Norman J. Kansfield

Norman Jay Kansfield (March 24, 1940 – January 27, 2024) was an American minister who served as a senior scholar in residence at Drew University. He was suspended from being a minister in the Reformed Church in America and president of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 2005 after officiating at his daughter's same-sex marriage.

Early life and education Norman Kansfield was the son of Orval Russel Kansfield (1913–1990) and Margaret Norman (1914–1980) Kansfield.

After graduating from Thornton Township High School, Kansfield continued his education at Hope College, Holland, MI (A.B., 1962), Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI (B.D., 1965), Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY (S.T.M., 1967), and the University of Chicago (A.M., 1970; Ph.D., 1981). During his presidency, through the concerted work of many persons, the student body increased by more than 50% and became much more ethnically and socially diverse; the faculty grew by two positions, and the school's endowment was doubled.

Kansfield has studied the history and theology of the Reformed Church in America and the development of Christian hymnody. Kansfield also wrote a hymn, "In Every Age, God Calls and Shapes the Church," in honor of his daughter Ann's 2011 ordination.

He was dismissed from the Presidency due to officiating at Ann's 2004 marriage to her same-sex partner. Subsequent charges were brought to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, which put him on trial in June 2005. He was found guilty of all charges and punished by being deposed from the office of Professor of Theology and suspended from the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament.

Kansfield taught Reformed Theology in the Theological School at Drew University in Madison, NJ, and served the congregation of the Zion United Church of Christ, Stroudsburg, PA as Theologian. He was active in the founding of Room for All, an organization within the membership of the Reformed Church in America that is working for the full inclusion of GLBT persons within that denomination, and he served the Human Rights Campaign as a member of the Editorial Board of Out In Scripture. In 2011, Kansfield followed the process for restoration to the Office of Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church; in return, the church reinstated him as a pastor.