"Moses brought all the people to the Promised Land, not just the Commandos." These words well describe George Werner's three years as President of the House of Deputies.

He has worked tirelessly to reach out to all parts and parties of this branch of the Body of Christ. He continues to seek new and different faces for Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards. In a time of too little trust, he is and encouraging and collaborative proponent for justice, mission and evangelism.

George Werner was born in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Lafayette College in Easton, PA and a Master of Divinity from the Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven, and has received Doctors of Divinity (honoris causa) from Berkeley at Yale and Nashotah House.

Ordained to the Diaconate in the Diocese of Connecticut in 1962 and the Priesthood in 1963 Dean Werner served as a curate in suburban Milford and as Rector in inner-city Bridgeport. In 1968, he was called to Manchester (NH) where he was rector of the main parish while also working on the bishop's Staff. In 1979, he was named Dean of Historic Trinity Cathedral in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, where he served until January of 2000.

In addition to a very full schedule as pastor, priest, preacher and teacher, he was very active in his dioceses and in the wider Church. He has served in the House of Deputies since 1970. Included in his elected and appointed responsibilities have been memberships on: The Church Pension Fund; The Committee on the State of the Church; the Standing Committee on Health (Chair); Councils of Advice to two Presidents of the House of Deputies, and Venture in Mission (National Vice-President.)

Dean Werner was elected Vice-President of the House of Deputies in 1994 and 1997 and President in 2000. In the latter role, he serves as Vice Chair of The Executive Council and ex officio on many Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards of the Church.

Concurrent with his priestly role, Dean Werner has long been a leader in the wider community. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette offered an editorial tribute to him entitled The Dean of Downtown and called him, "the High Priest against pessimism." For the two decades when Pittsburgh was a rust belt capitol he co-founded five 501(C)(3) organizations serving the unemployed; homeless women; elderly, handicapped and lonely; those at risk for losing utilities, and one major economic development organization. In the 60's, he hosted one of the first Head Start programs, was an officer of legal aid and a colleague of one of Dr. Martin Luther King's lieutenants. In New Hampshire he co-founded a halfway house for young men leaving the State Industrial School.

Werner continues to work extensively in the world of healthcare in the complex University of Pittsburgh Health Care System, currently chairing Behavioral Medicine and serving on Community, Diversity and the Executive Committee. He chairs a Hospital Foundation. For nine years, he led an oversight committee on Organ Transplantation. His colleague, Dr. Thomas Starzl, "father of liver transplantation," wrote him on his retirement from that position, "Your role in the oversight committee was not only intellectual, it seemed to me inspirational…"

George Werner has been a witness for Jesus Christ in both secular and sacred communities, while serving the highest councils of our church. As he reminded the six Provincial Caucuses he visited this year, "In a time of vulnerability, of dread and enmity, we are called more than ever to be the example of Christ and serve as his wounded, loving hands reaching out to all."

He is the husband of the former Audrey Volker, father of four children, and the indomitable and doting grandfather of nine.