Faculty

I am a historian and priest by training and vocation, and seek to bring both of those perspectives into my classrooms as we explore the history and practice of Anglican liturgy. My academic interests are in the intersections of religion and politics in early modern Britain and Ireland, and through that work I have to come to appreciate deeply the ways our Prayer Book has always been in conversation with the world around us. That interplay—between the prayers gifted to us by the Church, and our present realities—is central to my teaching about the liturgy and its history. I want my students to leave seminary with an understanding of the history and theology of the Prayer Book, and from that understanding to be equipped to make liturgical decisions that have both liturgical and theological integrity.

I am passionate about the formation of new clergy, so I am excited to be teaching classes in congregational studies as well as parish and community leadership. Being the director of contextual education affords me the opportunity to create a space of intentional theological reflection on the environment in which each seminarian will serve. All theology is contextual, so those who seek to serve, must discern God’s voice (and the voices of others) if we are to be agents of God’s grace and transforming and lifegiving love. All that we are, or aspire to be, flows from that deep sense of vocation. Being entrusted with the care of God’s people is a sacred responsibility. At the School of Theology, we accompany seminarians as they seek to live into their vocation and ministry.

Through my teaching of pastoral theology and courses in Christian spirituality, I hope to prepare future priests to exercise their distinct vocation in the church as prayerful, discerning, and able pastors. I believe that the classical tradition of the “cure of souls” offers deep roots to support a pastoral ministry exercised with theological integrity and practical wisdom. After 25 years in parish ministry, I am convinced that the grace of Christ surrounds all sorts of pastoral situations and serves as an ever-fresh source of strength, insight, and joy. I have explored these themes in my book, "The Nearness of God: Parish Ministry as Spiritual Practice," and I have recently published "Life in Christ: Practicing Christian Spirituality" for use in programs of adult education.

I am a cultural historian trained in the study of ancient religion with special interests in Jewish and Christian origins. I am also a philologist interested in the close reading of ancient texts. I teach in both the undergraduate college and the seminary. In the seminary, I teach electives on such topics as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Judaism in the time of Jesus, early Jewish apocalpyticism and mysticism, the apostle Paul and his interpreters, the rise of Christian beliefs, and Christians in the Roman Empire. Students able to read Greek often register for my courses in the Classics Department or gather in my seminary office to read and discuss some ancient Jewish or Christian document.

Years ago, when I was seeking a seminary to attend, I fell in love with the School of Theology at Sewanee. It was certainly the right place for me as a seminarian and now I am thrilled to be back and in a role that allows me to assist others in their formation for ministry. In my role as associate dean for community life, I work closely with students and their families to connect them with a variety of resources that can enhance their seminary experience. I also collaborate with faculty, staff, and others as needed to help provide an environment of seamless pastoral care and support. I am passionate about overseeing key aspects of community life for students — from new student orientation to deployment assistance for upcoming graduates. It is an exciting time to be at Sewanee, and an honor to facilitate community building that equips church leaders to do the ministry to which they have been called.

A philosophical theologian by training, I teach the introductory course in Christian doctrine and electives in both theology and ethics. My courses all wrestle with the question of how an infinite God became a finite human, and the implications of this incarnation for contemporary Christian belief and practice. I am particularly interested in how literature, art, and music can help us grasp these issues imaginatively as well as rationally.

I have always believed that the study of history is not primarily about names and dates but about stories: the stories we tell ourselves about how we got here and which help us to find our place in the world. As a church historian and student of historical biblical exegesis, I have always been fascinated by how past Christians have read the bible and the stories they have told themselves about the church to which we all belong. I love introducing students to the historical study of the church, and I believe that a careful, nuanced understanding of our past is central to navigating many of the most important issues of our day, from ecumenical dialogue to racial reconciliation to climate change.

Growing up Lutheran, which for me meant singing chorales in the living room, I experienced music as, in Martin Luther's phrase, "theology's handmaid." For Christians, music is not simply a liturgical decoration, but an integral part of our identity; the Prayer Book and the Hymnal are inseparable partners. Here at Sewanee, I hope to build on a tradition of strong music-making by helping clergy and lay leaders develop discerning ears and willing voices, both through classroom teaching and daily chapel services.

Through teaching preaching in core and elective courses, I focus on preaching and scriptural interpretation, preaching as testimony, articulating the gospel as a word of hope and justice, and preaching that shapes a scriptural/theological imagination. My interests include preaching the Old Testament, confronting homiletical whiteness, African American preaching, preaching with(in) the liturgy, and preaching as a resistance and counter movement.

By training I am a literary historian of Early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism, with some forays in patristics and philosophical theology. I came to the field of theological librarianship while serving in various library positions prior to and during my Ph.D. studies at the University of Chicago. I have noticed that as libraries become more and more interconnected in providing electronic access to their collections, their particular strength will only be matched by the quality of their reference and instruction services. This idea is what motivated me to embark into a professional librarian journey. Helping students, faculty, and the surrounding library community to enhance their reading, research, and writing is not only personally rewarding, but worth pursuing professionally.

I am an African Anglican and a post-colonialist theologian. There was never a time in my life when I was not multilingual, multicultural, and ecumenical. This is the reality of the Worldwide Anglican Communion and indeed the Church catholic. Educated in Africa, the U.S.A., and the U.K., it has been a privilege to experience the councils of the church at work and to participate in them. It is this experience as priest and bishop in the church of God, ecumenist, chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, academic and civil society activist that I bring to bear in the teaching of Anglicanism and Missiology. With the help of relevant bibliography, I facilitate for the students an appreciation of and a critical engagement with a church that is “formed by Scripture, shaped through worship, ordered for communion and directed by God’s mission.” I come at this task with a passion to share this knowledge, as a fellow pilgrim, with those who feel called to participate in God’s mission.

I never really set out to do environmental ethics. But in today’s world, where environmental harms magnify social imbalances, anyone concerned with the moral life must focus on reconciling human relationships with the natural world as well as with one another. My work in environmental ethics examines the ways cultural and social imaginations interact with environmental crises and seeks resources for shaping more constructive imaginations, drawing in particular on the work of ethicist H. Richard Niebuhr. I am especially eager to explore the implications of these ideas for the Church’s ministry, and can imagine no better place to do so than in the midst of Sewanee’s abundant natural gifts.

I am passionate about the study of religious practices in the past and about preparing clergy to lead effective worship in the present and future. The historical perspective helps us to understand what we are doing and to resist the merely trendy, instead pointing us towards the things that endure, translated for an evolving culture. I am both a historian and a priest, and both of these vocations inform my work as a scholar and teacher. My interest in dead Britons of the Tudor and Stuart era coexists with my enthusiasm for good liturgy done well in the present, in the service of God and God’s people.

I am an ordained United Methodist minister who loves to teach. My teaching style not only helps students understand the Old Testament in its historical context, but also how it is relevant to the church today.