We are blessed at St. Thomas the Apostle to have so many gifted and talented folk who think theologically! It is of particular benefit to welcome “academia,” those who study, and think, and educate others regarding theology, to be resident among us. In concert with our Bishop and Vestry, I have asked two of our fellow Doubters if they would serve as our “Theologians-in-Residence,” the Reverend Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle and Dr. Mark D. Jordan.
Dr. Steve Sprinkle (steve@thedoubter.org)
Dr. Sprinkle (Steve) is the Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry at Brite Divinity School on the campus of Texas Christian University. Steve holds degrees from Barton College (B.A.), Yale University Divinity School (M.Div.), and Duke University Graduate School (Ph.D., Systematic Theology). (He did his Ph.D. dissertation under the guidance of theologian Stanley Hauerwas!) Steve is ordained as a minister in the Alliance of Baptists. Additionally, Steve is an outspoken advocate in the LGBTQAI community, award-winning author of multiple books on theology and inclusion, the LQBTQ struggle, and also a blogger of national note. Steve is a long-time resident of Oak Cliff with his partner Rob and their English Bulldog Henry!
Dr. Mark Jordan (mark@thedoubter.org)
Dr. Jordan (Mark) is the Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mark holds degrees from St. John’s College (B.A.), and the University of Texas, Austin (M.A., Ph.D.) Mark’s areas of scholarship are Christian theology, European philosophy, and gender studies (and I might add, probably the intersectionality of those things!). Mark is extremely prolific and well-written in the area of sexual ethics, authoring provocative books that have paved the way for much-needed dialogue, particularly with regard to homosexuality and religious marriage. (I met Mark back in the mid-1990’s when he came to Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, to facilitate conversation around the time of his book, “The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology.”) Mark is a native of Oak Cliff, and as he (slowly) moves from Harvard toward retirement, he and his partner Bill have chosen to make the Doubter community their home!
So, what, you may ask, does a “Theologian-in-Residence” do? Good question!
I have charged our Theologians-in-Residence with a very specific task, which they may live out however they see fit. Academic theologians have the ability to contemplate God and the community from a different perspective than do you and I. By virtue of their location, they are able to expand their God-thoughts and God-talk in directions that I simply cannot, because I am waist-deep in services, and bulletins, and pastoral care, and all the other details of day-to-day church life. They are reading and listening to what academia has to say, and they can bring that to us, and they can help us say these things in credible ways to the world!
So, what I have told them is this. As Theologians-in-Residence, I give you license to scratch that which gives you itch. If you are feeling that there is something we should know about, please let us know. If there is something we would be better off knowing about, please let us know. We will find all sorts and conditions of forums for these two (and others) to tell these stories to us and to the world. And I guarantee you, my dear Doubters, we and the world will be all the richer because of it!
Please give both Steve and Mark a big Doubter welcome!
