Leading LGBTQI+ Theologian and Pastor Welcomed at the University of Exeter
Prof Rajani Naidoo (Vice-President and DVC People and Culture), Revd Dr Brandon Crowley (Harvard Divinity School), Prof Susannah Cornwall (Professor of Constructive Theologies and Director of EXCEPT), Prof Helen Berry (Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for the HASS Faculty)
On 7-8 November 2024, the Societies and Cultures Institute and EXCEPT (Exeter Centre for Ethics and Practical Theology) welcomed Revd Dr Brandon Crowley to Exeter. Dr Crowley is Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School and Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, one of the USA's oldest Black congregations founded by formerly enslaved persons and one of its few open and affirming historically Black churches.
Dr Crowley joined a networking lunch for postgraduates, early career schools and scholars of colour at Knightley building to mark the end of Black History Month 2024.
Following a welcome from Prof Rajani Naidoo, Vice-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for People and Culture, he then delivered a lecture on the themes of his Oxford University Press book Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations. This was followed by a response from EXCEPT research associate Revd Dr David Nixon and some lively questions and discussion with attendees from Exeter, other universities and the local community, chaired by EXCEPT’s Director, Prof Susannah Cornwall. Dr Crowley then attended a dinner with postgraduates from Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology.
The visit took place in the same week as the US presidential election and the questions and conversation covered topics including the politics of fear and how Black theologies might interrupt these discourses, the influence of slavery on African American Christians’ identity, and the potentials of LGBTQI+ people’s affirmation in faith communities.
Dr Crowley is both an honorary research fellow of Exeter’s Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology (CAHRT), and a Societies and Cultures Institute Visiting Researcher for 2024-25. His research interests and expertise chime closely with CAHRT academics including Prof Susannah Cornwall in queer and sexuality studies, Prof Louise Lawrence in disability studies, and Prof Esther Reed in criminal justice, and with Exeter Theology and Religion’s ongoing work to explore decolonization and anti-racism in its subdisciplines.
