The Rev. Michael Bos

Denomination: Other
Organization: West End Collegiate Church, New York, NY

The Rev. Michael Bos is senior minister of West End Collegiate Church in New York, NY.

Michael is a pastor, author, interfaith proponent, family guy, and adrenaline junkie. He lives in New York City and is senior minister of West End Collegiate Church and president of The Collegiate Churches of New York. He was the moderator of the board of trustees for New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and serves as chaplain of the Collegiate School, where he also teaches Islam.

Michael was raised in West Michigan, received his B.S. in psychology from Grand Valley State University, M.Div. from Western Theological Seminary, did post-graduate work at the Free University (the Netherlands) in Hebrew Scripture and the theology of religions, and doctoral work at the University of Exeter (U.K.) on Islam and religious pluralism. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Ministry at Duke University.

Early in his career he was counseled that his "need for adventure may be too high for a traditional pastoral role," and this propelled him to pursue new and unusual positions. He started a new church, pastored a mega-church, established an interfaith center in the Arabian Peninsula, and developed programs with institutions such as Princeton Theological Seminary, the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation, and the U.S. State Department. Working with the U.S. Embassy and government of Oman, he helped establish a first of its kind program on religious diplomacy in the Middle East for the top chaplains in the U.S. armed services. For his work in bringing together Christians, Muslims, and Hindus in Oman to aid low-income workers, he has been featured in the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Religion and Social Justice and received the U.S. Ambassador's Award for Community Service.

Michael presents lectures, speeches, and sermons to people and places that range from the University of Cambridge to Ambassadors from the European Union, and speaks at a variety of venues, which include conferences, churches, inner city high schools, and international symposia.

One of Michael's greatest joys is spending time with his wife, daughter and son, which can only be enhanced if it is while snowboarding, wakeboarding, or mountain biking together!