User:DrMJRT/Rev. Dr. Michael Tessman

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 1, 1948; educated in public schools there and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he earned the A.B. from the University of Chicago (1970) in comparative religion, philosophy and literature, followed by the M.Div. from Yale University (1973). His doctorate, The Legacy of Roland Allen, was granted by the Graduate Theological Foundation (1998) in cooperation with General Theological Seminary of New York, under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Margaret Guenther, with whom he also earned certification as a Spiritual Director. Michael leads Retreats and Quiet Days, and has developed several training modules for employing the disciplines of spiritual direction with parish leadership and in other non-profit organizations.

Since ordination to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in 1976, Michael has served urban congregations in Middletown, Waterbury, New Haven and Hartford, CT. From 1981 – 1988 he was rector of Trinity Parish, Trumbull (suburban Bridgeport) and from 1991 – 1997, Immanuel St. James Parish, Derby, CT. For the next six years he was Professor of Parish Ministry, Pastoral Studies, and Dean of Students at Nashotah House, an Episcopal Seminary near Milwaukee, WI. In 2006 he was a candidate for Bishop of the Diocese of Albany, NY.

For two years Michael lead St. Monica’s, Hartford, an urban African-American congregation in Connecticut’s poorest Zip-code. They successfully called a new rector while revitalizing a new-building campaign, breaking ground after a fifteen year hiatus. For the prior three years he served St. John’s, New Haven, a congregation in the Yale community, following their rector’s twenty-five year tenure. As Interim, he re-visioned their mission for changing times and helped them revitalize a dormant building expansion plan, now nearing completion.

Dr. Tessman’s vocational skills and interests include congregational development, and the practice of spiritual direction, including clergy mentoring and coaching. His priestly vocation has included interfaith work and study abroad. He held an internship with the World Mission and Evangelism unit of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland; sojourned with the Taize Community near Cluny, France; and has conducted study, travel and mission trips to Puerto Rico, South Korea, Germany, Greece and Italy. In 1987 he conducted research on the Tractarians, John Henry Newman and Edward Pusey, while on sabbatical at Magdalen College, Oxford, and serving in locum tenens in the parish founded by Cardinal Newman at Littlemore, East Oxford.

Since 2003, his home is in South Kingstown, RI.