Drew Theological School
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We are looking for believers, activists, seekers, thinkers, counselors, preachers, teachers, poets and dreamers who value thinking and action.
- Commit to courageous Christianity.
- Dive into ecological and social justice.
- Inspire the church, the neighborhood, the city, the world.
The next generation of faith leaders needs imagination and courage to constructively engage the challenges and opportunities of our age. This is built into how we do things. No matter your degree program, a Drew Theological School education includes interdisciplinary courses that demand out-of-the-box thinking, apprenticeship training that addresses real-world issues and modes of learning that promote adaptability and innovation.
Community News
The Rev. Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah T’10
Chaplain, JFK Medical Center | Associate Minister, New Hope Baptist Church
The Rev. Dr. Kevin D. Miller T’03,’08
Executive Director of Graduate Admissions, Drew University
Teresita Matos-Post T’14
Executive Director, Beth-El Farmworker Ministry
The Rev. James Lee T’19
Lead Pastor, Wesley United Methodist Church
Olivia DiAgostino T’19
Transformation Program Coordinator, United Methodist Women
STORIES
The Forest is Waiting
Admitted Students Day
Thursday, May 26 @ 5:30-6:30 PM EDT
Please contact gradm@drew.edu for registration information
Alumni Weekend
June 2-4
Throwback Thursday to Honors Convocation!
Nearly fifty students were recognized at this year's Honors Convocation for their scholarly excellence, dynamic leadership, and dedicated service while studying at #DrewTheo.
“There are achievements for which there are no prizes,” said Rev. Dr. Traci West, James W. Pearsall Professor of Christian Ethics and African American Studies.
She continued, “From the faculty, we honor you for the ways in which you have honored us. You showed up to write, study, learn, grow, and dare to be stretched in ways you never thought you could. You have changed our lives because of the amazing ways in which you have come to our classes and been our mentees—we celebrate you for the honor of having had the chance to journey with you here at Drew.”
Dean Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre recognized the many achievements of the graduating class of 2022. Nine PhD students successfully defended their dissertations, several master’s students have been accepted into prestigious PhD programs throughout the country, and even more have received congregational appointments or new opportunities in ministry near and far.
Read more at the link in our bio.
Congratulations to Rev. Dr. Gary V. Simpson, the #DrewTheo Teacher of the Year.
Rev. Dr. Simpson, the Associate Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Formation, was honored with this award at commencement.
Students describe Rev. Dr. Simpson's teaching as "informative, energetic, and life-giving," and they say, “His character and passion shows each time he shows up for class.”
Congratulations from the #DrewTheo community!
Rev. Pat Weikart, M.A., M.Div. is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She is the Palliative Care Chaplain at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, DE.
She is currently in #DrewTheo’s Doctor of Ministry: Faith, Health, and Social Equity cohort while working on designing and implementing a model for congregations to join her local children’s hospital in providing psycho-social-spiritual support for patients who suffer with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and their families. Her model was initiated in Memphis, TN by Rev. Dr. Gary Gunderson, and she sees the need to implement it in a pediatric setting for the first time.
“Since SCD largely impacts families of color - and families of color in about 75% of our cases are part of a faith community - I want to strengthen the connection between the hospital and the church, synagogue, and / or mosque so that we might build trust in the healthcare system and expand support for these families,” Rev. Pat Weikart said.
Thank you to Pat for sharing about her important work with children and families affected by SCD as she works on her Doctor of Ministry degree. You can apply for #DrewTheo’s Doctor of Ministry degree at the Apply Now tab in our Linktree.
#DoctorOfMinistry #DMin #Chaplain
#DrewTheo celebrated the graduating class of 2022 over the weekend with an in-person ceremony on the Mead Hall Lawn on Friday, May 13.
The #DrewTheo honorary degree recipient is the Rev. Dr. Janet L. Wolf, an ordained United Methodist elder, author, activist, and educator who has worked tirelessly for social change and transformative education.
Wolf, who was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters, was integral to the launch of Drew’s original Partnership for Religion and Education in Prisons (PREP) program in the New Jersey prisons more than a decade ago, piloting the signature inside-out co-learning model.
