Episcopal Press and News
Bexley Hall Dean to Become Rector of New York Parish
Episcopal News Service. May 11, 1976 [76166]
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Very Rev. Hays H. Rockwell, Dean of Bexley Hall, the Episcopal member of the Colgate Rochester-Bexley Hall-Crozer cluster of divinity schools, will become rector of St. James' Church, New York City, as of August 1.
Dr. Rockwell, 39, has been Dean of Bexley Hall since 1971, coming to that position after service for two years as Protestant chaplain at the University of Rochester. At St. James', generally regarded as one of the most significant parishes of the Episcopal Church in this country, he will succeed the Rev. John B. Coburn, Bishop-elect of Massachusetts.
Of his decision to accept the call to St. James', Dean Rockwell said:
"It is never an easy thing to know with certainty what God intends for us. There is a special sharpness in that difficulty when we are asked to choose one work instead of another. It is not easy, but it is sure that Christian people are meant to face their choices, to subject them to the highest forms of prayer and calculation they can muster, and then to choose.
"I have been asked to choose a work of service as the Rector of St. James' Church. To make that choice is to leave the lively, significant venture which is the Colgate Rochester Divinity School-Bexley Hall-Crozer Theological Seminary. I have put that choice under the brightest lights of prayer and calculation available to me. I have decided that it is right for me, in this complicated moment in God's history to choose to go to St. James'.
"This decision, while difficult, was made somewhat easier by my complete confidence in the Colgate Rochester-Bexley Hall-Crozer cluster, by my conviction that this ecumenical cluster represents the most valid approach to theological education in these times, and by its vitality and stability. I am grateful for having had to do with such a place, and with its important evolution, and I intend to retain all possible ties with the Schools in Rochester."
Dr. Leon Pacala, president of Colgate Rochester-Bexley Hall-Crozer, said: "We are most grateful for the distinguished service Dean Rockwell has provided this institution during very critical years, and especially in the formation of its ecumenical context. We shall miss his knowledge of the Church, his keen perceptions of its needs and mission, and his creative interpretation of those in terms of theological education. Our sense of loss is balanced only by recognition of the significance to the life of the Church and to New York City of the parish which has called Dean Rockwell from us. We congratulate the parishioners of St. James', and are confident that Hays will bring high achievement and distinction to his new and important position."
A search committee has been organized to seek a successor to Dean Rockwell, Dr. Pacala announced. The committee is headed by the chairperson of the Bexley Hall Board of Trustees, Daniel T. Carroll, president of Gould Inc., Chicago, Ill., and includes Bexley Trustees John Ong, president of B. F. Goodrich Corp., Akron, Ohio; the Rt. Rev. John M. Krumm, Bishop of Southern Ohio; and the Rt. Rev. Robert R. Spears, Jr., Bishop of Rochester; Prof. Richard M. Spielmann of the faculty of the Schools, and Margaret Houghton, a Bexley Hall student.
Dean Rockwell is a graduate of the Cranbrook School, Brown University, and of the Episcopal Divinity School. He holds an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Kenyon College.
Prior to his chaplaincy at the University of Rochester, he was chaplain at St. George's School, Newport, R.I.; and, during a year of independent study, served as associate to the chaplain at Oriel College, Oxford, England.
He has been active in the life of the Episcopal Church on national and diocesan committees and boards, and in Rochester civic groups.
Mrs. Rockwell, the former Linda Hullinger, has been a research chemist on the staff of Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, and also has been active in community civic and cultural groups. The Rockwells have four children.