Prominent pastor named to lead Interdenominational Theological Center

The Rev. Herman “Skip” Mason Jr. has been named interim president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Mason succeeds the Rev. Maisha I.K. Handy, who in July was named the first Black woman to lead McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

The ITC in Atlanta is a consortium of several seminaries and a fellowship. Handy assumed the interim presidency role there in 2023, and her resignation from ITC was effective Aug. 30.

Under Handy, ITC, which was chartered in 1958, launched an aggressive fundraising campaign. The center strengthened relationships with individual donors and the corporate community to address financial issues that have plagued the institution. Recently, officials announced that the Morehouse School of Religion was again part of the ITC.

Mason is currently senior pastor of West Mitchell Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta. He is a native of Atlanta, graduated from Morris Brown College and earned a master’s degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in African American Studies. He later earned a master’s degree in divinity and a doctorate from ITC.

“As interim president, my desire is to see, listen, embrace, act and more importantly, pray with our community as we journey together toward a future filled with promise,” he said in a news release announcing his appointment.

Nancy L. Jones, chief institutional advancement officer, said ITC is fully reaccredited until 2032 by the Association of Theological Schools. ITC offers limited in-person classes, but more are planned next year. Most of the students currently do distant and some hybrid classes, she said.

She said in an email, “We can now focus on redeveloping the campus, which is our next huge project.”

ITC owns more than 10 acres on its campus in southwest Atlanta.

Jones said efforts are underway to secure funding for affordable housing, new classrooms and a new chapel.

The consortium is scheduled to receive $25,000 from the national office of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Earlier this year, ITC was one of 37 private HBCUs expected to receive a share of a pooled endowment fund as part of a major $100 million unrestricted grant. The money is coming to the UNCF, or United Negro College Fund, through a grant from the Lilly Endowment. At the time, ITC said it was the largest single contribution in the institution’s history, according to its social media.

ITC’s footprint in Black churches and communities has been an important one. Its graduates have gone on to lead Black churches, hold top positions in mainline Christian denominations, become chaplains, and hold leadership roles in nonprofits and communities.

Calvin E. Booker Sr., chairman of the board, said in a release that he is confident Mason’s “leadership will propel the ITC to even greater heights.”

From 2009 to 2012, Mason served as the 33rd general president of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and also served on the board of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation.

He is a member of the Atlanta Beltline Partnership Board and chairman of the Joint Board of Finance for the Georgia North Region of the Sixth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

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