W. Dow Edgerton

Professor of Ministry

B.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1970; M.Div., Ph. D., Chicago Theological Seminary, 1976, 1992.

Author: The Passion of Interpretation (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992); Speak to Me That I May Speak: A Spirituality of Preaching (Pilgrim Press, 2006); In Other Words: Incarnational Translation for Preaching, co-authored with New Testament scholar Charles Cosgrove (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007).

Professor Edgerton's research focuses on the work of interpretation, and how the experiences of interpretation –particularly in the processes of preaching and worship –shape our lives as individuals and communities.

Professor’s Teaching Philosophy:
“Preaching, teaching and caring for your people will always be at the heart of pastoral ministry. This is our most basic work, but it calls upon every gift a woman or man has been given: gifts of faith, understanding, character, imagination, art, discipline, passion, skill, and knowledge. Foundational questions must be asked over and over in the daily concrete circumstances of ministry:  How can we understand the story unfolding before us? What is the gospel? What are the acts and words that will proclaim it here? What am I called to do and set apart to do? How shall we live with hope here? How shall we love? This is hard, exciting, necessary, and deeply theological work, and it is the daily bread of ministry.”

Sample Courses:

Baptism and Eucharist
Interpreting The Parables in Preaching and Teaching
Preaching Interpretation/Contextual Theology