Nashotah, Wisconsin (September 24, 2024) – Nashotah House Theological Seminary
announces two key appointments to its leadership team.
The Rev. Benjamin Hankinson is now Director of Community Life and Operations, and the
Rev. Dr. Paul Wheatley has been elected Chair of the Faculty. Hankinson and Wheatley join
Dean Dr. Lauren Whitnah, Robin Little (Senior Director of Advancement) and Dr. Jim
Watkins (Associate Dean of Academic Affairs) on the leadership team.
Hankinson joined the staff of Nashotah House in 2022 as Director of Admissions and has
since helped streamline the seminary’s admissions processes, cultivated new partnerships
with undergraduate institutions and sending dioceses, and assumed the additional
responsibility of directing field education. A 2014 graduate of Nashotah House and priest
with canonical residency in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield, Hankinson serves as
priest-in-charge of Saint James Episcopal Church in West Bend, Wisconsin. In his new role,
Hankinson has oversight of campus facilities and maintenance, IT, housekeeping, and the
refectory.
Wheatley has served on the faculty as Assistant Professor of New Testament and Greek
since 2020, teaching courses in New Testament, early Christianity and Greek. Wheatley
completed his dissertation at the University of Notre Dame in 2022 on the role of baptismal
imagery in the Gospel of Mark. A priest with canonical residency in the Episcopal Diocese of
Dallas, Wheatley frequently presents his research nationally and internationally, while also
serving the local church as a guest-preacher and lecturer. As faculty chair, he functions as
the liaison between the faculty and the dean’s office.
“We’re grateful for Fr. Hankinson and Fr. Wheatley’s faithful service and their willingness
to take on the additional responsibilities of administrative leadership,” said Dean Whitnah.
“Nashotah House is strengthened by the many gifts they offer our campus community and
the broader church.”
