[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church has named Christopher Lacovara as its new chief financial officer, replacing Kurt Barnes, who is retiring from the top churchwide leadership position after 21 years.
Lacovara, a longtime Episcopalian with decades of financial management experience, was nominated by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, and Executive Council appointed him in a voice vote March 17 during an online meeting. The vote in open session followed a discussion in closed session that lasted about a half hour.
“I am pleased to welcome Chris as our next CFO,” Rowe said in a church news release after the vote. “He is a committed Episcopalian with a clear understanding of the financial issues facing our congregations and dioceses and brings significant expertise from his work in finance, law and the nonprofit sector. I look forward to working with him as we position The Episcopal Church for the coming decades of mission and ministry.”
Lacovara has previous experience practicing law in the nonprofit sector and served most recently as chief financial officer, general counsel and director of real estate development for the New York nonprofit Community Access. He also spent two decades on Wall Street as an investment banker.
His academic credentials include bachelor’s degrees from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York; a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science; and a Juris Doctor degree from the Columbia University Law School in New York.
Under the Episcopal Church’s Canons, the presiding bishop and House of Deputies president, as chair and vice-chair of Executive Council, respectively, make a joint nomination for the position of chief financial officer, and then the Executive Council votes to appoint. Once hired, the chief financial officer reports to the presiding bishop.
One of the top responsibilities of the chief financial officer is the ongoing management of the churchwide budget, with support from the Finance Office staff and in consultation with the presiding bishop, other executive church leaders and Executive Council, which is the church’s governing and oversight body between the triennial meetings of General Convention. As chief financial officer, Lacovara will advise General Convention and Executive Council in adopting and revising the churchwide budgets and then will work to match actual revenues and expenses as closely as possible to the budgeted amounts.
The chief financial officer’s 2024 salary was $296,317, according to the church’s annual summary of officer pay. The job was advertised with a salary range of $190,000 to $225,000, though Lacovara’s starting salary has yet to be finalized.
The search process for the position was facilitated for the church by the human resources and executive search firm Pappas & Pappas. Through a range of recruitment strategies, the firm identified 121 potential candidates, including 30 that it described as “diversity candidates” based on LGBTQ+, race or veteran status, according to a written summary shared with Executive Council.
It screened 40 individuals from the potential candidate pool and eventually presented six “high-potential candidates” to churchwide leaders for consideration. Five from that group met the church’s diversity objective.
“Chris Lacovara’s depth of experience and his commitment to The Episcopal Church make him the right person to lead our financial strategy at this pivotal time,” Ayala Harris said in the church news release. “His appointment reflects a careful and collaborative search process, and I am confident that his leadership will help ensure the church’s resources are stewarded wisely in service of our mission.”
Lacovara is a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bedford, New York. He and his husband, Sam Green, live in Westchester County, New York, with their children.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.