Bishop Alan M. Gates, with the approval of the Cathedral Chapter, has appointed the Rev. Nancy E. Gossling as the full-time acting dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, effective Feb. 26. She will serve alongside the current clergy staff as a half-time associate for six weeks prior to her official start date.
She succeeds, in acting capacity, the Very
The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling
Rev. John P. Streit Jr., who is retiring after having served as dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul since 1995. Streit's last Sunday at the cathedral church is Feb. 19.
"Nancy Gossling brings a balance of organizational skills and creative vision to her leadership," Gates said. "She has a record of cultivating healthy church systems. I am grateful for her willingness to bring her enthusiasm and energy to bear on the transition before us at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.
"Jep Streit has offered extraordinary service not only to the cathedral congregation but to our wider diocese. Nancy will be a faithful steward of that legacy, while bridging us to the cathedral’s next chapter when a new dean is called."
It is anticipated that Gossling will serve as acting dean for six to nine months until the bishop appoints Streit's permanent successor, which he intends to do following consultation with the Cathedral Chapter, the Cathedral Council and the constituent congregations of the cathedral church, as well as the wider diocesan leadership through the Standing Committee and the deans of the diocese's 12 deaneries.
Gossling was recently named co-chair of the diocese's Mission Strategy Implementation Organizing Team and is a member of the Diocesan Disciplinary Board. She has been serving as an associate in ministry with Bethany House of Prayer in Arlington and worshiping at the Society of St. John the Evangelist Monastery Chapel in Cambridge.
Prior to coming to the Diocese of Massachusetts, she served from 2002 to 2012 as the rector of St. James's Church in Glastonbury, Conn. While in the Diocese of Connecticut, she was a member of the Standing Committee, the Title III Task Force and the Commission on Ministry.
Gossling holds a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College and a Master of Divinity degree from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. She served while a seminarian at St. John's Church in Waterbury, Conn.; was ordained to the priesthood in 2001; and was the curate at St. Paul's Church in Riverside, Conn., from 2000 to 2002.
Prior to ordination, she had a career in retail management and banking.