Biography

The Rev. Sandye A. Wilson is the rector of St. Andrew and Holy Communion in South Orange. Her church work includes experience in urban, suburban and rural settings, from small towns to major cities. Rev. Wilson is a church leader, community activist, athlete, teacher, poet and drummer. She was the first black woman to serve as rector of a church in the United States and worldwide. She has a long list of accomplishments and leadership affiliations at the local, diocesan and national levels. These include serving for 15 years on the National Executive Council of the Episcopal Church and national president of the Union of Black Episcopalians. She is a member of Diocesan Council, member of The Commission on Ministry, a Trustee on the Board of the South Mountain YMCA, a member of the Diocese of Newark’s Task Force on Reparations, a member of the Diocesan Women’s Commission, a leader of the Black Church Initiative on Congregational Development, a deputy to the Episcopal Church’s National General Convention, a co-convener of District 4 of the Diocese of Newark. She was a member of the executive committee and press officer for the Nominating Committee for the 10th Bishop of Newark. She has also served as press officer for General Conventions in Columbus and Minneapolis. She was a member of the National Commission of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion charged with responding to the Windsor Report. Since ordination in 1980, Rev. Wilson has demonstrated a passionate concern for children and their development, treatment of the mentally ill and elderly, the homeless, the poor, and the disenfranchised people of our society. As rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Bridgeport, Conn., she led the congregation to a new place of community compassionate care and concern. While rector of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, she was elected to the city’s school board. While serving as rector at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver, Co., she worked with Children’s Hospital as a board member and member of the hospital’s ethics committee. In Minneapolis, she was an advocate for mental health services, serving on the board of governors of state Operated Services for the Mentally Ill and Developmentally Delayed and Chemically Dependent for the state of Minnesota. She was rector of The Church of Gethsemane, an Episcopal parish in downtown Minneapolis. She was instrumental in building a gym for homeless children called the “Malik Sealy Gym of Dreams.” Rev. Wilson began as rector at St. Andrew and Holy Communion in 2004. She is a sports fan and lover of the arts who can often be found playing timpani drums in church. Many people, both lay and ordained, consider Rev. Wilson a mentor who helps them shape their spiritual life and ministry. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Rev. Wilson is a graduate of Vassar College and Union Theological Seminary in New York. Rev. Wilson holds a master’s degree in business administration and a doctor of ministry degree in pastoral care and counseling. She also studied at Goethe Institute in Germany, The University of Vienna, Austria; and the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland as a John M. Allin Fellow. She has served as chaplain and faculty in ethics at Vassar College. She has also served on the faculty at Yale University Divinity School, Iliff School of Theology at the University of Denver, and the University of Minnesota. Trained as an economist, she worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and TWA Airlines before attending seminary. She was a reporter/researcher at Time magazine. She has appeared on Good Morning America and the McNeill-Lehrer News Hour, commenting on the work of the 103rd and 104th U.S. Congress and the State of the Union addresses of several U.S. presidents.