an Episcopal priest and theologian who, through his ministry and life has blended scholarly pursuits with innovative leadership. A 1977 graduate (B.A., magna cum laude) of Amherst College, and 1982 graduate (M.Div.) of the Episcopal Divinity School, he served for 16 years in parish ministry and as Canon Missioner of the Diocese of Arkansas.
In 1991, Dr. Keller founded St. Margaret’s Church in Little Rock, conducting initial services in a west Little Rock bargain movie theater. In 1999, he moved with his family to New York to pursue advanced study in theology. Dr. Keller holds a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) in Anglican Studies (2009) from General Theological Seminary, where his field was systematic theology, focusing on theology and science. His dissertation, “Darwin’s Science in Chalcedonian Imagination: Barth, Double Agency and Theistic Evolution,” explores and affirms compatibility between Christian faith and evolution. More recently he served as Director of the Institute for Theological Studies at St. Margaret’s, lecturing regularly, especially on topics pertaining to religion and science.
Dr. Keller is a founder of SUMMA: A Student Theological Debate Society. SUMMA, a program he conceived to offer high school students intellectual tools for in-depth reasoning and knowledge in of the Christian theological tradition, was begun as a pilot project in Little Rock. The program has expanded nationally through the Beecken Center of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Dr. Keller is an Episcopal Church Foundation Fellow, and an honorary Canon of the Diocese of Arkansas. He serves on the boards of directors of the General Theological Seminary, Deltic Timber Corporation, MurphyUSA, and Episcopal Collegiate School.
A long and meaningful connection to Trinity Cathedral was begun in 1967 when Dr. Keller’s family joined the Cathedral parish upon the election of his father, Christoph Keller, Jr., as Bishop of Arkansas. In those early years, Dr. Keller served as an acolyte, and was an active member of Episcopal Youth Community (EYC). He was ordained Deacon in the Cathedral in 1982. Julie and Chris Keller’s now-grown children, Christoph and Mary Olive, attended The Cathedral School, on whose board Dr. Keller served for several years.
Dr. Keller met his wife, Julie, in the seventh grade in the Cathedral Sunday School. They were married in the sanctuary of the Cathedral on April 15, 1978.