“We are the church of Jesus Christ not because we gather on Sunday mornings or sing hymns or recite creeds or offer prayers; not because we have a building that says so or an altar with a cross or because we send money to mission,” said Wolf during her address. “We are the church when we live out the radically inclusive love of Christ Jesus.”
The ceremony was preceded by Commencement Eucharist in Craig Chapel in Seminary Hall and followed by a reception in the Seminary Hall Atrium.
Congratulations to the #DrewTheo class of 2022!
Make plans to celebrate our #DrewTheo graduates this Friday!
We will begin the day with Graduation Eucharist in Craig Chapel at 8:00 a.m. The graduation ceremony will take place on the Mead Hall Lawn at 10:00 a.m. A reception will follow immediately after the ceremony in the Atrium of Seminary Hall. A university-wide baccalaureate is in the evening at 6:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall.
For those not with us in person, a livestream will be available. Check out drew.edu/commencement for additional information.
Rev. Alexis Carter Thomas is a Baptist consultant for churches and faith-based organizations in South Carolina.
She is in the Doctor of Ministry program at #DrewTheo, and she is in the Women’s Religious Leadership cohort. Her project in progress, in her own words, “explores how womanist theology affects the self-actualization and theological lenses of Black women in congregational leadership in Christian churches.”
“I find deep delight in pastoral ministry, yet I began to witness how my passions for deep listening and cultivating liberative spaces were needed in ways that went beyond the traditional role of a pastor,” Rev. Alexis Carter Thomas said. “I came into consulting with churches and faith-based organizations because I regularly encountered pastors and faith leaders who desired conversation partners with whom they could do theological reflection and be their authentic selves in ways that were often difficult for them to do with others in their ministry context.”
Unique to the Women’s Religious Leadership cohort, these students will finish the degree without having a professor who is a man.
Rev. Alexis Carter Thomas praised the “many powerful moments” led by #DrewTheo professors, and she acknowledges the following: “Rev. Dr. Meredith Hoxie Schol's gifts for coaching and inviting others into theological discussion; Rev. Dr. Traci West's liberative teaching style and gracious truth-telling; Dr. Kate Ott's gift for innovative and transformative pedagogy; Dean Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre's ability to listen and guide students down new paths while affirming their insights. We have needed these.”
We are proud at #DrewTheo of the courageous and innovative leadership of the women in our Doctor of Ministry. For more information about DMin opportunities like those of Alexis and her colleagues, take a look through the Find Our Programs tab on our Linktree.
#DrewTheo #TheologicalSchool #Seminary #GradSchool #DMin #Womanist #WomanistTheology #LiberationTheology #NewJersey #NJ
The Last piece from the Roll Down Justice Concert
Let Justice Roll
Let Justice Roll~ A musical Celebration at Drew’s DOROTHY YOUNG CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Drew Theological School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gladson Jathanna as assistant professor of the history of Christianities. Jathanna will join the #DrewTheo community in the fall 2022 semester.
Jathanna brings a decade of research and teaching experience in a variety of global contexts. His academic works and social engagements reflect his interest in decolonial thinking, focusing on the intersectionality of race, caste, gender, and sexuality.
“I’m excited and thrilled to join Drew Theological School,” said Jathanna. “Drew’s passion and commitment to decolonial and justice-centered approaches to theological education are what brings me to this radically innovative community of scholars, ministers, and activists.”
The author of two books, Decolonising Oikoumene and Mode of Mutuality in the Margins of Mission, Jathanna has also authored and edited countless chapters and articles.
Jathanna, who earned his Doctor of Theology at George August University in Goettingen, Germany, is a member of the Church of South India, a united and uniting church with a long heritage of Methodism, among other church traditions.
The Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas, T’21 is an Episcopal priest currently serving at All Saints Episcopal Parish in Hoboken, NJ.
She completed her Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Fire and Pastoral Identity in a Fluid Culture at #DrewTheo with her project, “The Church as Community Healer.” She explored the ways in which contemporary liturgies, storytelling, and prayer can work toward healing her community.
