Today, with joy, the handoff

Dear Friends,

Today, with gratitude to God and to this community, Rev. Dr. Patrick B. Reyes becomes the 12th President of Auburn Theological Seminary. 

And today, Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson steps into her role as Senior Advisor, where she will continue her public thought leadership, help ground Patrick in the life of New York City, and work to secure Auburn's strength for the long term. 

Our own research taught us how to do this. In “Executive Turnover in Theological Education,” by Wheeler Fellow, Michael DeLashmutt, Auburn Studies named executive leadership as a relay race. What matters is not the runner but the baton, and the care with which it is passed. A race is not won by holding on. It is won by handing off well. 

This handoff has been years in the making, and it has been built the way Auburn builds everything: in relationship, in transparency, and with love. It is a living example of the leadership Auburn teaches, and the leadership Auburn researched. 

Today we celebrate not an ending but a continuation. We studied executive turnover in our field and learned that the strongest institutions plan, care for, and hand off leadership well. Auburn is stronger today than it was yesterday, and it will be stronger still tomorrow. That is what faithful succession looks like.  — Kim Anderson, Chair, Board of Directors 

To everyone who has walked this road with us, thank you. The work of helping faith leaders heal the world, together, across every tradition, continues, and it is just beginning. 

With love and great joy, 

Rev. Dr. Patrick B. Reyes, President 

Rev. Emma Jordan-Simpson, Senior Advisor 

Kim Anderson, Chair, Board of Directors 

Auburn Theological Seminary 

Lead with love.