Bruce C. Birch, Ph.D., is Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.

A native of Kansas, Dr. Birch received a B.A. from Southwestern College, B.D. from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and a M.A., M.Phil., and  Ph.D. from Yale University.  He completed post-doctoral study at Tübingen University in Germany.  Dr. Birch taught at Yale, Iowa Wesleyan College and Erskine College prior to joining the faculty at Wesley in 1971.  He has taught as visiting professor in numerous international settings including Russia, Israel, Liberia, Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

An ordained United Methodist Elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference,  Dr. Birch has been a delegate to UMC General and Jurisdictional Conferences and served on its General Board of Church and Society. 

A frequent contributor to journals and periodicals, Dr. Birch has authored eighteen books including What Does the Lord Require?; Singing the Lord’s Song; Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics and Christian Life; Hosea, Joel, Amos for the Westminster Bible Companion, and To Love As We Are Loved: The Bible and Relationships.  With Larry Rasmussen he has co-authored The Predicament of the Prosperous and Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life.  He has served as one of the Old Testament editors for the New Interpreter’s Bible and contributed the commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel.  With Walter Brueggemann, Terence Fretheim, and David Petersen, he co-authored A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament, now in its second edition. He co-authored with Lewis A. Parks Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly: A Biblical Model of Church Leadership. His most recent book is Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life: A New Conversation, co-authored with Larry Rasmussen, Jacqueline Lapsley and Cynthia Moe-Lobeda.

Youtha Hardman-Cromwell is a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Alexandria District. She specializes in contextual education and homiletics and brings this passion to bear through her leadership in Wesley Theological Seminary's Practice for Ministry and Mission program. Her current projects include manuscripts on:

Images in Sermons;
19th Century African American Preaching; and
The Meaning of Marriage in our Religious Tradition.

Education

Ph.D., American University

M.Div., Howard University School of Divinity

Ed.S., University of Virginia

M.S., Troy State

B.S., George Washington University

Publications

"Imaging the Sermon," in The African American Pulpit, Winter 2002-2003, pp. 18-20.
Book review in Quarterly Review 21:4, Winter 2001, 432 of Preaching to Head and Heart, by Thomas R. Swears, Nashville: Abingdon, 2000.
"Case Study: Service and Survival" with Sue Zabel
In Transforming the City: Reframing Education for Urban Ministry. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmanns Publishing Company, 2002.
"Response" in Connecting with Today's Theological Students: A Collection of Presentations. Washington, D. C: The Washington Theological Consortium, Fall 2001.
"Spirituality and Sexuality: Both or Neither," in Shaping Sanctuary. Chicago: RCP, 2000, pp. 5-8.
"'Freedom From" In Negro Preaching of the Nineteenth Century," AQT Special Issue "The Pulpit Leads the World." December 2000, pp. 277-295.
"Make It Plain: Make It Portable: Effective Sermon Images," Quarterly Review, Summer 2000, pp. 199 -215.
"Not In My Church," a case study in Journal for Case Teaching, Number 9, 1997/98, pp. 59-63.
FaithLink and FaithNow, United Methodist Publishing House Adult Christian Education Weekly Publication, Since July 1995 I have researched or written an issue once a month (January 1998 issue: "Sound or Silence").
"Young, Gay, Dead: Suicide in Homosexual Teenagers" Open Hands, Summer 1997.
"If Mary Came Again" (December 1999)," Experiencing Joy" (December 1997), and "Come Before Winter" (December 1996), The Trumpeter, Trinity United Methodist Church.
"Using Maps With Children," Children's Teacher, Church School Publications, The United Methodist Publishing House, Spring, 1997.
"Change is Coming: How Shall We Respond?" in Virginia United Methodist Advocate, p. 5, November 24, 1994.
"Interrogation and Accusation, "March 31, 1995 Meditation in Liberation and Unity 1995, Princeton, N.J.: Consultation on Church Union, 1994.
"Living in the Intersection: Black Women Writers," in Living the Intersection, Cheryl Sanders, ed., Augsburg, Fortress, 1994.
"Power and Sexual Abuse in Ministry," Journal of Religious Thought, Volume 48, Number 1, Summer-Fall 1991.

