Episcopal Church Foundation board elects three new members

September 28, 2009 [ECF] The Episcopal Church Foundation's (ECF) board of directors voted Friday to elect three new members: John E. Harris, Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio; Leonard W. Johnson, of Oakland, California; and Ernest Q. Petrey, Jr. of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

"ECF's directors are blessed to welcome [to our board] these new members and their incredible talents and commitment to the future of the Episcopal Church," said H.M. McFarling, III, M.D., ECF's chairperson. "They bring with them the expertise, experience, and passion that will help guide ECF as it works to bring about an increasing number of revitalized congregations whose mission it is to live out the Gospel in their communities and the world as they are being called by God to do."

Harris is a financial advisor, formerly with Lincoln Financial Advisors for more than 25 years and now serving as managing partner of Ecumenical Management Solutions, an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to serving the needs of the church. A member of St. Simon of Cyrene in Cincinnati, Harris has a long history of service to the church including: treasurer for the Diocese of Southern Ohio, CREDO faculty, Lay Employees Pension Feasibility Study Group, and member of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

Johnson is a professor of French language and literature, recently retired from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an active member of St. Mark's, Berkeley, having served multiple terms as senior warden, as well as Congregational Vocations Committee chair, and Capital Campaign chair. Other church involvement includes deanery delegate, diocesan Standing Committee member and former president, Episcopal Charities Appeal trustee, School for Deacons board member, and diocesan Executive
Council member.

Petrey spent his career in the chemical processing field, serving as CEO of North East Chemical Corporation, and ultimately forming Ardleigh Minerals, Inc. As a long time member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, he has served as vestry member and treasurer, as well as holding various committee memberships, notably the finance, long range planning, and planned giving committees. Within the Diocese of Ohio, Petrey has been a member of numerous boards and commissions, and a delegate to 13 diocesan conventions. He has been a member of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes, is currently chair of the Member Services Committee, and was an appointed member of the Audit Committee of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council.

The three new board members will attend ECF's next board meeting in Dallas, Texas, October 22-24.

ECF is an independent, lay-led organization that "seeks to bring about a growing number of healthy, vital, and vibrant congregations in service to God's mission with the capacity to empower and support their members to live out the Gospel."

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