Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

318 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine D r. Ruth H. Bersin received a BS in education from Indiana University in 1962 and an MA in religion from the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in 1965. She went on to achieve an MDiv in 1982 from the Yale Divinity School, as well as a DMin in 1994 and PhD in 2004, both from the Graduate Theological Foundation. Dr. Bersin says she “fell” into her theological work, and in 1984, became an ordained priest. Since 2016, she has been a fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Serving as a priest associate at Trinity Topsfield since 1999, Dr. Bersin is also the executive director of the Refugee Immigration Ministry. Prior, she served as a pastoral psychotherapist at the New England Pastoral Institute and Greater Lowell Pastoral Counseling Center. From 1996 to 1999, she was the director of the Trauma Center and associate priest at Grace Episcopal Church in Massachusetts. She commenced her career as a director of the Educational Development Center in Japan before becoming a refugees’ service coordinator for Episcopal Social Services in Connecticut. Throughout her career, seeing people from different faiths come together and engage in congregations has been the highlight of her career. Over the years, she has been a priest at St. Monica and St. James Churches in Washington, D.C., Church of the Good Shepherd in Virginia, and St. Luke’s Church and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Connecticut. She has also held director positions at the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, TELL Japan and Episcopal Social Services. In 2007, Dr. Bersin was the recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Boston University School of Theology. She is a board director and chair of the Association of Refugee Service Professionals’ National Committee on Certification, as well as a board director for HAWC. She is also a member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and Association of Fundraising Professionals. Alongside her direct work, Dr. Bersin is the author of “Let’s Begin,” “English Through Folk Songs,” “Theological Literacy in the Twenty First Century,” “Healing Traumatic Memories: A Spiritual Journey” and “Outside the Gates.” DR. RUTH H. BERSIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Refugee Immigration Ministry Boxford, MA SOCIAL SERVICES AND NONPROFIT