"Paz y bien—peace and wellbeing. Welcome to Duke Divinity School. This scholarly community has been my intellectual home since I arrived here 30 years ago in response to God’s call to ministry. Some things have changed in that time: new buildings, new degrees, and new learning modalities. The faculty, staff, and student body have grown more numerous and diverse. Some things have not changed. We remain rooted in the United Methodist tradition, embrace the ecumenical breadth of the church, and are committed to the renewal of the mind for a transformed world.

"Duke Divinity School was established for the training of preachers. For almost one hundred years, we have been teaching students how to break open the bread of life that is the Bible. We still need academically excellent and spiritually mature people in our church pulpits and college lecterns. We also need theologically formed people who can embody a message of hope and justice and purpose in the nonprofit sector and the professions. This is why we offer joint degrees with other schools at Duke; host initiatives that include Theology and the Arts and Theology, Medicine, and Culture; and have nearly two dozen certificates that can be earned in our degree programs.

"This is a time of great need, and as in the day of Pentecost, it is a time for Christ-shaped, Spirit-inspired visions and dreams. As the dean of the first professional school established at Duke University, I dream of a Divinity School that is first among equals in promoting scholarship and lives that treat the wounds of injustice and transfigure this beautiful, broken world through God’s message of love for all. I invite you to be part of this community where Pentecost people serve together, en conjunto, in many kinds of ministries and where Pentecost pedagogy prepares the way for Pentecost doxology—many voices, many languages, and many accents singing one song to the glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, forever and ever."

— Dean Edgardo Colón-Emeric