Wilda C. Gafney, also known as Wil Gafney, (born 1966) is an American
biblical scholar
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
and
Episcopal priest who is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of
Hebrew Bible at
Brite Divinity School
Brite Divinity School is a divinity school at Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), approved by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church ...
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.
She grew up attending a
non-denominational church
Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian d ...
, was baptized in an
AME Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...
, and attended a Catholic high school.
Gafney earned a BA from
Earlham College, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
institution, in 1987, where she was one of only seven Black students on a campus of over 1000 students.
She completed a Master's of Divinity from
Howard University, an
historically black college, in 1997.
She completed a PhD in
Hebrew Bible from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 2006,
where she was mentored by
Roland E. Murphy
Roland Edmund Murphy (July 19, 1917 - July 20, 2002) was an American Catholic priest of the Carmelite order, a biblical scholar and a specialist in the study of the Old Testament. He was the George Washington Ivey Professor of Biblical Studies at ...
.
Her doctoral dissertation became her first book, ''Daughters of Miriam'', a study of female prophets in ancient Israel.
Career
Gafney is an Episcopal priest, licensed in the
Diocese of Fort Worth and formerly resident in the
Diocese of Pennsylvania
The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware in the state of Pennsylvania.
The Diocese has 36,641 m ...
.
She was a
US Army Reserve chaplain and a congregational pastor in the
AME Zion Church #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME
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congregation in Philadelphia.
Gafney's first teaching position was at the Lutheran Seminaries in Philadelphia and
, beginning in 2003.