Our Next Dean and Rector: The Rev. Canon James R. Harlan
The American Cathedral in Paris is blessed and delighted to announce that the Rev. Canon James R. Harlan will be the next Dean and Rector.
James currently is the Canon Evangelist for the Diocese of Southern Virginia, where he supports the ministry of more than 100 congregations, schools, chaplaincies, and special ministries.
With over 30 years of service in parishes in Florida and Colorado and as a Navy chaplain all over the world, James, 57, brings a breadth of parish leadership experience and education to the Cathedral.
He has served in large and small congregations, in urban, suburban, and small-town resort congregations, each of them experiencing a time of growth and vitality under his leadership. He also studied at l’Université de Bordeaux and is a speaker of French.
“The Vestry and the Discernment Team both feel that how James+ got here was truly through the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Cathedral Senior Warden Ann Dushane. “It seems no coincidence that we are able to announce his arrival on this day of Pentecost – just shy of one year from when we set out to find THE person who seems to already be a part of us. We are very excited to have both James+ and Eli join us in the fall.”
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, as it is formally known, was the first American Episcopal church outside the United States when it was established in 1859. It was consecrated as a cathedral 100 years ago and is now the seat of the Bishop-in-Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, which counts nine parishes and a dozen missions and congregations.
Today the Cathedral and its 1886 Gothic Revival building are much more than a haven for expatriates. Cathedral parishioners are native speakers of more than 10 languages and reach deeply into the Paris community with such programs as the twice-weekly Sandwich Ministry.
The parish survey undertaken as part of the dean search showed a desire to do even more for at-risk Parisians and refugees, strengthen our welcome of LGBTQ+ communities, connect more deeply with Convocation churches and missions, and broaden interfaith, ecumenical, and ministry partnerships.
James and his wife of 26 years, Eli Harlan, plan to arrive at the Cathedral this fall. Their 23-year-old child, Orrin, lives in Gainesville, Florida. James and Eli feel that moving to Paris is a bit of a homecoming and look forward to exploring the city and getting to know the amazing community at the Cathedral.
For now, James can be reached at deanelect@americancathedral.org.
Biography
The Rev. Canon James R. Harlan currently serves as the Canon Evangelist for the Diocese of Southern Virginia, where he supports the ministry of more than 100 congregations, schools, chaplaincies, and special ministries, especially through organizing leadership development and congregational vitality programs that support the Diocese’s Five Initiatives.
James served as rector of the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida for 10 years. In the Diocese of Southeast Florida, he served as chair of the Constitution and Canons Committee, as Dean of the North Palm Beach Deanery, and as a member of the Executive Board of the Diocese. He also was on the board of Forward Movement, a publisher of print and electronic resources for evangelism and discipleship in the Episcopal Church, including a year as chair, and on the planning committee for the Episcopal Parish Network’s annual conference.
James lived and worked in Colorado from birth until 2011. There, he served at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Colorado Springs and the Church of St. John the Baptist in Breckenridge, and then became a U.S. Navy chaplain with the Seabees in 1999.
At the diocesan level, he was on the Standing Committee, the Commission on Ministry, the diocesan Board of Examining Chaplains, the Commission on Youth Ministry, and the board of directors of Cathedral Ridge, the diocese’s camp and conference center. He also taught Liturgics and Church History at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology, in the Anglican Studies program, and for many years was a reader for the General Ordination Examination for the Episcopal Church’s General Board of Examining Chaplains.
James, 57, first felt called to be a priest in fifth grade. He grew up in southeast Denver, the fourth of five children, in a family that was always active in the Episcopal Church. When he was a teenager, his parents responded to a call to live in a Christian community setting, and so he had as many as 16 fellow residents in his house.
James attended the University of Colorado College of Business and studied at l’Université de Bordeaux in 1986-1987, during his junior year. He and his family also spent a sabbatical summer in Paris in 2009, adding to his fluency in French.
He has solely focused on serving the church since the age of 20, when he became an assistant youth minister at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver. It was during this time that he began the ordination process, attending seminary at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
James has been married to Eli Harlan for 26 years. She looks forward to discovering new creative and artistic pursuits in Paris and becoming part of the Cathedral community. Their 23-year-old child, Orrin, lives in Gainesville, Florida.
Eli and James plan to arrive in Paris in late August to settle into the Deanery and to begin their new ministry.
A Word From James+
Dear Cathedral Family,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord. My wife, Eli (short for Elizabeth) and I are thrilled to be joining you all in this next phase of life and ministry together at the American Cathedral. I can’t help but feel the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit moving in this entire process of discernment and call. Maybe it would have been enough to want to be a part of this amazing community and to live in Paris. What has happened over the last several months is that the Spirit has instilled in us more than a simple want or desire. We have a deep sense of call and, already through our time with the Discernment Team and Vestry, a deep sense of friendship and shared commitment built on a long-felt desire to be part of this community.
Élizabeth et moi sommes ravis que j’ai été choisi par la Cathédrale et par Dieu pour être le prochain doyen. Depuis mon enfance, j’ai senti que mon âme était en partie française. Le pays, la culture, la langue ont été un moyen pour moi d’expérimenter le divin. Et maintenant, je suis privilégié de vivre à cette belle ville et de prier et servir dans cette Cathédrale glorieuse.
I look forward to getting to know each one of you and sharing our stories of God’s grace at work in our lives. I look forward to learning even more of what God is up to in our midst as we seek together to respond to God’s call to minister together within and beyond the walls. I look forward to discovering even more the full meaning of the Cathedral’s Centenary theme: looking at the past through its journey towards inclusion and leaning into a future of faith, love, and charity.
Eli and I are focusing for now on wrapping up our work here in Virginia, on saying goodbye to our friends and colleagues, and on getting ourselves ready to move. But we will be with you in Paris in a matter of weeks, ready to jump into our new community of faith with all our hearts, souls, and minds.
We’ll see you soon.
Peace,
James+