03/19/2025
It is with great pleasure that the Board of Directors announces Lynne Moss Bahr, M.Div., Ph.D., as the seminary’s third dean, beginning July 1, 2025.
Dr. Bahr brings a wealth of experience in teaching and administration. She has held appointments at Rockhurst University, Fordham University, St. John’s University, and Manhattan College and taught a range of courses in early Christianity and the history of Christianity. She received the Elizabeth A. Johnson Endowed Distinguished Fellowship in 2016-2017, and a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship at Fordham University in 2019-2020.
She came to the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Rockhurst University in 2020. In 2021-2022, she was nominated by students for the Faculty Member of the Year Award. In 2023, Dr. Bahr was appointed Director of the Thomas More Center for Catholic Thought and Culture at Rockhurst. She developed a series of panel discussions on social justice issues, such as prison education, Catholic ministries to the LGBTQ+ community, AI and ethics, and abolishing the death penalty. She also facilitated a faculty seminar on Ignatian pedagogy and spirituality and served on a number of university committees.
Dr. Bahr has remained active in her scholarship with multiple paper presentations at the Society of Biblical Literature annual conference, as well as peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, and encyclopedia entries.
A lifelong Episcopalian, Dr. Bahr grew up in the Diocese of Kansas and received her M.Div. in New Testament studies from Union Theological Seminary in 2011 and earned her Ph.D. in Historical Theology (Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity) from Fordham University in 2017. Her doctoral studies focused on Second Temple Judaism, the Gospels, and early traditions of Jesus. Dr. Bahr’s book, “The Time is Fulfilled”: Jesus’s Apocalypticism in the Context of Continental Philosophy, was published in 2018.
The Rev. Donna Stanford (’14), BKSM board chair, said “we look forward to welcoming Dr. Bahr to the BKSM community when she begins her service this summer. She shares our vision for BKSM’s future and has the qualities and skills to meet the challenges inherent in theological education in the 21st century.”
The Board expresses its gratitude to the Rev. Charles Everson (’16), chair, and the dedicated six-member search committee that led the eight-month search process.
The BKSM community looks forward to all that BKSM will achieve under Dr. Bahr’s leadership as it continues its focus on quality education, deep spiritual formation and meaningful community.
