The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, 54, rector of Trinity Church, Boston, has been selected to serve as dean of Washington National Cathedral. The Rt. Rev. John B. Chane, Bishop of Washington, made the announcement Nov. 10 at a meeting of the cathedral chapter.

Following the announcement, Fr. Lloyd told the Washington Times that what most attracted him to the assignment is the cathedral’s potential to be “a voice of intellectually alive, generous-spirited Christianity” and a place to help reconcile “a very divided Episcopal Church, and a very divided nation.”

Fr. Lloyd has served since 1993 as rector of Trinity, where he has helped raise $38 million toward Trinity’s $53 million capital campaign to help restore the downtown landmark on Copley Square. Prior to his appointment at Trinity, he served as chaplain of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., beginning in 1988, and as rector of the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer, Chicago, from 1984 to 1988. He also served as assistant to the rector and chaplain at St. Paul’s Memorial Church, Charlottesville, Va., while he was an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

The new dean earned his divinity degree at Virginia Theological Seminary. He holds a doctorate in English literature from the University of Virginia, and holds literature degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Mississippi. He also serves as a regent of the University of the South, a trustee of the Episcopal Media Center, and is a member of the Board of Ministry at Harvard University. He and his wife, Marguerite, have two teenaged children.

He is expected to begin his new ministry in early 2005. As dean, he will oversee an operating budget in excess of $16 million, a staff of nearly 200, more than 1,100 volunteers and the National Cathedral Association with 14,000 members.