UNION HIRES TWO NEW FACULTY IN HOMILETICS AND WORSHIP – January 25, 2016
NEW YORK, NY — Union Theological Seminary announced the appointment of two new members of its faculty for the 2016-2017 academic year: Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes and Dr. Lisa L. Thompson.
“We couldn’t be more excited about these two important appointments,” said Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary. “Homiletics and the liturgical life of Union have long been central to our identity and we are honored and thrilled to welcome two scholars and teachers with the excellent credentials that Dr. Carvalhaes and Dr. Thompson bring with them. Cláudio is a preeminent scholar of worship and liturgy, in addition to having a worldwide reputation as a dynamic and enlivening teacher. Dr. Thompson, though early in her scholarly career, has already established a national reputation for excellence as a preacher. Her capacious spirit and intellect will be a blessing to this community. I’m thankful to the search committee, chaired by Dr. Daisy Machado, for their hard and productive work.”
Beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year, Carvalhaes will assume the position left vacant by the retirement in June 2016 of one of his mentors, Professor Janet Walton, as an Associate Professor of Worship, and Thompson will join the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Homiletics.
“Cláudio Carvalhaes will bring energy, passion, intelligence, insights, commitments, compassion and experience to Union,” said Walton. “Together with Troy Messenger, Lisa Thompson, faculty, students and staff, something new will happen. I am grateful and excited about his appointment to the faculty.”
Carvalhaes, a native of Brazil, earned a Master of Divinity from Independent Presbyterian Theological Seminary in São Paulo, Brazil, and a Master of Philosophy degree in Theology, Philosophy, and History at the Methodist University of São Paulo. In 2007 he earned a PhD in Liturgy and Theology from Union. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Homiletics and Worship at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. A full bio is available online at: http://mccormick.edu/instructor/carvalhaes-claudio
“We are delighted that Dr. Lisa Thompson has accepted the offer to join our Union faculty,” said Daisy L. Machado, Professor of American Church History at Union. “Dr. Thompson is a young and rising scholar in the field of Homiletics and Practical Theology. The fact that she was recently elected as the President of the African American Caucus of the Academy of Homiletics attests to her leadership and the support of her colleagues in the field. Dr. Thompson also shows a deep desire to work across religious traditions and faiths, and to integrate the arts into her teaching and preaching. The Search Committee and I all agree that Dr. Thompson is ready to take on the multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-gender-identified context of Union and will do so with great enthusiasm and energy!”
Thompson received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, earned a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Religion. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. A full bio is available online at: http://www.pts.edu/thompsonl
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Carvalhaes and Dr. Thompson to Union!