Bishop Calls Barry Ronan as Diocesan Treasurer

Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called Barry Ronan to serve as treasurer to the Diocese of South Carolina. After a 46-year career in healthcare, of which 24 years were as a chief executive officer, Ronan retired in March 2021 and moved to South Carolina to be closer to family. “After being retired for a year and still very much enjoying my family, I realized that there was capacity to volunteer my time in service to the community and church,” said Ronan. He quickly became an involved member at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston and began volunteering for Camp Happy Days. 

When Bishop Woodliff-Stanley asked him if he might be interested in serving as treasurer of the diocese, a role previously held by the Rev. Dr. James Taylor (who moved to Florida at the end of the year when called to serve as rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in The Villages), he considered it an honor.

“I have always considered my past roles in the church—which included chairing a church building committee, serving as financial secretary, as well as serving as a member of church council—as a calling in service to God and assumed each role as such,” explained Ronan. “I am so looking forward to this opportunity in applying my past experiences in leadership, finance and strategic visioning to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.”

Highlights of Ronan’s long career included bringing three hospitals together to form a health system, building a new state of the art hospital in 2009, and managing an annual budget of over $350 million. “I am so very grateful that Barry has agreed to serve the diocese as treasurer,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “We will no doubt be blessed by his extensive business experience and financial knowledge.”

Ronan will begin his role as treasurer on June 1, and the Rev. Dr. James Taylor and Canon Andrea McKellar will work with him to assure a smooth transition. Fr. Taylor will continue serving as diocesan comptroller through the end of 2022, with Cn. McKellar beginning to transition into that role after her sabbatical this summer.

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