Deacon Andrew Saunders, M.A.

Co-Director, 4:12 Pathway for Pastoral Leadership Grant
School of Theology

Deacon Andrew E. Saunders currently serves as Co-director of the 4:12 Pathway for Pastoral Leadership grant with an emphasis on strategic diaconate initiatives and is an Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology. Before his current assignment, Deacon Saunders served as Assistant Director of the Center for Diaconal Formation from 2010 to 2014 and Director from 2014 to 2024. He has nearly three decades of business experience with leading Fortune 500 firms including the International Business Machines Corporation, Citigroup, Inc., and CIT Group, Inc. He has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut, an M.A. in Economics from Trinity College and an M.A. in Theology with a Biblical Studies concentration from Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. Deacon Saunders was ordained in 2011 to the Permanent Diaconate for service in the Archdiocese of Newark.  He is currently assigned at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff.  He was a member of the Association of Theological Schools Educational Models and Best Practices diaconate peer group from 2015-2018 and served as the Region III representative to the National Association of Diaconate Directors from 2014-2016.  He was subsequently elected by his national diaconate director peers to serve as their Secretary-Treasurer from 2016-2018. His article "Meeting Modern Challenges" was published in Deacon Digest Magazine in November 2013.