Relevant Classes Taught

Internship in Ministry and Mission
Sexual Issues in Parish Ministry
Studying Congregational Ministry, taught with Joseph Tortorici

Dr. Marullo directs Wesley’s newly created Center for the Missional Church, located at our Wesley Downtown location. He joined the Wesley faculty in 2010 after serving more than nine years as Chair and Professor of the Department of Sociology at Georgetown University. A 2010 M.Div. of Wesley, Dr. Marullo now serves a crucial role in equipping church leaders for missional engagement in the world. The Center helps to “turn churches inside out” as leaders learn about fruitful ministry practices in service, mission, social justice, and community transformation. The Center supports Wesley’s curriculum development in the areas of urban ministry, public theology, missional church and evangelism. Dr. Marullo teaches courses in the areas of missional church, urban ministry, social justice, and social research in ministry.

Education

Wesley Theological Seminary, M.Div.
Columbia University, Ph.D. Sociology
Columbia University, M.A., Sociology
Colgate University, A.B., Mathematics and Social Relations

Relevant Classes Taught

Missional Fellows
Seminary Urban Fellows Seminar
Social Research for Ministry
Leadership and Practices of the Missional Church
Spiritual Formation for the Practice of Ministry

Deborah Sokolove is Professor Emerita and was previously Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion. With a background in art education and computer graphics, most of her courses and her writing focus on the intersection of the arts with theology, liturgy, and culture. In addition to her teaching and writing, she also maintains an active studio practice as a painter. Her paintings have been shown locally and nationally, and are represented in numerous collections including two works in Oxnam Chapel: a set of Stations of the Cross, and Sanctus, which was created as part of the chapel renovation. Sokolove is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the North American Academy of Liturgy, Christians in the Visual Arts, and is on the Board of Directors of the Society for Religious and Theological Studies. She is a Steward of Seekers Church, an intentional Christian congregation in the tradition of Church of the Saviour, where she serves on the worship planning group and frequently preaches and leads worship.

Education

Ph.D., Drew University

M.T.S., Wesley Theological Seminary

B.A., M.F.A., California State University

Selected Publications

Calling on God: Inclusive Language Prayers for Three Years of Sundays, co-authored with Peter Bankson, Skylight Paths/Christian Journeys, 2014

Sanctifying Art: Inviting Conversation Between Artists, Theologians, and the Church, Wipf & Stock, 2013 

"Marking Time: Dressing the United Methodist Church for Worship 1982-2002", 2003, dissertation, Drew University

Lew Parks teaches is the areas of United Methodist polity and leadership and administration in small churches at Wesley. He is the pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Lemoyne, PA. Before being called to Wesley in 1998 he served United Methodist churches of all sizes throughout the Susquehanna Conference (formally Central Pennsylvania) and was a district superintendent of a town and country district. He is a five time delegate to General Conference of the UMC and served on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. He served as Wesley's director of the Doctor of Ministry program for 20 years, retiring from this role in July 2018.

He co-authored Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly (2004) with Bruce Birch and wrote Preaching in the Small Membership Church (2009). In recent years he has been working with lay and clergy leaders of small churches across the country. Dr. Parks is married to Peggy. They have two children, six grandchildren and live in Mechanicsburg, PA.

Education

Ph.D., St. Mary's Seminary-Baltimore

M.Div., Wesley Theological Seminary

B.S., Lock Haven University

Publications

Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly: A Biblical Model of Church Leadership with Bruce Birch (2004)
Preaching in the Small Membership Church (2009)

Relevant Classes Taught

Polity of The United Methodist Church
Leadership and Administration in Small Churches
Project Seminar for the Doctor of Ministry
Leadership across Time and Culture