HARTFORD, Conn., November 2, 2007 -- Trinity College announces the appointment of The Reverend Allison Read as College chaplain. Read comes to Trinity from Christ Church in Short Hills, New Jersey, where she was priest-in-charge, assuming the role and responsibilities of the rector after serving as assistant. At Christ Church in Short Hills, a parish of 400 households, Read was responsible for the conduct of worship and for spiritual leadership.

Read, 34, will join Trinity in January 2008. She succeeds The Reverend Daniel Heischman, who served at the College through June 2007.

Read has a strong background in leading the growth of congregations through programs, worship and pastoral care. While at St. James’ Church in New York City, she gained comprehensive parish ministry experience in a thriving 2,000-member urban parish with a staff of 30. She was at St. James’ for two years as part of a parish ministry residency program funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. 

Of her decision to join the Trinity community, Read noted, “Teaching is as high a calling and as much an intentional vocation as ordained ministry, and I see my role as pastor in the college community to be one that most essentially supports and complements the educational mission of the College, its students, faculty and other administrators.”

Trinity College President James F. Jones, Jr., who chaired the search team for the new Chaplain, said, “As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Trinity’s Chapel, we are delighted to have Allison Read join our community. She will be a leader in facilitating worship for people of all faiths as well as addressing substantive social and ethical issues across campus. Allison comes to Trinity with a solid rooting in the Episcopal tradition as well as in stewarding a congregation and church.” 

Read is Trinity’s eighth chaplain and the second woman to serve in that capacity. From the time of Trinity’s founding in 1823 until the death of The Rev. Dr. Remsen Ogilby in 1943, Trinity’s presidents were (with an occasional exception) Episcopal priests who also served as chaplain. A full-time chaplaincy was established in 1946 during the presidency of G. Keith Funston.

Read, who was a seminarian at both Grace and St. Peter’s Church in Hamden, CT, and at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School where she was awarded the John A. Wade Prize for expository preaching. She also holds a diploma in Anglican Studies from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, a Masters of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.