HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Wilda Gafney
OR:
Wilda Gafney on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

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 A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
who is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
at Brite Divinity School of
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...
in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. 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 Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...
, 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 Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
, an
historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
, in 1997. She completed a PhD in
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
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. 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. She was a
US Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 202 ...
chaplain and a congregational pastor in the
AME Zion Church #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
, as well as a member of Germantown Jewish Center, Reconstructionist Jewish congregation in Philadelphia. Gafney's first teaching position was at the Lutheran Seminaries in Philadelphia and Gettysburg, beginning in 2003. In 2014, she was appointed Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School at
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...
. In 2018, she served on a committee that recommended
The Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign o ...
for the Episcopal Church in the United States be changed to gender neutral language. 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". She is on the editorial team for the ''
Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journals published by the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). First published in 1881, ''JBL'' is the flagship journal of the field. ''JBL'' is published quarterly and inc ...
''. Her book ''Womanist Midrash'' uses womanist and
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...
to
interpret Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous interp ...
passages from the Hebrew Scriptures. From 2012 to 2013, Gafney wrote a series of articles for the ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' on topics including
sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...
and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
. In June 2018, in response to
Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United State ...
quoting
Romans 13 Romans 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid 50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius ...
to defend President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's policy of separating children from their parents at the border, Gafney wrote an article for
Religion Dispatches ''Religion Dispatches'' is a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures, aimed at providing a nonsectarian platform for writ ...
titled "If We Did Use the Bible to Run the Country…." In September 2020, Gafney participated in "Scholar Strike", an initiative inspired by the strikes by athletes to call attention to racial injustice in the US. Gafney posted a video to the Scholar Strike YouTube page titled "White Supremacy in Biblical Interpretation." After many journalists called January 6, 2021, a "dark day", Gafney responded, "Today was not a 'dark day'. Today was a white day. One of the whitest days in American history."


Awards and honors

In 2019, the
Union of Black Episcopalians The Union of Black Episcopalians, formerly the Union of Black Clergy and Laity, is an organization of The Episcopal Church. History The union was formed on February 8, 1968, by a group of African-American clergy who met in St. Philip's Episcop ...
presented Gafney with the Anna Julia Haywood Cooper Honor Award for her scholarship and advocacy on matters of race and gender. In 2020, the
Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...
named her one of the first two recipients of its Outstanding Mentor Award.


Selected publications


Books

* * * * * *


Chapters and articles

* * * * * * * *


References


External links

* (The Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gafney, Wil Living people 1966 births Earlham College alumni Howard University alumni Duke University alumni American Episcopal priests African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy Texas Christian University faculty 21st-century biblical scholars American biblical scholars African-American biblical scholars Female biblical scholars Feminist biblical scholars Womanist theologians