The Reform rabbinical association welcomed Rabbi Lyon to the CCAR Board of Trustees during the organization’s yearly Reform rabbinical convention.
March, 24 2025, Chicago, IL: The Central Conference of American Rabbis installed Rabbi David Lyon at the organization’s yearly convention, held this year in Chicago.
Rabbi Lyon is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, Texas, where he will continue to serve during his term as CCAR President.
He has served on the CCAR Board of Trustees since 2015, in roles including member-at-large, Vice President of Financial Affairs, and President-Elect. He has contributed to the CCAR’s Continuing Rabbinic Education Committee, which resulted in a bylaw change with permanent continuing education expectations for all CCAR members; helped re-envision a new collaborative approach to CCAR’s development department, increasing CCAR revenue and securing major gifts; and chaired a Task Force on Admissions that reset rules for admissions to CCAR for ordained rabbis of non-HUC seminaries, among many other substantial contributions to the Reform rabbinate.
“Serving on the CCAR Board is an honor and a natural extension of my rabbinate. The conversations and decisions made by the CCAR Board impact our Reform colleagues in all the diverse places and ways they serve. I am honored to lead the 2025–2027 CCAR Board and Reform rabbinate of over 2,200 rabbis to listen to their needs, prepare them for an ever-changing landscape, and to provide rabbinic education, counsel, and tools. Just as I am privileged to serve the Houston Jewish community, I am blessed to serve my colleagues through the CCAR, the home for excellence in Reform rabbinic leadership, now and in the future.And, being from Chicago and being installed in Chicago, surrounded by hundreds of my rabbinic colleagues feels like a full-circle Jewish moment.”
Ordained in 1990 at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati, Rabbi Lyon has served as Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel for twenty-one years and previously served Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing, Michigan, and Temple Shalom in Dallas, Texas.
“Rabbi Lyon has been a stabilizing and calming force for the CCAR during his decade-long commitment to the CCAR Board. He leads with respect and integrity, is open to a diversity and plurality of viewpoints, and embraces new ways of thinking and collaborating while respecting tradition and always remaining grounded in Jewish values. He takes seriously the future of the rabbinate and needs of younger rabbis beginning or in the middle of their rabbinic journey while ensuring that rabbis in all phases of their careers have the tools and support they need,” said CCAR Chief Executive Rabbi Hara Person.
Rabbi Lyon is the 66th President in the 136-year history of the CCAR, succeeding Rabbi Erica Asch. He resides in Houston with his wife, Lisa. Together they have four grown children and four grandchildren.
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The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is the Reform Rabbinic leadership organization. The CCAR strengthens the Jewish community by providing religious, spiritual, ethical and intellectual leadership and wisdom. CCAR and its members lead the Reform Movement on important spiritual, social, cultural and human rights issues, as it has done since 1889. CCAR also is the center for lifelong rabbinic learning, professional development, and resources for the more than 2,200 rabbis who serve more than 2 million Reform Jews throughout North America, Israel and the world. Since its founding, the CCAR has also served as the primary publisher of the Reform Movement through CCAR Press and its imprint Reform Judaism Publishing.
Contact: Tamar Anitai, CCAR Director of Strategic Communications, tanitai@ccarnet.org