Curriculum Vitae
Susan Willhauck
Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology
Atlantic School of Theology
(c) 703-505-5934
essiewillhauck@gmail.com
I. Education, Professional Experience and Church Credentials
1977 Emory and Henry College, Emory, VA
B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion and Psychology
1980 Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
M.T.S. Summa Cum Laude
1992 The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Ph.D. in Religion and Religious Education
Dissertation: John Wesley's View of Childhood: Foundations for Contemporary Christian Education
Academic Positions:
2009 to 2021 Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Granted tenure, July 2010.
2004 to 2009 Associate Professor of Christian Formation and Discipleship and Director of Lay Education, Wesley Theological Seminary.
1998-2004 Assistant Professor of Christian Formation and Discipleship and Director of Lay Education, Wesley Theological Seminary.
1992-1996 Adjunct faculty, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Courses taught include: The Church's Ministry with Children; Administration and Leadership in the Church; Teaching the Bible in the Congregation. Also supervised students in field placement. Course of Study School faculty, 1995 and 1996.
1993-1996 Adjunct faculty, Christian College of Georgia, Athens, GA. Courses taught include: Human Development; Moral Education; Contemporary Theology; Women in Religion.
1994 Adjunct faculty, Defiance College, Defiance, OH. Design for Leadership program.
1995-1996 Field Education Supervisor, Princeton Theological Seminary. Supervised divinity students in advocacy work in Washington, DC.
Select Ministry Positions:
1996-1998 Minister of Christian Education, St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church, Annandale, VA.
1995 Ordained Deacon, The United Methodist Church.
1994-1996 Researcher, writer, and trainer with the Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC. Coordinator, National Observance of Children’s Sabbath.
1989-1991 Director of Volunteer Ministries, Roswell United Methodist Church, Roswell, GA.
1984-1989 Minister of Christian Education, Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, DC.
1989-1996 Curriculum writer, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN.
II. Publications
Books:
Female Child Soldiering, Gender Violence and Feminist Theologies, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
Endorsements from Kwok Pu-Lan, Pamela Coutour, Boyung Lee
Review from Religious Education journal
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/00344087.2021.1939979
Qualitative Research in Theological Education: Pedagogy in Practice (Co-edited with Mary Clark Moschella). SCM Press, 2018.
Review from Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning
https://wabash.center/print-book-review-as-pdf/?id=223933
Review from Practical Theology
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1756073X.2019.1654667?needAccess=true
Review from University of St. Andrews Theology in Scotland
https://ojs.st-andrews.ac.uk/index.php/TIS/article/view/2145/1594
Breaking through the Stained Glass Ceiling: Women Leading Large Churches (Co-edited with HiRho Park). Foreword by Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2014.
Ministry Unplugged: Uncommon Calls to Serve, Chalice Press, 2010.
Back Talk! Women Leaders Changing the Church, Pilgrim Press, 2005.
Review from Lewis Center for Church Leadership
https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/women-leaders-changing-the-church/
The Web of Women’s Leadership: Recasting Congregational Ministry with Jacqulyn Thorpe, Abingdon Press, 2001.
Contributions to books:
Ten entries in The Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Scarecrow Press, 2014.
“Memory, Identity and Hope: The Exile and Christian Formation” in Strangers in a Strange Land: Essays in Honor of Bruce C. Birch. Emeth Press, 2009.
Five entries in The Dictionary of Spiritual Formation, “Horace Bushnell,” “Jean Gerson,” “Raimon Panikkar,” “Karl Rahner” and “Regeneration,” Upper Room Press, 2003.
Entry for Berard L. Marthaler for “Christian Educators of the 20th Century,” a Lilly Foundation funded work on persons who have shaped the field of religious education. 2003.
Journal Articles:
“Your Children’s Children: The Impact of Grandparents and Extended Family on Children’s Spiritual Development” in D6 Family Ministry Journal, Spring 2018.
