At Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s 2024 Alumnae/i Days gathering, four alums were honored for their work and recognized as this year’s distinguished alumnae/i or received The Fred Rogers Award for Creative Ministry. In this blog series, meet these alums and discover the ways in which they serve God and neighbor in their communities and across the nation. The 2024 Distinguished Alumnus in Specialized Ministry is the Rev. Dr. N. Graham Standish ’88.
Distinguished Alumnus in Specialized Ministry: The Rev. Dr. N. Graham Standish ’88
The Rev. Dr. N. Graham Standish ’88 is an experienced teacher, retreat leader, and speaker, having led hundreds of conferences and workshops nationally and internationally over the past 25 years. He has 30 years of experience as a spiritual director, 20 years of experience as a clergy coach, and has been the executive director of Samaritan Counseling Center of Western PA Inc. since 2017. He led Samaritan to adopt a new vision and oversaw organizational restructuring, enabling growth of satellite locations across Western Pennsylvania and doubling the number of counseling sessions per year. Graham also directs Samaritan’s Caring for Clergy and Congregations program and has expanded it from a small operation offering mostly clergy counseling to also providing one-on-one clergy coaching and spiritual direction with regional, national, and international clients, small clergy groups devoted to developing healthier leadership, as well as workshops and consultations on congregational health and transformation.
Prior to his work at Samaritan, Graham served for 22 years as senior pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pa., leading the congregation in adopting a spiritual approach to congregational revitalization. This work garnered national attention, including the church becoming a prominent research subject in Diana Butler Bass’ book Christianity for the Rest of Us. Graham’s experience in growing churches based on discernment and spiritual growth is the foundation of his work with clergy and churches. He has written extensively on spirituality, spiritual direction, and spirituality in congregations, authoring 10 books—including Preaching to Those Walking Away (2022)—and contributing to five others. He continues to write articles for national publications as well as blogs and op-eds for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has taught in PTS’s Doctor of Ministry Program and Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Formation program as well as at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Toronto, Ontario.
Graham has also served in a pastoral counseling agency, as a therapist in a psychiatric hospital, as a drug and alcohol therapist, as an associate pastor at a growing church in Murrysville, Pa., and as a hospital chaplain intern. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in formative spirituality from Duquesne University, an M.S.W. from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.Div. from PTS, and a B.A. in psychology from Roanoke College. Since 2015, Graham and his wife, Diane (who is also a social worker), have established and funded twin scholarships at PTS and the University of Pittsburgh to support students in the schools’ joint M.Div./MSW program.
Learn more about Graham and his ministry on his personal website: https://www.ngrahamstandish.org/
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