Supporting Seminary Students

Rt. Rev. M. Blair Couch S’78 has been retired since 2015, though you might not know it by her schedule. A bishop in the Moravian Church, she is still busily engaged in being a “pastor to the pastors” and meets with bishops around the country. She has stayed actively involved with the Moravian Theological Seminary as a member of its board of trustees and as an adjunct faculty member.

A graduate of the seminary, Bishop Couch has made a planned gift—a bequest—to its future as a part of the current Lighting the Way campaign. This bequest isn’t specific to any one scholarship or program; rather, she has directed it to go to the greatest campaign need. “I want the seminary to be able to have what it needs if there is an area that could be helped,” she says. “I’m not directing the gift.”

Bishop Couch’s connection to the Moravian church is strong. Her father education that in turn can significantly impact communities and families that are socioeconomically disadvantaged, providing hope and motivating improvement as a human being. I represent those who strive to overcome obstacles and show that it is never too late to achieve their dream of obtaining an academic degree.

“At the Moravian Seminary, I have tasted the waters of knowing and how to know. I am equipped to provide a better ministerial service. Once I have completed my degree, my goal is to be ordained as a priest for the denomination to which I belong and to continue serving as pastor. I want to get involved in projects that contribute to the quality of life of minority groups, and I wish to continue studying to obtain a doctoral degree in theology.” was a minister. There’s also a long, long family history. She is a direct descendant of the theologian and Moravian leader Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) and the seventh bishop in her family line.

To learn how you can light the way for our students, visit moravian.edu/lightingtheway.

Bishop Couch’s first call to the ministry was in grade 5. She “felt a call to church,” as she puts it, but in those days women couldn’t be ministers. At the time, she thought the closest she could come to fulfilling the call was through marriage. But in 1975, she learned of Rev. Dr. Mary Matz, the first modern woman in North America to be ordained. At that ordination, the thought came to her, You don’t have to marry a minister; you can be one.

She earned a BA from St. Olaf College in Minnesota in 1974 and a master of divinity degree from the Moravian Theological Seminary in 1978. Bishop Couch has warm memories of her time at the seminary. “A wonderful community,” she says. “My colleagues in seminary have been precious support all these years.”

After graduation, she spent years as a pastor in Edmonton, Canada. Returning to Pennsylvania in 1995, she and her husband, Warren Gericke, moved to the west side of Bethlehem with their two daughters, and she became pastor at Calvary Moravian Church in Allentown. In 2002, Couch was made a bishop of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church in America, only the second female bishop worldwide at that time.

About 10 years ago, Bishop Couch and her mother, Marian Blair McCuiston Couch, matched gifts to create a scholarship in her father’s name. The Rev. Paul DeSchweinitz Couch Endowed Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to candidates for ordination from the church’s Southern Province and Canadian District.

She explains why the scholarship is important: “The master of divinity and master of chaplaincy degrees, in which students head out into the working world, are not going to bring a big salary. These students come out with debt as an undergrad, then seminary debt; they have expenses setting up a pastorage; they need a car...so scholarship is a priority.” For the students “to have as much grace as possible in terms of finances is a good thing,” she adds.

As for her ongoing commitment to the seminary, Rev. Dr. C. Riddick Weber, associate professor of the practice of pastoral ministry, says, “Bishop Couch has lived her life as a servant leader and trailblazer within the church, and a deeply involved advocate for Moravian Theological Seminary. She is the embodiment of a dedicated alum who supports the institution she loves.”

A member of the seminary’s board of trustees until 2019, Bishop Couch also serves on the board’s campaign committee. When asked if there is anything she feels is important for supporters of the campaign to know, she says, “I have so valued the connections I have made at Moravian and through the seminary community, and I would hope my friends and colleagues would support the campaign.”

—Therese Ciesinski