Photo Credit: Diocese of Jerusalem
The Anglican / Episcopal Archbishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, has appointed a US-priest as his chaplain and a British priest as Dean of St George’s College. Centred on the City of Jerusalem, the diocese attracts thousands of visitors each year as it is home to the birthplace of Christianity. It also serves Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Dr Donald Binder, currently Rector of Historic Pohick Church near Mount Vernon in Virginia, will become Archbishop Suheil’s new chaplain; while the Revd Richard Sewell, currently Rector of the Barnes Team Ministry in South West London, will become Dean of St George’s College. Both will begin their appointments in October.
Dr Binder has spent 30 years in ordained ministry since graduating from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1989. He earned his doctorate in New Testament Studies from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
He is no stranger to the Holy Land, having studied at St George’s College, in the Cathedral precincts, in 1988; and having served as Scholar-in-Residence of Jerusalem’s Tantur Ecumenical Institute. He has also been part of the University of South Florida’s excavations at Sepphoris in Galilee – said to be the birthplace of Mary, mother of Jesus. He and his wife, Christine, have three grown-up children.
“Having enjoyed a 30-year relationship with St George’s and the Diocese of Jerusalem, I am thrilled at this opportunity to serve the Archbishop as his Chaplain over these next three years,” he said. “My wife and I look forward to becoming part of the St George’s Community and to helping the Archbishop advance his ministry of reconciliation, faithfulness to the Gospel, and the welcoming of pilgrims to the land where our Lord Jesus Christ himself once served and offered his life for the redemption of the world.”
Richard Sewell worked for the Anglican mission agency USPG as a mission educator with additional responsibilities for USPG’s relationship with the Churches in Pakistan and Bangladesh before studying theology at the University of Birmingham; before ministerial training at the South East Institute for Theological Education (SEITE), which is now known as St Augustine’s College. He has served his entire ordained ministry within the Diocese of Southwark.
He is married to JulieAnn and the couple have two grown-up students. “I am so excited and feel very privileged to have been selected as the new Dean of St George’s College,” he said. “This role brings together a lifetime’s interests and commitments in ministry and beyond. I am delighted to be able to join the staff team of the College and the Cathedral and to lead the College into what I pray will be a very positive future.”
- This article was amended on 25 September to correct the spelling of Pohick Church.