The Rev. Charles Morris

Denomination: Other
Organization: Fort Washington Collegiate Church, New York, NY

The Rev. Charles Morris is senior minister of Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York, NY. He was raised in Wallkill, New York, and is a "son" of the Wallkill Reformed Church. He graduated from Central College, Pella, Iowa, from which he holds the degree Bachelor of Arts in History. While at Central College Charles met Deborah Den Ouden, whom he married in Edgerton, Minnesota in the summer of 1970. In May 1973, after completing a course of study in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Holland, Michigan, Charles was awarded the Master of Divinity degree from the seminaries of the Reformed Church in America.

Following Seminary Charles and Deborah moved to the Netherlands where Charles studied with Professor Doctor Hendrikus Berkhof at the University of Leiden. He was ordained by the Classis of Orange, Reformed Church in America, on November 10, 1974. He served as Minister of the Brookdale Reformed Church, Bloomfield, New Jersey from October, 1974 to November, 1977, Associate Minister of the Reformed Church, Colts Neck, New Jersey from November, 1977 to December, 1983, Senior Minister of the Colts Neck Reformed Church from January, 1984 to August, 1997, and since August 1997 as Minister in Charge at the Fort Washington Collegiate Church, New York, New York.

Charles has been a continuous contributor to the Reformed Church in America, having served on the Commission On Theology, the Board of Trustees of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, where he was elected Moderator, the Board of Trustees of Central College, Pella, Iowa, the Church Revitalization Task Force, and most recently the Multiracial Task Force of the Reformed Church in America. In the Collegiate Church of the City of New York, Charles is the fiftieth installed Collegiate Minister. He is President of Consistory, a member of the Finance Committee, and formally Co-chair of the New Ministry Task Force and Co-chair of the Madison Avenue Council, which oversees a significant endowment to support Intersections, a ministry created by the Collegiate Church to focus on issues of peace and reconciliation world wide.

Charles and Deborah are the proud parents of two daughters, Jamie Caryn and Rachel Jo, both of whom are working as consultants.