“Pastoral Implications Proper 18, Matthew 18:15-20,” Lectionary Homiletics, 2014.
“Pastoral Implications Proper 19, Matthew 18:21-35,” Lectionary Homiletics, 2014.
“Pastoral Implications Proper 20 Matthew 20: 1-16,” Lectionary Homiletics, 2014.
“Pastoral Implications Proper 21 Matthew 21: 23-32, “ Lectionary Homiletics, 2014.
“The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God: An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology,” International Journal of Practical Theology, 2013.
“Freeing Speech: Proverbial Wisdom and Faith Formation as Liberation.” Religious Education fall 2013.
“God’s Stuff: The Constructive Powers of Chaos For Teaching Religion,” Teaching Theology and Religion, journal of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning. Volume 13, no. 1, January 2010.
“A Graceful Struggle: The Lead Women Pastors Project” in Wellsprings, Fall 2010.
“Crossing Pedagogical Borders in the Yucatan Peninsula,” Teaching Theology and Religion, journal of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning. Volume 12, no. 3, July 2009.
“For Excellent Purposes: Aspects of Lay Theological Education in The United Methodist Church,” Quarterly Review, Summer 2004.
“Thelma and Louise Do Religious Education,” co-authored with Patty Meyers, Religious Education, Spring 2003.
“Cultivating a Culture of the Call: A Model of Lay Theological Education,” Theological Education, November 2002.
"Identity, Morality, and Fantasy in the Works of Bruno Bettelheim: Implications for Religious Education," Religious Education, Spring, 1998.
"Stand For Children," Humanics, Spring 1996.
"Liturgy and Education for Justice in an Age of Disbelief," Religious Education, Summer, 1996.
"Doubt and Wisdom: Two Biblical Themes of Adult Faith Development," in Biblical Literacy Today, Spring 1993.
Feature article, "Children as Little Adults: Philippe Aries Revisited," in The Living Light, Summer 1992.
"A Pedagogy of Hymns: The Ecumenical and Catechetical Potential of the New United Methodist Hymnal," in The Living Light , October 1989.
“Sharing Sunday's Scriptures” commentary on the lectionary texts in six 1980 issues of Homily Service, a publication of the Roman Catholic Liturgical Conference.
Book Reviews:
2021-present “Take and Read” Continuing column for The Christian Century on books in Practical Theology. Additional reviews in CC:
Warren Kinghorn, Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2024) Forthcoming.
Almeda Wright, Teaching to Live: Black Religion, Activists-Educators and Radical Social Change (Oxford University Press 2024) Forthcoming.
Erin Raffety, From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry and Congregational Leadership (Baylor University Press, 2022)
Grace Ji-Sun Kim’s Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women (Fortress Press, 2021).
Review of Tending the Fire That Burns at the Center of the World: Beauty and the Art of Christian Formation by David F. White (Wipf and Stock) for Religious Education, 2022.
Review of Wisdom Commentary volume Hebrews, edited by Mary Ann Beavis and HyeRan Kim-Cragg (Liturgical Press) for the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 2017.
Review of The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality, by Brian Edgar. (Cascade Book) for Religious Education, 2017.
Review of Faith Formation in Vital Congregations by Marian Plant (Pilgrim Press, 2009) in Religious Education, 2010.
Review of Lives to Offer: Accompanying Youth on their Vocational Quests by Dori Baker and Joyce Mercer (Pilgrim Press, 2007) in Religious Education, Fall 2008.
Reviews of For the Children: Words of Love and Inspiration from His Holiness John Paul II and Someone’s Come to Our House by Kathi Appelt in Family Ministry, Fall 2000.
Reviews of Seeds of Heaven by Mary Anne Lard, God’s Quiet Things by Nancy Sweetland and Granddad’s Prayers of the Earth by Douglas Wood in Family Ministry, Summer 2000.
