On a wickedly hot and humid day in the summer of 1992, William Baum was ordained by Bishop William Lazareth at Grace & St. Paul's Church on West 71st Street in Manhattan. Pastor Baum is the last person to have been ordained at the hands of Bishop Lazareth.
Born and reared in Niagara Falls, New York, Pastor Baum was baptised at Zion Lutheran Church and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church, both in that city.
Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in music composition from Concordia College, Bronxville, he went on to post-graduate study in composition through the City University of New York. In the mid-eighties he worked as an administrator at Lehman College in the Bronx. He was awarded the Master of Divinity degree by the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Manhattan in 1991 where his hard-working brother, George (from the band Lost And Found), also received his degree in 2009.
In addition to his seventeen year pastorate at Saint Barnabas Church, Pastor Baum has served on the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan New York Synod since 2000; as Dean of Southwest Queens; chairman of the Synod's Christian Ethics Dialogue; and chairman of the Brooklyn-Queens Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue. He enthusiastically sponsors Boy Scout and Cub Scout Troops 237 and Girl Scout Troop 4286.
Pastor Baum, 49, is the husband of one and father of two. He is married to the Rev. Brooke L. Swertfager, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church on East 15th Street in Manhattan. The couple reside in Manhattan together with their sons. The family is full of avid hockey players and fans.