Awards

The 2023 Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Award

Tess Welch is a second-year Master of Divinity student at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She is a member of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Currently, Tess works as an Assistant Children’s Minister at Haygood Memorial UMC in Atlanta, GA. Before Tess began seminary, she graduated as Scholar of the College at Western Kentucky University. At Candler, Tess enjoys working in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, volunteering weekly in worship, hosting game nights, baking desserts, and engaging in late-night theology talks with her peers.

"This award honors the memory of the distinguished, daring, and visionary Catholic ecumenist Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC (1938-2013). Serving as Director of Faith and Order for the National Council of Churches, as Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and as President of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, he broadened our ecumenical perspectives and pointed us to the future."