Joseph Nuzzi is named president of RENEW International
Joseph Nuzzi, a lay ecclesial minister and pastoral leader for 25 years, has been selected as the new president and executive director of RENEW International, announced Donald J. Whittam, the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
G. Gregory Tobin, who has served as executive director of the ministry organization for the past three years, will serve as a senior adviser to the new president and retire in early 2025.
Tobin said he has been honored to lead RENEW, which for four decades has supported parish spiritual renewal and evangelization through small Christian communities. Under his leadership, RENEW held a highly successful, sold-out 25th annual Gala in June and partnered with Seton Hall University’s Center for Catholic Studies to host a symposium, “The Seton Values Summit: Faith & Work.” Tobin oversaw the development and publication of several faith-sharing programs, including “Grateful Living, Many Voices, One Spirit;” and “Eucharist: The Real Presence of Christ,” and the upcoming “Walking to Emmaus,” which has been developed in collaboration with the Catholic Apostolate Center. He led an initiative to reframe and revitalize RENEW’s core experiences, “Be My Witness; Why Catholic?” and “ARISE Together in Christ.” He has also expanded the team of talented staff members who have reinvigorated RENEW’s mission.
“Under Gregory Tobin’s inspired leadership, RENEW International faithfully continued its mission, touching lives and strengthening faith communities worldwide,” Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark and Chair of the Corporate Board, said. “As we embrace this new chapter with Joseph Nuzzi at the helm, we are confident that his passion and experience will further advance RENEW’s vital mission of connecting faith and life.”
Nuzzi is an accomplished lay ecclesial minister and leader in administration, and in team and volunteer management. He has served as director of evangelization and faith formation at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in New York where, among his many accomplishments, he created and directed a successful RCIA program, worked in collaboration with the pastor on a capital campaign raising over $1.2 million, and developed online giving and relationships with donors. Nuzzi was previously a pastoral associate for adult faith formation at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle, N.J. He also was a team member for RENEW’s Small Christian Community Services in the late 1990s. Nuzzi is Co-founder and volunteers as president of NOVA Hope for Haiti in Emerson, N.J., which provides permanent medical outreach in Haiti at primary-care facilities.
“I would like to thank Greg Tobin for his service to RENEW and his leadership in developing significant new publications to add to RENEW’s resources for small Christian communities,” Whittam said. “And I welcome Joseph Nuzzi to RENEW, who will bring his vision and decades of experience to the pastoral services RENEW provides to Catholic parishes and individuals.”
Nuzzi said he is very excited to be returning to RENEW International’s staff.
“Father Tom Kleissler’s invitation to work here in the late 1990s began my professional career in the Church,” Nuzzi said. “After 25 years of parish ministry, I am convinced that building the parish as a community of small communities is vital to the spiritual renewal of individuals as well as the parish as a whole. I look forward to working with the RENEW staff to develop pastoral services and new resources to help parishes become truly evangelizing communities.”
Founded in 1978, the nonprofit organization RENEW International is based in Plainfield, N.J. Its mission is simple yet powerful: to connect faith and life. Guided by the teachings of Christ, RENEW International offers a diverse range of resources and programs—in English, Spanish, and other languages—designed to spark a deeper connection with God, enabling participants to navigate life’s challenges with renewed hope and purpose. To learn more, visit www.renewintl.org.
