Wilda C. Gafney

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 78.28.44.31 (talk) at 11:17, 17 December 2021 (→‎Career). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Gafney delivering inaugural address at Brite Divinity School in 2015

Wilda C. Gafney, also known as Wil Gafney, (born 1966) is an American biblical scholar and Episcopal priest who is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She is specialist in womanist biblical interpretation, and topics including gender and race.

Early life and education

Gafney's parents were both teachers, who divorced when she was young.[1] She grew up attending a non-denominational church, was baptized in an AME Church, and attended a Catholic high school.[1]

Gafney earned a BA from Earlham College, a Quaker institution, in 1987, where she was one of only seven Black students on a campus of over 1000 students.[2] She completed a Master's of Divinity from Howard University, an historically black college, in 1997.[3] She completed a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Duke University in 2006,[3] where she was mentored by Roland E. Murphy.[2] Her doctoral dissertation became her first book, Daughters of Miriam, a study of female prophets in ancient Israel.[1]

Career

Gafney is an Episcopal priest, licensed in the Diocese of Fort Worth and formerly resident in the Diocese of Pennsylvania.[4] She was a US Army Reserve chaplain and a congregational pastor in the AME Zion Church, as well as a member of a Reconstructionist Jewish congregation in Philadelphia.[5]

Her first teaching position was at the Lutheran Seminaries in Philadelphia and Gettysburg, beginning in 2003.[1] In 2014, she was appointed Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University.[6] In 2018, she served on a committee that recommended The Book of Common Prayer for the Episcopal Church in the United States be changed to gender neutral language.[7]

Gafney's research focuses on intersections between the biblical text and contemporary issues, and she has taught courses called "The Bible and Black Lives Matter", "Exodus in African American Exegesis", and "The Bible in the Public Square".[8] She is on the editorial team for the Journal of Biblical Literature.[3] Her book Womanist Midrash uses womanist and feminist hermeneutics to interpret passages from the Hebrew Scriptures.[9]

Awards and honors

In 2019, the Union of Black Episcopalians presented Gafney with the Anna Julia Haywood Cooper Honor Award for her scholarship and advocacy on matters of race and gender.[10] In 2020, the Society of Biblical Literature named her one of the first two recipients of its Outstanding Mentor Award.[11]

Selected publications

Books

  • Gafney, Wilda (2008). Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel. Fortress Press. ISBN 9780800662585.[12][13]
  • DeYoung, Curtiss Paul; Gafney, Wilda C.; Guardiola-Saenz, Leticia; Tinker, George E.; Yamada, Frank M., eds. (2008). The Peoples' Bible. Fortress Press. ISBN 9780806656250.[14]
  • DeYoung, Curtiss Paul; Gafney, Wil; Guardiola-Saenez, Leticia A. (2010). The Peoples' Companion to the Bible. Fortress Press. ISBN 9780800697020.
  • Gafney, Wilda C. (2017). Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. ISBN 9780664239039.[9][15][16]
  • Gafney, Wilda C. N. (2017). Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. Wisdom Commentary. Vol. 38. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814681879.
  • Gafney, Wilda (2021). A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year A. Church Publishing. ISBN 9781640651623.

Chapters and articles

References

  1. ^ a b c d Singh, Simran Jeet (March 3, 2021). "Wil Gafney, "Anti-Racism as a Spiritual Practice"". Religion News Service. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Aycock, Jennifer (March 14, 2011). "Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney on King's Legacy and Influence". McCormick Theological Seminary. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Wil Gafney: Professor of Hebrew Bible". Brite Divinity School.
  4. ^ "Biography". Working Preacher.
  5. ^ Matthew Lynch (January 12, 2021). "Wil Gafney – Womanist Midrash". On Script (Podcast).
  6. ^ Daley, Vanessa (February 20, 2014). "Dr. Wil Gafney joins Brite Divinity School faculty" (PDF). Texas Christian University. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Zauzmer, Julie (July 3, 2018). "Is God male? The Episcopal Church debates whether to change its Book of Common Prayer". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  8. ^ "Wil Gafney". TheoEd.
  9. ^ a b Lovelace, Vanessa (2018). "Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne, written by Wilda C. Gafney". Horizons in Biblical Theology. 40 (2): 212–215. doi:10.1163/18712207-12341379. S2CID 171667828. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  10. ^ "Union of Black Episcopalians plans 51st annual gathering, will honor four leaders within The Episcopal Church". Episcopal News Service. June 20, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Sherrod, Katie (August 27, 2020). "The Rev Dr Wil Gafney named Outstanding Mentor by the Society of Biblical Literature". The Episcopal Church in North Texas. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Kelle, Brad E. (December 2008). "Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel – By Wilda C. Gafney". Religious Studies Review. 34 (4): 284–285. doi:10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00322_1.x. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  13. ^ Frankel, Ellen (2010). "Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel". Biblical Interpretation. 18 (4–5): 280–282. doi:10.1163/156851508X378959. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  14. ^ Thomas, Oral (2009). "George 'Tink' Tinker, Wilda C. Gafney, Frank M. Yamada, et al., eds, The Peoples' Bible". Black Theology. 7 (2): 241–242. doi:10.1558/blth.v7i2.241. S2CID 141933576. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  15. ^ del Rosario, Joyce (2018). "Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne, by Wilda C. Gafney". Pneuma. 40 (4): 613–615. doi:10.1163/15700747-04004014. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  16. ^ Clutterbuck-Cook, Hanna (November 10, 2017). "Fresh Looks at the Bible". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilda_C._Gafney&oldid=1060743266"