Jeffrey Gros

Early life and education

Born John Jefferson Gros in Memphis, TN, to Jeff Gros and Faye (Dickinson) Gros, he entered the novitiate of the Christian Brothers in August 1955 in Glencoe, MO. He made his perpetual vows in the same order in 1963 in Plano, IL. He has one sister, Sister Joye Gros, OP.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (in 1959) and a Master of Education focused in Biology Education (in 1962) from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota; a Master of Arts in Theology from Marquette University in Milwaukee in 1965, with a thesis titled "Ministry and Orders in the United Presbyterian Church, USA". He was awarded a Doctorate in Theology from Fordham University, New York City, in 1973, for his dissertation "Transcendence and Community in Contemporary Social Theory: P. Berger and R. Bellah" under the direction of Wayne Proudfood.

He pursued graduate research in biology and the sciences at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO and at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 1961–62. He continued graduate work in science at Northwestern University in Chicago from 1962 to 1964.

Research and study grants took him to Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem (1968), Germany (1969), Costa Rica (1986), the Far East (1976), Latin America (1980, 2000), Africa (1988), Strasbourg Ecumenical Research Institute (1991), Columbia (2007) and Chile (2008).

Academic and professional career

Brother Jeff’s first responsibilities were as a high school teacher. He spent three years at St. George High School in Evanston, IL (1959–1962), and then a year at the La Salle Institute in Glencoe, MO, finally a year at Christian Brothers College High School (CBCHS) in St. Louis, MO, before spending two years at Marquette to work on his MA in Theology.

On the completion of his master’s degree, he spent a year each teaching at his order’s novitiate in Glencoe, MO; at Lewis College in Romeoville, IL; back at CBCHS, and finally at the Christian Brothers College in Memphis, TN, before heading to Fordham for doctoral studies.

For two years (1970–1972), while writing his dissertation, he also worked as Director of Religious Education at St. Augustine Parish in the Bronx, NY. Upon completion, he was called back to Memphis to serve as a teacher in, then chair of, the theology department at Christian Brothers College, where he served for nine years (1972–1981). From 1975, he concurrently taught at Memphis Theological Seminary. During these years, he also served as the director of diaconate formation for the diocese of Memphis.

In 1981, Br. Jeff was hired as the Executive Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches (NCC), then headquartered in the Bronx. At the same time, he assisted at the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Manhattan.

After a decade of leadership in the NCC, Br. Jeff was asked to serve as Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (then called the National Conference of Catholic Bishops). He held this post, with responsibilities for ecumenical relations with the western churches and ecclesial communities (Anglican, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal) until 2005.

At the age of 67, he “retired” to university and seminary teaching. He spent four years as Distinguished Professor of Ecumenical and Historical Theology at Memphis Theological Seminary, which is affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In 2009, he accepted a one-year appointment to the Franciscan School of Theology, part of the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley, CA, as Kenan Osborne Visiting Professor of Theology.

For the last two years of his life, Br. Jeff taught at Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, as Catholic Studies Scholar in Residence. He served at the same time as an adjunct professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and as President of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.

Br. Jeff had served several times on the board of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, including a term as president. He was, since 1985, the dean of the USCCB Institute for Ecumenical Leadership, which provided training for diocesan ecumenical officers.

He had many professional memberships including the Catholic Theological Society of America (former Board Member), College Theological Society, National Association of Evangelicals, Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers (Associate).

He was deeply committed to the reception of ecumenical dialogues into religious education and pastoral practice, and worked tirelessly in developing and supporting new generations of ecumenists. He was known for having an “encyclopedic knowledge of ecumenism” and was invited as keynote speaker for dialogues and conferences around the world.

He is interred at Resurrection Cemetery, Romeoville, IL.

Honors and awards