Gay Clark Jennings

2012-2022

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings served as president of the House of Deputies from 2012-2022. She was the first ordained woman to hold the position.

As president, Jennings committed to fostering a new generation of leaders in the Episcopal Church and encouraging the church’s work for justice through the actions of General Convention and the work of Episcopalians throughout the church. She worked closely with the elected and appointed leaders who served the church between conventions, with more than 850 members of the House of Deputies, and with the presiding bishop and other church leaders.

Jennings, ordained in 1979, was a ten-time deputy from the Diocese of Ohio. She was also the Episcopal Church’s clergy representative to the Anglican Consultative Council in 2012 and 2016. She previously served for 17 years as canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Ohio and for nine years as associate director of CREDO Institute Inc., a church wellness program.

Prior to serving as president, Jennings served on the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church from 2006-2012 and held many elected and appointed leadership positions, including chairing the General Convention legislative committees on Structure, World Mission, Communications, and Canons. She was a founding steering committee member of the Chicago Consultation, which supports the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians.

Jennings is a graduate of Colgate University and Episcopal Divinity School and has received honorary doctorates from both institutions, as well as from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She lives in Sagamore Hills, Ohio (outside Cleveland) with her husband, Albert, who has been a parish priest for 46 years. They have been married for those same 46 years. Their son, Sam, lives nearby and is a sound engineer. Their beloved daughter, Lee, died in 2010.