.

The Rev. Dr. Diane Kessler became the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches in September 1988.  She is the eighth Executive Director to assume ecumenical leadership in the Council's ninety-nine year history.  She formerly served as the Associate Director for Strategy and Action, a post she held for thirteen years.

Her position entails direction and public presentation of the Council's work in areas such as education and evangelism for Christian unity, ecumenical worship, cooperation among local councils of churches, various forums for ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and social mission/prophetic witness.

In addition, the MCC executive serves as a diplomatic liaison among religious leaders and denominations in the effort to promote reconciliationm among the churches.

Rev. Kessler is a graduate of Oberlin College and Andover Newton Theological School.  An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, she was a member of that denomination's national Council for Ecumenism from 1984 to 1993, and served as chairperson from 1988 through 1991.  She is a member of the Wellesley Congregational ("Village") Church.

Rev. Kessler is author of two books, Parents and the Experts (Judson Press, 1974), and God's Simple Gift (meditations on friendship and spirituality); co-editor of, Encounters for Unity (Canterbury Press of Norwich, 1995), and co-author of  Councils of Churches and the Ecumenical Vision (World Council of Churches, 2000); editor of Together on the Way: The Official Report of the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches; and a contributor to ecumenical journals, including Mid-Stream, Ecumenical Trends, Ecumenical Review, Ecumenism, and others.

She has served as a delegate to a small consultation of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, held in Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia, and chaplain to the International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches in Jamaica in 1995.  She also participated in a special consultation on the Common Understanding and Vision of The World Council of Churches at the Geneva headquarters in 1995.  She serves on the COCU Executive Committee representing the United Church of Christ and was elected a Vice President of  COCU in October, 1999.  She is a member of the Joint Working Group responsible for overseeing the relationship between the World Council of Churches and the Vatican.  

The following link is available for your convenience:  

• 300 dpi grayscale photo of Dr. Kessler

Back to CUIC Leadership

Comments? Questions? Send them to our webmaster