Memorial Church Interim Minister

With the fall semester about to begin—and with it Memorial Church’s venerable tradition of Morning Prayers—President Lawrence S. Bacow announced today that Stephanie Paulsell, Swartz professor of the practice of Christian studies, will serve as the interim Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, succeeding the Reverend Jonathan L. Walton, who departed during the summer [4] to assume the deanship of Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity.

Paulsell, who joined the Harvard Divinity School faculty [5] as a lecturer on ministry in 2001, subsequently served as associate dean for ministry studies. An ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she is an affiliated minister in Memorial Church, and serves as the faculty adviser for the Harvard College Interfaith Forum and chair of the Board of Religious, Ethical, and Spiritual Life at Harvard. Her research and teaching focus on the intersection of the intellect and spiritual practice; according to the University announcement, she will teach her course on “Virginial Woolf and Religion” this fall, and, with Amy Hollywood, “Emily Dickinson: ‘the extasy define-.’” She is writing a book on Woolf and religion, and co-editing another volume on Goodness and the Literary Imagination.

In a statement in the news announcement, Bacow said the interim minister “is well-regarded among her colleagues for both her academic achievements and her pastoral commitments,” observing that, “For much of her distinguished career, Stephanie’s research has explored the intersection between intellectual work and spiritual practice, between the academic study of religion and the practices of ministry.”

A search will be conducted for a permanent successor.

Read the University announcement [6] here.