The Rev. Dr. John Edwin ("Jed") Griswold is Beneficent's Minister of Education, coordinating the Sunday School ministries since 2001.

In thirty years of ordained ministry, Jed has served as a parish minister for fourteen years with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); as a part-time hospital chaplain for three years (specializing in ICU and ER care at the West Virginia University Medical Center); as the director of a pilot project of chaplaincy at a state park in West Virginia for five summers; as a participant for several years in the college chaplaincy program at West Virginia University; as Founder and Director of the East Bay Medical Referral Service based at the Berkeley Free Clinic in Berkeley, CA., one of only three medical draft counseling services in the country at the time; as a Commissioner for two years for the Commission on Religion in Appalachia (the largest regional ecumenical organization in the country); as Executive Director, for three years, of the Appalachian Regional School for Church Leaders, a project of West Virginia University; and for the least twelve years, he has served two UCC congregations here in New England as their part-time Minister of Education, eight of those years here at Beneficent.

In addition to traditional church work, Jed was an Assistant Academic Dean and is now a full professor in the disciplines of Psychology and Philosophy at Dean College in Massachusetts. He is a frequent adjunct instructor at Rhode Island College and Johnson & Wales University here in Rhode Island. Jed holds an A.B. in philosophy from West Virginia University; an M.A. in psychology from Rhode Island College; an M.Div. from Duke University; and a D.Min. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; with additional graduate work in educational psychology at West Virginia University. His doctoral work was on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and he has used the MBTI as a consultant to over fifty organizations, including churches, social service agencies, hospitals and colleges, in addition to presenting on the MBTI at regional and national conferences.

Jed’s hobbies include writing and acting for film (including a 3-second background scene in Underdog, filmed in Providence), though he has yet to receive a call from a casting agent in Hollywood….