"Theology and Education for the DRE," Review article on Revisioning the DRE by Donald Emler in The Living Light, Fall 1990.
Select Published Curriculum and Church Resources:
The Gospel of John, "Journey Through the Bible," Bible study series for adults, published by The United Methodist Publishing House, 1995. Reprinted 2006.
"Oh, the Places You'll Go: Christian Education in the Future," Christians in Education, fall 2011.
Living in God’s Light. Adult Bible Study. The United Methodist Publishing House. 2003.
“Taking Stock of the Sunday School,” Chistians in Education. 2003.
Children’s Curriculum writer, Invitation Series, The United Methodist Church. 1995-2002.
1994-1996 Author of the National Observance of Children’s Sabbath Worship and Educational Manuals, Children’s Defense Fund.
III. Academic Paper Presentations
April 2024 Presented research, “Congregational Involvment in Confederate Momument Removal in Richmond, VA,” Ecclesiology and Ethnography Network North American Conference, Emory University.
2019 Moderated roundtable session for the Feminist Studies in Religion section at the American Academy of Religion on “Gender-based Violence” with several of the contributors to Female Child Soldiering presenting.
2017 Paper presentation, “Female Child Soldiers and Christian Feminist Resistance and Resilience” at the Forum on Feminist Studies in Religion Section of the American Academy of Religion. Boston, MA.
2015 Festscrift article and presentation on Dr. Mary Alice Douty Edwards for the Religious Education Association. Atlanta, GA.
2012 “Freeing Speech: Proverbial Wisdom and Faith Formation as Liberation,” Research on “Words that Matter” project, at the Religious Education Association in Atlanta, GA.
2010 “The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God: An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology” at the Canadian Theological Society.
2009 “Cracking The Stained Glass Ceiling: The Lead Women Pastors Project” (with Dr. HiRho Park) at the Practical Theology Section of the American Academy of Religion.
2008 “God’s Stuff: The Constructive Powers of Chaos for Teaching Religion,” Teaching Religion Section of the American Academy of Religion.
2008 “Big Hair and Jesus: Theological Challenges from Lay People Engaged in Ministry in the World,” Practical Theology Section, American Academy of Religion.
2007 “Crossing Pedagogical Borders in the Yucatan Peninsula” at the Religious Education Association/Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
2002 “Thelma and Louise Do Religious Education” at the Religious Education Association/Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
2001 “John Wesley’s View of Children,” John Wesley Society. Wesley Theological Seminary.
2000 “Histories of Childhood and Childhood Religious Education” at the task force on children at the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education annual meeting, Atlanta, GA.
2000 “Vertigo in Theological Education: Findings on Effective Teaching,” Dean’s Forum. Wesley Theological Seminary.
1999 “The Web of Women’s Leadership” at the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education Annual Meeting, Toronto.
1995 “Liturgy and Education for Justice in an Age of Disbelief” at the annual meeting of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education, Chicago.
IV. Honors, Media, Activities and Grants
July 23-26, 2023 Invited participant for Thriving Congregations “Imagining Church,” Princeton Theological Seminary conference on Lilly funded research.
2023-24 Three Minute Ministry Writing Table participant.
2023 Current book project, A Rendering of Place, devotional fiction.
2022-2023 Peer Reviewer for Religious Education Journal; International Journal of Children’s Spirituality; D6 Family Ministry.
2023 Bible Study Leader St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edenton, NC.
2022 Speaker for seminary class (Dr. Natalie Wigg Stephenson) on Anthropology in Ministry, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto.
2022 Mentor and workshop leader Women’s Clergy Development Project, The United Methodist Church.
2021 Blog post for Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, “Chucks and Pearls: Teaching with Confidence and Agility.”
2020 Blog post for Palgrave Macmillan’s media campaign on Women, Philosophy and Religion.
2019 Design Team for the Forum on Feminist Studies in Religion (AAR) conference gathering at Drew University in Madison, NJ. (An AST student attended with me on a scholarship from the Forum).
