Current employment:
Assistant Professor of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary, 2004-present.
Past employment:
Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies, Yale Divinity School and Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 2003-2004.
Taught North American Protestant Worship Traditions, Baptism and Eucharist in Contemporary Ecumenical Conversation, and Foundations of Christian Worship.
Associate for Worship, Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (USA), 2000-2003.
Teaching assistant and associate, Candler School of Theology, 1994-1996 (during doctoral program).
Instructor, Early and Medieval Christianity, Emory College, Fall 1996.
Education:
Ph.D., Theological Studies, Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University, 2000.
Faculty advisors: Rebecca Chopp and Don Saliers.
Dissertation: “Do This in Remembrance of Me: A Ritual Approach to Reformed Eucharistic Theology”
M.Div., Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1994
One year of study, Ancient Indian History and Culture, Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, India, 1989-90
A.B., Comparative Study of Religion, Harvard College, 1989
Publications:
Do This in Remembrance of Me: A Ritual Approach to Reformed Eucharistic Theology.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.
Christian Prayer for Today. Westminster John Knox Press, forthcoming, December 2008.
“Creation and New Creation in Baptism.” In Theology in Service of the Church: Essays in Honor of Joseph D. Small, III. Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
Contributor, Feasting on the Word, lectionary commentary series edited by Barbara Brown Taylor and David Bartlett. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008- .
Contributor, New Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, edited by Brian Gerrish and Dawn DeVries. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, forthcoming.
“Marriage: A New Way of Life?” In Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts 41.3 (February 2008).
Book review of Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to the Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition by Jaroslav Pelikan. The Bulletin of the Institute for Reformed Theology, 2007.
“Death in the Midst of Life, Life in the Midst of Death: Preaching and Worship in the Easter Season.” In Journal for Preachers, Winter 2007.
Book note, A Holy Meal: The Lord's Supper in the Life of the Church by Gordon T. Smith. In Theology Today (Winter 2006).
Essays on “Theological Themes” for Lectionary Homiletics (December 2006).
“Between Text and Sermon.” Interpretation (October 2006).
Book review of Where the Light Shines Through: Discerning God in Everyday Life by Wes Avram. In Presbyterian Outlook,2006.
“The Importance of Worship that Centers on the Ordo.” Liturgy 21:2 (2006): 15-23.
Co-authored with Neal Presa, “Finding a theology of ordination and vocation in baptism.”
“Eucharist ≈ Eschatology,” in A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony, edited by Leanne Van Dyk. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005.
“How Shall We Worship?” in Conversations with the Confessions: Dialogue in theReformed Tradition, edited by Joseph D. Small. Louisville: Geneva Press, 2005.
Book review of In the End—the Beginning: The Life of Hope by Jürgen Moltmann. In Family Ministry, vol. 19, no. 2 (Summer 2005): 69-70.
Sermons for Baptism of the Lord and Christ the King Sundays in Abingdon Women’s Preaching Annual(Series 3, Year A), edited by Beverly Zink-Sawyer. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004.
“Common Worship in the Presbyterian Church (USA)”. Liturgy 18:4 (2003).
“Calvin, Sacraments, and Ecclesiology: What Makes a Church a Church?” In Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts 36:1 (2002-03): 25-41. Also published in Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy,2002.
With Brant Copeland, “’The Lord Be With You’: Reflections on Worship at First Presbyterian Church, Tallahassee.” In Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary (Spring 2001).
“Washing Before Supper?” In Reformed Liturgy and Music 34.4 (2000): 15-21.
Consultant, Historical Dictionary of Reformed Churches, edited by Robert Benedetto, Donald McKim, and Darrell Guder. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1999.
“Good News for New Parents: What Do New Parents Need in Worship?” In Reformed Liturgy and Music XXXI, no. 4 (Winter 1997): 242-245.
“Interfaith Conversation and Cooperation.” In Religions of Atlanta: Religious Diversity in the Centennial Olympic City, ed. Gary Laderman. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996.
(With Robert Benedetto). John Calvin and Reformed Protestantism: A Catalogue of Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Century Imprints in the Library of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Richmond: Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1994.
Book reviews for Reformed Liturgy & Music, Call to Worship, and Family Ministry.
Conferences:
Plenary speaker, “Gifts of Finest Wheat” conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, May 2005.
Liturgist, Montreat Music and Worship Conference, June 2003 and June 2007.
Lectures on sacraments and ecclesiology, “Interpreting the Faith”, Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education, June 2001. Also presented at Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference, Albuquerque, NM, July 2002.
“Calvin, Sacraments, and Ecclesiology: What Makes a Church a Church?” Lecture, Institute for Reformed Theology, November 5, 2001; also presented at the North American Academy of Liturgy, Liturgical Theology Seminar, January 2002.
“Washing Before Supper?: The Baptismal Requirement for Eucharistic Participation in Calvin, Edwards, and Nevin,” paper presented at the Reformed Theology and History Group, American Academy of Religion, November 2000.
“’Do This in Remembrance of Me’: A Ritual Approach to Reformed Eucharistic Theology,” paper presented at the Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, March 14, 1999.
“Eucharist as Ritual in Reformed Theology,” paper presented at the North Carolina Religious Studies Association meeting, Fayetteville State University, October 2, 1998.
Program committee, American Society of Church History meeting, Florida State University, April 2-4, 1998.
Editorial experience:
Member of the Editorial Board, Reformed Liturgy and Music, February 1997 to February 2000.
Grants:
Theological scholars grant, Association for Theological Schools, 2008. Funded sabbatical research on Eucharistic theology and practice in south India.
Worship renewal grant, Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, 2002. Funded catechumenate pilot project for the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellowship, 1999-2000. Funded final year of dissertation work.
Rotary Fellowship, 1989-90. Funded year of study at Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal.
Ford Program for Undergraduate Research, Harvard University, 1988. Funded thesis research on fourteenth century English mystics.
NEH Younger Scholars grant, 1987. Funded summer research on a Latin treatise by John Eck.
Church affiliation:
Ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Professional affiliations:
American Academy of Religion, 1994- present. Member of the Steering Committee of the Reformed Theology and History Group, 2004-present.
North American Academy of Liturgy, 2002-present. Member of Liturgical Theology Seminar. Convener of Liturgical Theology Seminar, 2007-present.