By Carol P. Bartold     

Aug. 17, 2016: "It's really interesting how life works," said The Rev. Dr. John A. Nunes, newly arrived president of Concordia College New York. "I was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and raised on a high school campus there where my father taught, a small school, and here I am at Concordia College, living on the campus of a small school."

Although Concordia College is a small school, Nunes noted, he intends it to have a big impact, not only on Bronxville and the regional community-at-large, but also in the larger world.

Foundational to the future of Concordia College, Nunes said, are three key constituencies that the college has historically served. "First, in southern Westchester County we have a series of towns that are as boutique as Bronxville and as diverse as Mount Vernon," he said. "I find this very attractive, the opportunity to meet and engage people from all walks of life. I resonate strongly with the demography here."

A second constituency comprises the college's first-generation students and minority students who otherwise would not have the opportunity for a college education or for exposure to what the community has to offer. "It's about building bridges between students from urban areas and beyond," Nunes said.

Third, Nunes pointed out, Concordia College is uniquely situated to offer Lutherans nationally and globally the diverse and dynamic offerings available and accessible in Bronxville. "Our Lutheran identity matters," he said, "and I think it's exciting that Concordia College is an intellectual destination for Lutherans."

It was Nunes's grandmother, who lived in Kingston, Jamaica, without running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing, who impressed upon the family the importance of education. "Jamaica has been very important in terms of my background," Nunes emphasized, "because of the kind of values she, as the matriarch, instilled in the family."

In pursuit of better educational opportunities for their four sons, his parents emigrated with their children from Jamaica to Canada and settled in the Toronto area. "One of the strategies my parents had for their very rambunctious boys was to divert our energies to activities I call redeeming pursuits, activities that lead to something good," Nunes said.

His childhood days began at 5:30 am when he met the truck to pick up a bundle of Toronto Globe and Mail newspapers, which he delivered on his paper route. He served as assistant church organist to his father, played piano, and, in the school concert band, the bass clarinet. Nunes also played football and basketball and ran track. He had a weekend job at the corner variety store stacking bottles and sweeping floors, and he worked in a fish-and-chips shop.

"I had a blessed childhood in Canada," Nunes said, "growing up in a very multi-ethnic, multi-cultural environment, very similar to the New York area in the sense that we had people from all over the world."

Academically, Nunes named English as his favorite subject in school. "I like poetry. It comes at you angularly, not directly, but metaphorically. I like teaching English." He will teach a fall semester course at Concordia titled The Language of Leadership: Closing the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality. "A school like this, a faith-founded and faith-formed institution, should be all over a question like this," he stated. "We should be all over questions of ethics in language and how we represent ourselves.

Nunes earned his bachelor of arts degree at Concordia University Ann Arbor in Michigan, a master of divinity degree from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario, and a master of theology degree and a PhD at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Nunes's wife, Monique, is director of international programs at Martin Luther School in Maspeth, Queens. They have five daughters and one son, all between the ages of 22 and 30.

The Rev. Dr. John A. Nunes brings a diverse body of educational, pastoral, and practical experience to Concordia College. He did inner-city development work in Detroit for 20 years in both community and church settings, and he served for five years as the pastor of an urban church in Dallas.

In 2007 he became president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, a $50 million development organization with offices in 17 countries throughout the world. "It gave me an opportunity to see the whole world," he noted. "Whereas earlier I had done faith-based urban community development, I got to lead an organization that did international relief and development."

The consistent theme Nunes has found in all of his work is that all humans, created in the image of God, have inherent dignity, value, and worth. "Every life is a life of meaning. Every life is a search for flourishing," he said. "I believe that a purpose of life is to use the gifts we've been given, to be stewards, and to make a transformative impact in the lives of others."

Pictured here:  The Rev. Dr. John A. Nunes, ninth president of Concordia College.

Photo by N. Bower