Please join academic deans Elton and Jacobson in congratulating Professor Joy J. Moore who has been invited to serve for one year as a Visiting Professor of Religion and Chapman-Bensen Lecturer at Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Alabama. She will temporarily relocate to Montgomery at the end of the month. Her leave will take place September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024, at which point she will return to Luther Seminary.
Professor Moore expresses her “tremendous gratitude to President Steinke and the Board of Directors for granting me the opportunity to serve as Visiting Professor of Religion and Chapman-Bensen Lecturer at Huntingdon College for the 2023-2024 academic year.”
She adds, “I have begun work on “preaching in an age of contempt.” The invitation from Huntingdon College places me in a contemporary context that politically, socially, and ecclesiastically is similar to the 19th-century world of Wesleyan abolitionists and allows me to engage with undergraduates beginning to frame their practices of witness and service. Access to Legacy Museum (Lynching Memorial, Legacy Museum, and National Memorial for Peace and Justice) brings my research to ground level. I look forward to bringing the fruits of this work back to Luther Seminary and engaging our work in the local communities in which we have influence.”
During her one-year residency, Professor Moore will remain connected to Luther Seminary’s mission in a variety of ways. She will teach one online preaching, participate in Working Preacher’s “Sermon Brainwave” podcast, develop content for Faith+Lead around how the gospel engages difference, and support the Compelling Preaching grant that Luther was awarded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. in 2022.
“We will miss Professor Moore while she is on leave and we look forward eagerly to her return in a year,” said Rolf Jacobson, dean of the faculty. “While this leave developed rather suddenly, the practice of faculty taking leaves in order to serve as visiting professors at other institutions is quite old. Such leaves provide opportunities for cross-fertilization between institutions and afford the Spirit another chance to breathe new life into both schools. We extend God’s blessings to Joy as she leaves and when she will return.”
Please direct any questions to Profs. Elton or Jacobson.