2019 to 2021 Editorial Board for Feminist Studies in Religion Section of the American Academy of Religion (AAR).
2018 Co-Director, General Board of Higher Education’s UM Clergywomen’s Consultation Baltimore, MD.
2018 Christian Educator’s Fellowship retreat leader, NC Conference. Black Mountain, NC.
2017 Interviewed by the editor of the Christians Engaged in Faith Formation newsletter on faith formers (stories of people who were important in forming faith in The United Methodist Church).
2017 Workshop Round Table Leader, Ethnography and Theology group, American Academy of Religion. Boston, MA.
2017 Group Leader, Women’s Caucus in Religious Studies, American Academy of Religion, Boston, MA.
2017 Interviewed by The United Church Observer on same gender groups in the church.
2016 Storytelling Workshop, “Go Tell It On the Mountain,” for the Upper Room, Nashville, TN.
2016 Workshop presentation at the Religious Education Association meeting on qualitative research in theological education. Pittsburgh, PA.
2014 Editorial Review Board for the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.
2014 Elected to the Teaching Learning Committee of the American Academy of Religion. Referee for AAR Teacher of the Year Award. Served 2014-2019.
2014 Design team and worship leader for Clergywomen’s Leadership Seminar held in West Palm Beach, FL.
2013 Interviewed for the Halifax Chronicle Herald on “School Shares Paradoxes of Christianity, related to the Graduate Project presentations.
2013 Interviewed by the Huffington Post on “Children’s Spiritual Lives,” primarily on the work of Sofia Cavaletti and Robert Coles.
2011 Webinar for Chalice Press and the United Church of Christ on “Ministries Outside the Church.”
2010-2013 Elected President United Methodist Association of Scholars in Christian Education. Convened conference “After Christiandom: Faith Formation in a Post-Religious World” in Colorado in 2013.
2010 Presentation on “Health and Wholeness” at the Mid-Career Women Faculty Roundtable Semiar at the Association of Theological Schools, Pittsburgh, PA.
2009 Hosted Georgia Harkness Scholars bi-annual gathering at Atlantic School of Theology.
2009-2014 Referee for the Georgia Harkness Scholarship program of the General Board of Global Ministry for the United Methodist Church.
2009 Interviewed for the CBC radio program “Maritime Magazine” on faith formation and children.
2008 Taught “Christian Formation and Discipleship,” a Doctor of Ministry course at the Methodist Theological School in Seoul, Korea (July).
2008 Co-Director of the Lead Women Pastors Project of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Research on models of leadership of women pastors for the UMC. Interviewed and quoted on this project in The Christian Century, “Breaking Glass Ceilings in Large Churches,” by John Dart, June 30, 2009. The project was also reported in several news sources, including Sojourner’s Magazine and USA Today.
2008 Wesley Ministry Network DVD interview on Science and Religion with Francis S. Collins entitled “Theology and Creation Care in Christian Education.”
2007 Co-leader, Diversity training for Alexandria VA District clergy (United Methodist).
2007 Leader Training DVD for Wesley Ministry Network resources. Distributed by Abingdon Press.
2007 Taught “An Introduction to Christian Education” at the Yucatan Theological Seminary, Merida, Mexico.
2006 Keynote speaker, National Exploration Event of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (for youth and young adults considering ministry) on “Dive In, Make Waves.” Jacksonville, FL.
2005 Search Committee for Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Wesley Theological Seminary.
2005 Plenary speaker for Southeastern Jurisdiction Pastors of Larger Membership Churches Consultation. “All Hands on Deck: Staffing the Larger Membership Church.” January 18-21, St. Simons, GA.
2004 Book Launch Review of Black Religious Experience: Conversations on Double Consciousness and the Work of Grant Shockley by Charles R. Foster and Fred Smith. Wesley Theological Seminary.
