Scholars-in-Community at All Saints Church are theologians and scholars whose work All Saints Church wishes to engage and support in a formal way as part of our mission of Radical Inclusion, Courageous Justice, Joyful Spirituality and Ethical Stewardship. We strive to be shaped by the Scholars and their work … and also to provide a platform and resources for that work to transform the wider church and the world.
Scholars-in-Community become a part of the All Saints Church community while they serve in this capacity. They do not need to be physically resident at All Saints or in Pasadena during this time, although there is a hope for annual in-person visits.
All Saints Church’s first scholar-in-community is the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, a scholar, preacher, author and activist. She is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth, TX, where she teaches masters and doctoral students in initial and advanced degree programs including MDiv, ThM and PhD.
Dr. Gafney is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Year A and Year W (Church House Publishing), which All Saints Church became the first congregation to use in 2021. She is also the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne (Westminster/John Knox), a commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah for the Liturgical Press Wisdom series, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel and co-editor of (Prophets and the Deuterocanonical Writings/Apocrypha) The Peoples’ Bible and The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible (Fortress), and commentary on Judges in the CEB Women’s Bible. Visit Dr. Gafney’s Amazon author page here.
Dr. Gafney’s sermons have also been published in Those Preaching Women and The Audacity of Faith, both by Judson Press, in Preaching as Resistance (Chalice Press),and on Sojo.net. She has also provided lectionary commentary for Sojourners. A number of Dr. Gafney’s sermons in Jewish and Christian congregations are posted in her blog. In most cases, the translation of the scriptures is her own. Dr. Gafney has also contributed to the Huffington Post, Religion Dispatches, and Working Preacher.
Dr. Gafney’s courses include Introduction to Interpreting the Hebrew Bible, advance seminars translating and interpreting Exodus and Judges, and Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Her course, The Bible and Black Lives Matter, examines the core claims and commitments of the Black Lives Matter movement in light of the biblical text with an eye to preaching and teaching the scriptures in response to the extra-judicial killings of black women and men. She also offers masters-level seminars on Exodus and Accordance Bible Software supported exegesis of the Hebrew Bible from the Hebrew text. Her doctoral seminars are characterized by attention to translating the text from multiple manuscript traditions including Masoretic, Septuagint, Qumran, Samaritan and Targumic with rabbinic commentary. All levels include womanist, feminist post-colonial and queer commentary.
As a Scholar-in-Community, Dr. Gafney:
*Keeps the community of All Saints Church in her regular prayers.
*Preaches at All Saints Church and do a Sunday Rector’s forum at least once a year, either in person or virtually.
*Is available for consultation on All Saints’ efforts to dismantle White Supremacy, anti-Black racism and misogyny … and to help us ground that work in our scriptural story.
All Saints Church will:
*Keep Dr. Gafney in our regular prayers, including during Sunday worship.
*Contribute financially to Dr. Gafney’s work.
*Collaborate with Dr. Gafney in raising additional funds necessary for her work, setting up a special fund to which people can donate and from which Dr. Gafney can have expenses reimbursed.
*Use Dr. Gafney’s work in the congregation including, but not limited to the Women’s Lectionary and promote such use in the wider church.
You can find the Scholar in Community Covenant that Dr. Gafney and All Saints Church entered into by clicking here.
