Berkeley Divinity School at Yale has announced a distinguished faculty the third cohort of Leader’s Way fellows will learn from during their week in residence at Yale this summer.
Bishop Carol Gallagher will be the fellows’ chaplain for their week in residence, preaching and providing spiritual guidance and support. Bishop Carol Gallagher was the first Indigenous woman to be consecrated as a bishop in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion; she recently retired from her role as Assistant Bishop for the Diocese of Massachusetts. She has served as the Regional Canon in Massachusetts, Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Montana, and Bishop Missioner for the Bishops’ Native Collaborative. She is the author of several works, including Reweaving the Sacred and Family Theology, and she was honored with a Louisville Institute Grant.
This year’s fellows will get to learn from several Yale Divinity School faculty members:
The Very Rev’d Dr. Andrew McGowan is the Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and the McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies and Pastoral Theology. He is a renowned scholar in early Christian history, liturgy, and contemporary Anglicanism, with notable works including Ancient Christian Worship. Before coming to Yale, McGowan was Warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, and a Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne.
Professor Willie Jennings specializes in Christian thought, race theory, decolonial, and environmental studies. He is the author of the acclaimed The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race and After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. Jennings has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, and has given prestigious lectures worldwide.
Professor Carolyn Sharp researches the poetics, narrative art, and theology of biblical texts. She has written extensively, including works like Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer and Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible. She serves as Preacher in Residence at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church in New Haven and has edited several scholarly volumes.
Professor Donyelle McCray specializes in African American preaching and spirituality. She is the author of The Censored Pulpit: Julian of Norwich as Preacher and Is It a Sermon? Art, Activism, and Genre Fluidity in African American Preaching. She has served as an attorney and hospice chaplain.
The Leader’s Way teaches church leaders the fundamentals of adaptive leadership so that they can better lead their faith communities by meeting existing needs. For the third year in a row, the Rev’d Canon Blair Pogue and the Rev’d Dr. Dwight Zscheile will be traveling to Connecticut to teach fellows about adaptive leadership and how to implement it in and beyond parish contexts:
The Rev’d Canon Blair Pogue provides direct support to congregations of all sizes and contexts as they continue to cultivate vitality, discover new expressions of church, and develop new ways of engaging our neighbors with the good news of Jesus. She develops local and regional leaders who can further advance the work of vitality and innovation in every corner of Minnesota.
The Rev’d Dr. Dwight Zscheile is a professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership at Luther Seminary, where he also serves as vice president of innovation. An ordained Episcopal priest since 2005, he has authored numerous influential works on church innovation and adaptive leadership, including The Agile Church and Leading Faithful Innovation. Zscheile has consulted extensively with congregations and educational institutions on leadership and adaptive change, and holds degrees from Stanford University, Yale Divinity School, and Luther Seminary.
Brandon Nappi, DMin and Hannah Black, PhD form the leadership team for Berkeley’s new continuing education wing, Transforming Leaders. You can get to know Brandon and Hannah on The Leader’s Way podcast. During the week in residence, Nappi will teach fellows about contemplative practice to prevent burnout, and Black will teach fellows about innovation throughout church history:
Hannah Black, PhD is the Assistant Director of Leadership and Communications at Berkeley Divinity School, the Episcopal seminary at Yale and Lecturer at Yale Divinity School. She earned her M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Her work focuses on systematic theology, feminist theology, and early Christianity.
Brandon Nappi, DMin: Dr. Brandon Nappi is the Executive Director of Leadership Programs at Berkeley Divinity School and a Lecturer in Homiletics. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. With 20 years of retreat ministry experience, Brandon is the founder of the Copper Beech Institute, a global spiritual community dedicated to contemplative practice. His work is deeply influenced by Christian mysticism, mindfulness, and interreligious dialogue, and he serves as a spiritual director and mentor to many seekers and leaders.