2004 Presenter at an Association of Theological Schools panel discussion on Effective Research Among Other Things. Pittsburgh, PA.
2004 Design Team Leader for Youth Ministry Forum for United Methodist Seminaries.
2004 Interviewed for Response Magazine for United Methodist Women on women’s leadership in the church.
2004 Peer reviewer for Baylor University Press for book, Competent Before God: Southern Baptist Women, Agency, and Autonomy by Susan M. Shaw.
2003 and 2004 Co-convener, Pan Methodist Council, Religious Education Association/Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education.
2003 and 2004 Convener, Task Force on Gender, Religious Education Association/Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education, Philadelphia and Chicago.
2003 Speaker, United Methodist Clergywomen’s Consultation luncheon, on “Women and Change in the Church.” San Diego, CA.
2002 Opening preacher for the National Conference of the Christian Educators Fellowship. Norfolk, VA.
2002-2003 Consultant to the Committee on the Status and Role of Women of the United Methodist Church on retention of women in ministry.
2001 Cross Cultural Immersion to Nigeria. Led twelve students (with two other faculty) to the Olomu Kingdom, Delta State. Preached and taught at four churches.
2001 Dissertation on John Wesley’s View of Children quoted by Wesley scholars in The Child in Christian Thought (chapter by Richard Heitzenrater) by Marcia Bunge and by Randy Maddox https://divinity.duke.edu/sites/default/files/documents/01Decadeof_Dissertations.pdf.
2000-2009 Doctor of Ministry Theses Advisor or reader to fourteen students, Wesley Theological Seminary.
2000 Trainer for Becoming a Church for All God’s Children for the Bishops’ Initiative on Children and Poverty for the Virginia Conference at Williamsburg, VA and Lynchburg, VA.
2000-2003 Safe Sanctuaries trainer for the Virginia Conference Discipleship Ministries, Nurturing Trust in Faith Communities, The United Methodist Church.
1999 Speaker for DOTAC (Diakonia of the Americas and the Caribbean) meeting for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in San Paulo, Brazil.
1999 Established Equipping Lay Ministry program for certification in lay ministry. Directed this program until 2008.
1997-2009 Chapel leadership and preaching, Wesley Theological Seminary.
1997 Covenant Discipleship Group Advisor, Wesley Theological Seminary.
1996 Served on Advisory Committee, Youth Development Project, Search Institute.
1996 Organizing Committee, Stand For Children March on Washington, Children’s Defense Fund.
1995 Presider with Marie Fortune of Faith Trust Institute at National Conference of the Children’s Defense Fund. Seattle, WA.
1994 Planning Team and speaker for the first Samuel DeWitt Proctor Child Advocacy for Ministry Conference (now on its 30th year). Haley Farm, Clinton, TN.
1993 Interviewed with Dr. James Fowler by the Atlanta Journal Constitution on "The Faith of a Child."
1989 Interviewed on National Public Radio about “Inclusive Language in Worship.”
1988 Interviewed in Washingtonian magazine on ministries of Foundry United Methodist Church.
1988 Speaker at Emory and Henry College Sesquicentennial Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series. Also, speaker for religious studies gathering and a class on “Balancing Family, Ministry and Scholarship.”
Grants and Fellowships:
2019 Recipient of Leni Groeneveld Grant for Research Assistance, Atlantic School of Theology for resesearch project on female child soldiering.
2015-16 Recipient of Wabash Grant on “Teaching Qualitative Research in Theological Education to Enhance Leadership for Change in the Church.” Hosted Symposium at Atlantic School of Theology, May 2016.
2010 Recipient of a Leni Groeneveld Grant for Research Assistance, Atlantic School of Theology for ongoing project, “Words that Matter: Proverbial Wisdom and Faith Formation.”
