McCormick Theological Seminary Names Rev. Dr. Stephanie M. Crumpton Assistant Professor of Practical Theology
05-05-2017
This year, several Black women have made history in theological education. They are individuals who, for the most part, are already trailblazers in a field where historically, Black women are rarely considered authorities on topics from preaching, to pastoral care, to systematic theology, to Biblical Hermeneutics -that's biblical interpretation. Our own Stephanie Crumpton is among them.
McCormick Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Crumpton as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology. She will join the McCormick faculty on July 1, 2017. Dr. Crumpton is currently a professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. She is ordained with ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ.
McCormick President Frank Yamada said, “Dr. Stephanie Crumpton, in her scholarship, teaching, and life’s passions, is an ideal faculty person for McCormick Theological Seminary. She is returning to the city of Chicago. We are thrilled to be welcoming her back to this community. She will play an important roll on our faculty going forward into the future.”
Dr. Crumpton has received several prestigious awards, most recently the 2016 Baldwin Fellowship from Lancaster County Community Foundation. In addition to her position at Lancaster, Crumpton has served as assistant professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina, as an adjunct professor at Chicago Theological Seminary, a lecturer at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and a teaching fellow at Atlanta’s Interdenominational Theological Center. While in Georgia, Crumpton also served as a state court advocate and consultant on the Georgia Commission on Family Violence.
Dr. Crumpton’s area of particular expertise is in pastoral theological methodology, theories of personality development, historical and social dimensions of pastoral counseling, pastoral counseling as a specialized form of the church’s ministries, and family systems theory. Her research is tied to her work in communities of color. She wrote A Womanist Pastoral Theology Against Intimate and Cultural Violence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and her upcoming research examines the role of faith communities’ woman-centered mentoring to support women reentering community following incarceration. This fall, Dr. Crumpton will teach classes in the area of Pastoral Theology, Christian Education, and the Church and Social Change.
Crumpton, a Chicago native, earned a Doctor of Theology in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; a Master of Divinity from Johnson C. Smith Presbyterian Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta; and a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Oklahoma’s Langston University.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Ted Hiebert says, “We’re more than excited that Dr. Crumpton will be joining our faculty in the fall. Stephanie brings us essential skills and talents in pastoral care: a great record as a professor of practical theology, extensive clinical experience, and special expertise in womanist/feminist approaches to pastoral counseling. We’re grateful for her new and creative voice, and for the ways she will help us shape theological education at McCormick in the years to come.”
Says Dr. Crumpton, “The invitation to join McCormick Theological Seminary’s faculty is very meaningful to me. It offers me the opportunity to return home to the city that first influenced my theological commitments and understanding of what it means to teach. Although I am a little concerned about the cold, I am looking forward to the warmth of knowing that I am part of an institution that takes learning and faith very seriously. I am honored to join McCormick in its work of shaping deeply engaged ministers and leaders in society.”
