Annette Huizenga
In the fall of 1995, Annette Bourland Huizenga was serving as a full-time pastor at LaSalle Street Church-Chicago. Hoping to deepen her understanding of the Bible so she could preach faithful and useful sermons, she came to McCormick to take one course on The Letters of Paul. Within two weeks, she was hooked on New Testament studies and sensed a fresh call of God into an expansive teaching ministry. For the next several years, professors, students and administrators at McCormick supported her academic development in doctoral studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Eventually Annette earned her PhD from the University of Chicago and began teaching New Testament at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. She also served as dean of the seminary for six years, becoming immersed in a variety of aspects of theological education: hiring and training faculty and staff, curriculum revision and implementation, pedagogical strategies (online and in-person), accreditation and evaluation. After fourteen years of weekly commuting between Dubuque and Chicago, she retired as Dean Emerita of the Seminary and Professor of New Testament Emerita.
Then McCormick entered her life again, and Annette took on the position of Interim Dean of the Faculty. While the seminary community has changed significantly since her graduation, she has discovered the same kind of caring expertise in forming students for a range of ministries, and a similar enthusiasm for innovation in response to the needs of its students, its neighborhood(s), and the world.
Annette’s scholarship focuses on the literary and social world of the earliest followers of Jesus, including Paul and the communities he addressed. She has written extensively on Greco-Roman and early church ideologies about women, especially in their roles as wives and mothers. Two other major topics of her research are: slavery in the Roman world, and family life in law and philosophy. A contributor to many volumes of essays, Annette is also the author of two books: Moral Education for Women in the Pythagorean and Pastoral Letters: Philosophers of the Household (Brill, 2013) and 1-2 Timothy, Titus (a volume in the Wisdom Commentary Series, Liturgical Press, 2016). In all her work, she approaches the texts, history, and worldview from a feminist perspective.
Annette was ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament at LaSalle Street Church, where she continues to worship and teach on a regular basis.
Education
B.A., Vassar College
M.R.E., Wesley Theological Seminary
M.T.S., McCormick Theological Seminary
Ph.D., University of Chicago Divinity School
Teaching Interests
New Testament Greek
Pauline Letters
Gospel of Matthew
Bible and Gender