Moravian Church in North America

Ruth Cole Burcaw named executive director, Southern Province Board of Cooperative Ministries

The Southern Province Board of Cooperative Ministries (BCM) is pleased to announce that Ruth Cole Burcaw will begin work as executive director of the BCM on July 2, 2012.

In this role, Ruth will provide leadership as the Board of Cooperative Ministries works to support the life and ministry of congregations and Regional Conferences of Churches throughout the Province. She will oversee the work of the BCM and its staff and will lead leadership support and development initiatives, social concerns activities, stewardship and more.  Ruth will also lead the development and hiring of the BCM staff.

Ruth is a management professional with over 25 years of experience in administration, communications, and project management in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. Ruth, a native of Winston-Salem, grew up attending many Moravian churches, including Konnoak Hills, Grace, Advent and Kernersville, while her parents, Hal and Joy Cole, served in parish ministry. After graduating in 1987 from Moravian College, Ruth served as Assistant to Mayor Martha S. Wood in Winston-Salem. She earned her Master's in Public Affairs from UNC - Greensboro before starting Quantum Events, an event and association management firm, in 1998.

She has spent the past 14 years helping clients build more effective relationships with their employees and customers. Ruth and her husband, Chris, live in Lewisville, N.C., where they and their children, Jessy (19) and Jake (15), are active members of Unity Moravian Church. 

The Southern Province Board of Cooperative Ministries, created at the 2009 Synod of the Moravian Church, Southern Province, provides support to Moravian congregations and Regional Conferences of Churches to develop and maintain a high level of heatlh and growth. The BCM carries out the Moravian Church's long commitment to education as an essential part of Christian witness and equips Moravians of all ages and situations in life for spiritual growth and Christian discipleship.  The BCM also continues the tradition of Moravian missions by providing resources to assist pastors and lay persons in bringing good news to the poor and hopeless, seeking out the lost, lonely and neglected in the Southeast and the wider world. 

Contact Ruth by calling the BCM office in Winston-Salem, N.C. at (336)722-8126, ext. 401 or by visiting the BCM website.