The Reverend Thomas Laney, Jr., appointed Director of the Turner Center for Church Leadership & Congregational Development, Vanderbilt Divinity School
The Reverend Thomas Laney, Jr. has been appointed, effective April 1, Associate Director of the Turner Center for Church Leadership and Congregational Development at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He will also be Associate Director of the Turner Leadership Scholars Program at the Divinity School.Tom served as Senior Pastor of West End United Methodist Church in Nashville 1999-2007 and of Druid Hills UMC in Atlanta, 1990-1999. He has also served a country church in Lawrenceville, Georgia and a mid-sized church in Atlanta. He is a graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in American History and has a M.Div. from Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Tom was a member of the Tennessee Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, 2000-2007. He is a member of the Systems Centered Training Institute and has participated in the A.K. Rice Institute on Leadership and Group Life at Columbia University. At Vanderbilt Divinity School he has been a member of the Theology and Practice Teaching Team.
In addition to his administrative work in the Center Tom will employ his expertise in group dynamics, congregational life, and conflict resolution in working with pastors, congregations, and Districts of the Memphis and Tennessee Annual Conferences.
The Turner Center Director, Prof. M. Douglas Meeks, said, “I am excited about the many gifts of leadership Tom will bring to our common work in the Turner Center. He has faithfully and effectively served small, middle-sized, and large churches. He has great empathy for pastors and lay leaders in these challenging times for our churches.”