2003 Recipient of Association of Theological Schools Lilly Grant for research on Women and Change in the Church.
1999-2000 Received a Teaching Learning Grant from the Association of Theological Schools to study “Effective and Influential Teaching in Theological Education.” Presented findings at an ATS Conference in March 2000.
1990 Research Assistant Fellowship, The Catholic University of America.
1985 First recipient of the Diaconal Advance Graduate Fellowship given by the Division of Diaconal Ministry of The United Methodist Church for doctoral students, renewed 1986, 1987, 1988.
IV. Service to Atlantic School of Theology and Community
AST Faculty:
2009-2019 Theses Supervision or reader (M.T.S.; MA); supervisor for student Directed Studies
Faculty Council
Faculty Senate
Faculty Association
United Church Faculty Group, Chair 2010-2011
United Church Formation
Chapel Worship Leader and Preaching
2010-2018 Chair, AST Research Ethics Board
2020 Webinar for Atlantic School of Theology on gender-based violence and theological implications
2018 Promotion and Tenure Review Committees
2016-2017 Search Committeee Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology
2016 Supervised Doctor of Ministry thesis for theology student at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto
2015 Co-moderated Pollok Lecture by Dr. Margaret MacDonald
2014 Moderated Nicholson Lecture by Dr. Lucy Hogan
2013-2014 AST Gala Committee
2013-2014 AST Advancement Committee
2012-2014 Arts and Theology Committee, President (or Chair) 2013, 2015. As President, the Committee partnered with Canada Mental Health Association to sponsor Mosaic for Mental Health, an exhibit and community art project
2011 Workshop in Sydney, Nova Scotia, "Rethinking Church and Popular Culture" for the AST Alumni Association
2011-2012 Pine Hill Bursary Committee
2011 Moderated Book Launch by Dr. Joan Campbell
2010-2011 United Church Faculty representative, Pine Hill Executive Committee
2010-2011 Lecture Oversight Committee
2011 Group Leader for the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada listening circles related to questions of ordination of gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriage
2009, 2010 Faculty leader or co-leader Week One
Church and Community (Halifax):
2015 Preached at St. John’s United Church, Halifax
2012 Preached at First Baptist Church, Halifax
2013 Consultant for First Baptist Church’s “Reconstruction Team” for discerning leadership goals
2013 Workshop for the Session of St. John’s United on baptism
2012, 2010 Sunday Supper Program server, St. Andrews UCC, Halifax
2011 Preached at St. John’s United Church Halifax
2010-2017 Leader, Women’s Spirituality Group, St. John’s United Church
V. Academic Societies
Member, American Academy of Religion
Member, Religious Education Association, Chair Pan-Methodist Council (2003-2006)
Member, Ecclesiology and Ethnography Network (2021–present)
Member (and President 2009-2011) United Methodist Association of Scholars of Christian Education
Member, Christians Engaged in Christian Formation (formally Christian Educators Fellowship)
Member, Resource Center for Women in Ministry in the South
Founding Member, Forum on Feminist Studies in Religion
Member, Religious Education Association
Member, Three Minute Ministry Writing Table
Member, North Carolina Writers’ Network
VI. Teaching
Expertise and experience in classroom, hybrid and online teaching. Proficient with Blackboard; Brightspace (DL2); Moodle; Web CT; Zoom.
Selected Courses taught (both in class and online):
Introduction to Christian Formation
Perennial Issues in Christian Education
Pastoral Foundations
Teaching the Bible in the Church
Teaching through the Liturgy
The Bible and Spiritual Formation
The Church’s Ministry with Children and Families
Adolescent Spirituality
Gender and Leadership
Coming to Faith: The Formation and Development of Faith in the Life Cycle
Congregational Leadership for Change
Famous and Infamous Women of Faith
Spiritual Leadership for Social Justice
Graduate Project Seminar (Qualitative Research)
Worship Foundations
Haters and Grace: Theological Responses to Violence
Theologies of Play: Creative Play for Pastoral Ministry