The Very Rev. James R. Harlan

Before being called as the Dean and Rector of the American Cathedral in Paris, the Very Rev. James R. Harlan served as the Canon Evangelist for the Diocese of Southern Virginia, where he supported the ministry of more than 100 congregations, schools, chaplaincies, and special ministries, especially through organizing leadership development and congregational vitality programs that support the Diocese’s Five Initiatives.

James served as rector of the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida for 10 years. In the Diocese of Southeast Florida, he served as chair of the Constitution and Canons Committee, as Dean of the North Palm Beach Deanery, and as a member of the Executive Board of the Diocese. He also was on the board of Forward Movement, a publisher of print and electronic resources for evangelism and discipleship in the Episcopal Church, including a year as chair, and on the planning committee for the Episcopal Parish Network’s annual conference.

James lived and worked in Colorado from birth until 2011. There, he served at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Colorado Springs and the Church of St. John the Baptist in Breckenridge, and then became a U.S. Navy chaplain with the Seabees in 1999.

At the diocesan level, he was on the Standing Committee, the Commission on Ministry, the diocesan Board of Examining Chaplains, the Commission on Youth Ministry, and the board of directors of Cathedral Ridge, the diocese’s camp and conference center. He also taught Liturgics and Church History at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology, in the Anglican Studies program, and for many years was a reader for the General Ordination Examination for the Episcopal Church’s General Board of Examining Chaplains.

James, 57, first felt called to be a priest in fifth grade. He grew up in southeast Denver, the fourth of five children, in a family that was always active in the Episcopal Church. When he was a teenager, his parents responded to a call to live in a Christian community setting, and so he had as many as 16 fellow residents in his house.

James attended the University of Colorado College of Business and studied at l’Université de Bordeaux in 1986-1987, during his junior year. He and his family also spent a sabbatical summer in Paris in 2009, adding to his fluency in French.

He has solely focused on serving the church since the age of 20, when he became an assistant youth minister at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver. It was during this time that he began the ordination process, attending seminary at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

James has been married to Eli Harlan for 26 years. Their 23-year-old child, Orrin, lives in Gainesville, Florida.

His installation as Dean will be on Sunday, November 5th, 2023 at the 11:00 a.m. service to which all are warmly invited. More information to follow.