01/12/2011

Trinity Lutheran Seminary Names Brad Binau Academic Dean

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Trinity Lutheran Seminary Board of Directors has approved the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Brad A. Binau, professor of pastoral theology, as Trinity’s new academic dean, effective July 1, 2011. Dr. Binau has served on the Trinity faculty for 18 years, serving also as director of the seminary’s Ministry in Context program and Supervised Clinical Ministry (CPE).

Announcement of Dr. Binau’s appointment was made following a comprehensive, board-directed search. Members of the Academic Dean Search Committee included representatives of the board, the student body, and the Trinity faculty.

“Dr. Binau will be a prime mover in advancing the focus of the church’s mission into the Trinity curriculum,” said Trinity President Mark R. Ramseth following the announcement.

A 1981 graduate of Trinity, Dr. Binau holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Capital University and a master’s and doctorate degree in pastoral theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. He served as pastor of La Jolla Lutheran Church in La Jolla, California from 1987 to 1993, when he joined the Trinity faculty.

As a dedicated professor and mentor to future church leaders, Dr. Binau has always expressed a passion for and commitment to the mission of Christ’s followers and Trinity seminary. It is the doctrine of the Trinity that he says anchors his vision for the seminary and his new responsibilities as its dean.

“The dean has a significant role to play in shaping us as a Trinitarian community marked with a sense of God’s mission,” said Dr. Binau. As dean he will oversee the faculty and a curriculum that strives to form visionary leaders for the church and world. He will help lead the seminary into a future that includes participation in distance learning and expanded relationships with ecumenical partners.

Dr. Binau has traveled on behalf of the seminary to Russia and Estonia, to Tanzania, and to Haiti, where he was with students in a seminary-sponsored course during last year’s earthquake. He is the author of numerous journal articles, including “Humor Reconsidered: The Cultivation of ‘Accurate Perception’ as a Contribution to the Care of Souls,” in Pastoral Psychology (December 2009), and “‘Holding On’ And ‘Letting Go’: Shame and The Dynamics of Forgiveness,” in Word and World (Winter 2007). He is married to Ann Palmerton, associate pastor at Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Columbus, and they are the parents of three children, Martin, Sarah and Trevor.

“I am deeply committed to God’s mission and its implications for us corporately and personally,” said Dr. Binau. “Mission is about sending. God is the sender; we make ourselves available for the journey. Sometimes the journey takes us beyond ourselves to a place like Haiti or to the future that will be Trinity’s.”