#  Russ Savage, MDiv ’93 

 



   ![Russ Savage, MDiv '93](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/hds2/files/russ_savage.jpg?itok=aC8NUhBg) 

 

**Type of planned gift: Bequest**

The Rev. Russ Savage, MDiv ’93, came to HDS as a mid-career student. Formerly an executive with AT&T for 25 years, he retired from Bell Laboratories in 1989 when they offered him an attractive early retirement package.

“I was always a serious churchgoer,” he says, and it wasn’t long before he began thinking about pursuing ministry as a second career.

At that time, in addition to being active in his church in southern New Jersey, Russ sometimes attended the Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan, led by the late Rev. Forrest Church, MDiv ’74.

“I visited Forrest one time, and we talked at some length about my becoming interested in ministry, and he said, ‘It sounds like you’re serious about this. There’s only one place to go, and that’s Harvard Divinity School.’”

After graduating from HDS, Russ went on to serve churches in Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, and Virginia with congregations ranging in size from 50 to 800 members.

First, he was called to serve a church in Barnstable, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. After eight years there, Russ relocated to serve a large church in Schenectady, New York, which he led for four years. When he turned 65, Russ decided to retire, and he moved back to his hometown of Washington, D.C.

He didn’t stay retired for long, however. After a couple of years of retirement spent doing assorted volunteer work, he ended up being asked to serve multiple different congregations in the area over the next 16 years.

“I served eight different churches since I so-called retired,” he says. Russ finally retired in earnest in late August 2023, closing the chapter on his vibrant and successful second career in ministry.

**What did you find meaningful about your time at HDS?**

“Being at HDS was not only educational, it was transformational. That whole process of being a student there turns you into a different person, little by little. You might not notice it at the time, but at the end of the three years, you're not the same person you were when you started that process.

“My field education was especially meaningful. I met the Rev. Dr. Carl Scovel at King's Chapel in downtown Boston. I ended up being appointed to serve as a seminarian there for two years. It was a wonderful experience, and Carl was an excellent teacher.”

**The HDS planned giving society is called the James Luther Adams Society. What are your memories of James Luther Adams?**

“James Luther Adams was retired at the time that I was at HDS, but he lived directly across the street from campus, behind Jewett House. Every Tuesday afternoon at five o'clock, he invited all the Unitarian students to come over to his house. He served us peanut butter sandwiches and told us stories about being in Germany before the war, seeing the rise of authoritarianism and the oppression of minorities like Jews, gay people, and so on. He saw the beginnings of what turned into World War II.”

**Why did you decide to make a planned gift to HDS?**

“I appreciate what I experienced at HDS, and my gift is my way of expressing that appreciation. I'd also like to help make it possible for other people to have the same experience. That's why I make a gift every year, and that's why I've made a provision to support HDS in my will.”

—*by Sarah Rubin, donor relations officer*