Mark M. Beckwith was the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. He is the author of the book ''Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms and Party Lines''.
Biography
Beckwith graduated from
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
in 1973 and from
Berkeley Divinity School
Berkeley Divinity School, founded in 1854, is a seminary of The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Berkeley is one of the three "Partners on the Quad," ...
at Yale University in 1978.
He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1980. He served as associate rector at St Peter's Church in
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
from 1982-1985, then became rector of Christ Church in
(1985-1993). Before his bishop election, he served as rector of All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts (1993-2006). He was consecrated as the tenth Bishop of Newark on January 27, 2007, by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
Beckwith has appeared in two PBS specials with Jon Meacham, ''God in New York'' (2010) and ''Christians, Muslims, and Jews: Bridging the Divide'' (2011).
He has also been a featured guest in several interviews and panel discussions on MSNBC's ''
Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough r ...
'' show.
From 2017-2019, Beckwith co-hosted a television talk show series on NJ PBS titled ''A Matter of Faith with a Bishop, an Imam and a Rabbi''. The show premiered on April 12, 2017 and was hosted by Bishop Mark Beckwith, Imam W. Deen Shariff and Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, who lead conversations with special invited guests and discussed "headlining news through the lens of faith." Beckwith's last day as Bishop was September 22, 2018, when his successor
Carlye J. Hughes
Carlye J. Hughes is the eleventh and current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. She was ordained as a bishop on September 22, 2018.
Early life and education
Hughes, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, received a Bachelor of Arts in Drama fro ...
was consecrated.
Beckwith and his wife, Marilyn Olson, have been married since 1982. They have two children together.
Activism
In the Diocese of Newark, Beckwith co-founded Morris Shelter, Inc., a nonprofit homeless shelter in
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
, and was the first president of Inter-Religious Fellowship for the Homeless in
Newtown, Connecticut
Newtown is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the Greater Danbury metropolitan area as well as the New York metropolitan area. Newtown was founded in 1705, and later incorporated in 1711. As of the 2020 censu ...
. In 2019, Beckwith began serving as a bishop liaison to the network to foster relationships and develop partnerships with groups working in the gun violence prevention arena.
Beckwith has been part of the leadership team for
Braver Angels
Braver Angels (formerly Better Angels) is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to political depolarization. The organization runs workshops, debates, and other events where "red" (conservative) and "blue" (liberal) participants attempt t ...
, a national movement dedicated to political depolarization.
Authorship
* ''Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms and Party Lines'', (New York: Morehouse Publishing, 2022) ISBN 978-1-64065-518-8