The Rev. Gregory S. Straub -- rector of Emmanuel Church in Chestertown, Maryland, and 14-term secretary of convention in the Diocese of Easton -- has been named executive officer of the General Convention, the principal legislative body of the Episcopal Church. Straub's new position is a joint appointment of Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and the president of the General Convention's House of Deputies, the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner.
Straub, 56, has been an elected deputy to General Convention's triennial meetings in 2003, 2000, 1997, and 1985, and an alternate in 1994. At the 2003 meeting in Minneapolis he served the 840-member House of Deputies as Assistant Secretary for Voting. At each meeting he represented the Diocese of Easton among the 100-plus deputations of four clergy and four laypersons from each of the Episcopal Church's dioceses nationally and abroad.
Straub will begin his duties April 15. He succeeds the Rev. Canon Rosemari Sullivan, who resigned in 2004 to pursue new ministry at the Virginia Theological Seminary as its director of alumni relations. Sullivan was executive officer since 1998.
"I am very impressed by Dr. Straub's breadth of view, fair-mindedness and clear sense that this is a ministry of service to the whole church," the Presiding Bishop said of the new executive officer. "I have every confidence that he will carry forward and expand upon the excellent work done by his predecessor, Rosemari Sullivan, and the General Convention Office staff."
"We have found someone who has many gifts in the many different areas for which the executive officer is responsible," Werner said of Straub's appointment. "I have been involved in many searches, both secular and sacred, but this was perhaps the most complex and multifaceted."
Said Straub: "I am looking forward to coming to New York. I have a lot of energy around the tasks that need to be done. I served at the 2003 General Convention with several members of the General Convention Office staff, and found them to be extremely competent and a delight to work with, and I'm also looking forward to learning from them and working with them." Straub will be working closely with the Presiding Bishop and the president of the House of Deputies, and sharing in the work of the Management Team at the Episcopal Church Center.
Straub has been rector of Emmanuel Church since 1976 and has held numerous elected offices in the 41-congregation Diocese of Easton, situated along Maryland's eastern shore. He has completed five terms as a member of the diocese's standing committee, and three terms as its president. He is a member and past officer of both the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church and the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists organization. He is also an avid travel writer.
Straub was ordained to the priesthood in 1974 and served a congregation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, before coming to Emmanuel, Chestertown. He was born in Irvington, New Jersey, and holds degrees from Drew University, Philadelphia Divinity School, and Dickinson College.
