Read the Center for Public Theology's June 21, 2018 reflection: "Sessions, Order and Justice"

Has the United States fallen more in love with order than justice? Wesley’s Center for Public Theology has tackled this question, in light of Attorney General Sessions' recent use of Romans 13 to justify “zero-tolerance” immigration policy actions.

Read reflection or download PDF

Center for Public Theology

Making Our Presence Known in the Public Square

OVERVIEW
Wesley Theological Seminary's Center for Public Theology, located in the heart of the nation’s capital, gives churches, their clergy and lay leaders, and seminary students tools to help navigate the connection between faith and public policy. Our goal is to improve the tone of national political discourse by fostering a new ethic of civil discourse. We are non-partisan but not disinterested in the great issues of the day.

While Wesley’s approach to public theology is distinctly Christian, the Center for Public Theology operates in an environment that is both passionately Christian and compassionately interfaith.

Wesley’s experience, clarity of mission and understanding of the pluralistic character of American culture helped it secure two grants that have accelerated the seminary’s planning for the new Center for Public Theology. Our programming has been generously supported by The Henry Luce Foundation and Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

Ways to Engage:

National Capital Semester for Seminarians

For more than 40 years, students from seminaries across the country and Wesley Theological Seminary students have explored the connection between theology and politics through the National Capital Semester for Seminarians (NCSS). NCSS is a semester-long, intensive program of study in ethics, theology and public policy. Seminary students from across the United States come to Wesley for the spring semester. NCSS is open to any student who has completed at least one year of a degree program in an accredited seminary and is recommended by his or her home seminary.

Requirements:

4-credit hour seminar on faith, politics, domestic and international policy issues and the church in the public life
Optional 3-credit-hour course in independent policy research
Most students combine the seminar with an internship program

To learn more, visit our NCSS page.

Public Theology Specialization

Specialization in Public Theology

Requirements:

In addition to the Master of Divinity or Master of Arts requirements, you obtain a specialization in public theology by taking:

Paradigms and Practices of Public

Theology (3 credits)

Foundations for Public Theology

(3 credits)

Eight credits from electives in public

theology, social ethics, political theology, or contextual theology

Capstone Project in Faith and Public Life (3 credits)

A Faculty of Experts and Scholars

Mike McCurry serves as director of Wesley’s Center for Public Theology, which is a part of the Institute for Community Engagement at Wesley Downtown. Also, he serves as an adjunct member of the Wesley faculty. He is better known in Washington as the former White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1998. McCurry earned his M.A. degree in May 2013 from Wesley. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University and a M.A. in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University.

Rev. Dr. Kristopher Norris (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is Visiting Distinguished Professor of Public Theology and the Program Consultant for the Center for Public Theology. Norris teaches classes in the areas of Christian Ethics and Public Theology and co-directs the National Capital Semester for Seminarians with Prof. Mike McCurry. He is currently helping develop Wesley’s new Faith & Public Life Immersion experience through the Center for Public Theology. He has published two books and several journal articles on church practices, faith and politics, and just war theory, as well as the ethics of Bonhoeffer and Barth, and his current research is at the intersection of church, race, and politics. He is an ordained Baptist minister from North Carolina.

Dr. Rick Elgendy (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Wesley's Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology. As a public theologian, he draws on sources in systematic theology, political theology, social ethics, and critical theory. His work has appeared in journals such as Political Theology, the International Journal of Systematic Theology, and Studia Patristica, and he is the co-editor of and a contributor to the volume, Renegotiating Power, Theology, and Politics (Palgrave MacMillan, 2015). He is working on a book that outlines a Christian theology of power by means of a comparison between Karl Barth and Michel Foucault.

As Wesley's Academic Director of Public Theology, Dr. Elgendy advises masters students who specialize in public theology and non-degree students working toward the Certificate in Faith in Public Life. In addition to WTS, he has taught at Lake Forest College and the University of Chicago.

For more information and to apply, please contact our Admissions Office at 202-885-8659 or admissions@wesleyseminary.edu

Certificate in Faith and Public Life

An Education that Makes a Difference in Your Ability to Make a Difference in the World

Learn about the intersection of religion and public engagement.

Earn a certificate in faith and public life.

Wesley Theological Seminary serves current and future Christian leaders. Our students are aspiring professionals and young people yearning for a voice in the public square – to be a public witness.

Join us and gain a strong foundation for a life of service, advocacy and meaning by better understanding the role of religion in public discourse.

Thought-provoking, Important Coursework

The courses you will take at Wesley will explore traditional and contemporary Christian ideas about God, humanity, and the world with an emphasis on public policy and politics. Examine the relationship between the Christian community and the pluralistic, complex world it inhabits.

The classes will familiarize you with the sources and debates Christians draw on in order to form their public witness. You will better understand the landscape of Christian political action and how that action draws on the deep resources of Christian traditions. And you will learn about the diverse forms of communal witness Christians are engaged in around the U.S.

Complete your certificate in just a year.

Non-Degree Certificate Requirements:

Paradigms and Practices of Public Theology (3 credits)
Foundations for Public Theology (3 credits)
Elective (2 or 3 credits)
Elective (2 or 3 credits)
Public Theology Capstone (3 credits)

A Faculty of Experts and Scholars

Mike McCurry

Rev. Kristopher Norris

Dr. Rick Elgendy

Explore the faculty and staff bios for the Institute for Community Engagement

The certificate in public life is a program of Wesley Theological Seminary's Center for Public Theology. The Center for Public Theology is administered by faculty and leaders at the Institute for Community Engagement at Wesley Downtown located at 900 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.

For more information

Contact the admissions office at admissions@wesleyseminary.edu or (202) 885-8659.

Community Engagement Fellows Program

The Community Engagement Fellows program seeks to enhance the academic, theological, formational, and leadership development of the fellows to best prepare them for their positions as leaders in the church and the world. The program enhances students’ learning in areas of applied theology and ministry praxis, experiential learning and theological reflection, and their identity formation as church leaders engaged in transforming the community toward the shape of God’s reign.

Field Education: Community Engagement Fellows participate in a field educational experience in a ministry setting that allows them to undertake a self-designed community engagement project. The Institute for Community Engagement works with Fellows to secure placement in an appropriate setting. The Institute for Community Engagement, the Practice in Ministry and Mission office, as well as the Nonprofit Database also serves as resources.
Stipend: Community Engagement Fellows receive a stipend that helps to cover educational expenses and to engage in their community engagement ministry project. Community Engagement Fellows meet in a weekly seminar to read and discuss the theology and practice of community engagement and to serve as a mutually supportive learning community.
Requirements: Community Engagement Fellows are required to be full-time M.Div. students taking a minimum of 9 credit hours each semester. The Community Engagement Fellows program is not open to M.A. or M.T.S. students.

Community Engagement Fellows declare a specialization in one of the following programs following their first year: Missional Church, Public Theology, or Urban Ministry.

To contact the Center for Public Theology, please call 202-885-8678 or email Associate Director Irene DeMaris, at idemaris@wesleyseminary.edu

Apply Today to Wesley Theological Seminary

Are you an undergraduate? Join Us for the Faith and Public Life Immersion this May!

Be part of the first-ever Faith and Public Life Immersion for undergraduates! Join us in Washington May 21-25, 2018, and spend 5 days visiting the Capitol, meeting policy experts, public officials, faith leaders, and media representatives around D.C....and earn master's level credits, as well!

Find Out More!