Hoboken holds generational trauma from multiple fires caused by arson that killed 56 people from 1978-1982.
“Early in the program, I was researching the context in which I do ministry, and that led me to the founding of All Saints, the combining of three Episcopal Churches into one back in 1983,” The Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas said.
“During the years leading up to that, All Saints joined together with other faith communities to form Communities of Faith for Housing to provide shelter and advocacy for those being displaced by gentrification by developers buying them out and by arson. So this work is in the DNA of my congregation. Most had no knowledge of any of this, so it was a learning experience for everyone. I would say the effect has been to renew our purpose as a church for the city and not just for ourselves.”
Thank you to Elaine for sharing her journey through #DrewTheo’s Doctor of Ministry program. To learn more about our DMin, check out the Find Our Programs tab in our Linktree.
#Seminary #DoctorOfMinistry #DMin #Hoboken #NJ #NewJersey
Prospective #DrewTheo students from across the globe gathered virtually to experience a day as a Drew student during the annual Virtual Open Doors @ #DrewTheo!
Future faith leaders representing four continents from as close as New Jersey to as far as Nigeria were able to experience @DrewUniversity by participating in worship, conversations, and classes throughout the day.
“It was really helpful in thinking and praying about my next steps in life,” said a prospective student. “It also renewed my sense of what it would be like to be a student.”
“The overall vibe was so positive and encouraged me to attend Drew,” another prospective student said.
Our deadline for the #DoctorOfMinistry is June 1, and the deadline for our masters programs is July 15. Start your application today, found in our #Linktree!
#Seminary #NewJersey #NJ #DMin #MDiv #MasterOfDivinity #Chaplain #SocialJustice #Pastor #UMC #UnitedMethodist
Honors Convocation at Drew Theological seminary picture highlights
Honors Convocation 2022
Honors Convocation Theological School Drew University
Congratulations to #DrewTheo alum, Rev. Jeff Campbell, on his new role as the Executive Director of the United Methodist Discipleship Ministries Board of Directors.
Campbell, an ordained elder in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, has served as Acting General Secretary of Discipleship Ministries since February 25, 2021, while maintaining his role as Associate General Secretary for Strategic Programming. Campbell joined Discipleship Ministries in 2013 as Director of Conference Relationships.
Read the full announcement from Discipleship Ministries in our #Linktree.
#DrewU #NewJersey #NJ #GradSchool #Seminary #UnitedMethodist #UMC
You are invited to the launch of the Women's Ministerial Alliance at #DrewTheo! Join this new caucus as they begin their work with guest speaker, Rev. Dianne Galashaw, a recent Drew Theo alum.
The event will be held in Craig Chapel with a livestream option. If you have any questions, please reach out to Eulynis Matthias-Fridie via Drew email.
#Seminary #TheologicalSchool #TheologicalEducation #NewJersey #NJ #WomenInMinistry #ClergyCollarProject
Let Justice Roll: A Musical Celebration will take place on Wednesday, May 4 in the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts at Drew University.
The Social Justice Leadership Project, funded by a generous grant by the Luce Foundation, hosts this concert featuring #DrewTheo's Professor of Church Music, Mark Miller, joined by Ken Medema.
Admission is free. Mark it on your calendars today!
#DrewU
Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is the only Nashville-based transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologian that they know.
Robyn, a Doctor of Ministry student at #DrewTheo, released their new book, "Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation" at the end of March. In this book, they write about their identity as a neurodivergent person when learning that they are on the autism spectrum.
"We can’t shift the future in the direction we want it to go without first shifting our cultural understandings of bodies. This work demands our attention to self and attention to other," Robyn said.
Read the full article from the Tennessean at our #Linktree.
#DrewU #BodyBecoming #Neurodivergence #AutismSpectrum #TheologicalSchool #Seminary #DoctorOfMinistry #DMin
Are you joining us for Virtual Open Doors @ #DrewTheo today? Put a comment below with your program of interest! ⬇️⬇️