Alma Tinoco Ruiz

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Homiletics and Evangelism, and Director of the Hispanic House of Studies

Office

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Degrees

B.S. (Sonora Estate University)
Math Teaching Certification (North Carolina State University)
M.Div. (Duke Divinity School)
Th.D. (Duke Divinity School)

Professor Tinoco Ruiz is a practical theologian whose work centers on the intersection of homiletics, pastoral care, and evangelism. Throughout her ministry, she has witnessed that most preachers are poorly equipped to respond to the traumatic injuries marginalized and oppressed communities experience. In contrast, she sees in the sermons of Saint Óscar Romero a profound response to the traumatic injuries the marginalized and oppressed people of El Salvador were experiencing during the years he was the archbishop of San Salvador (1977-1980). Influenced by Saint Romero’s preaching, Professor Tinoco Ruiz is exploring how preachers can effectively address the trauma experienced by marginalized and oppressed communities, particularly the community of undocumented immigrants from Latin America in the United States. She completed her Th.D. thesis on "Óscar Romero's Theological, Hermeneutical, and Pastoral Framework for Preaching to Traumatized Communities." Her publications include essays in the International Journal of Homiletics, Predicación con Impacto: Preparación y Presentación de Mensajes Bíblicos, The Christian Century, and Duke Divinity School’s DIVINITY magazine. Professor Tinoco Ruiz was awarded the Denman Fellow of the Foundation for Evangelism (FFE) in 2016, the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) Doctoral Fellowship in 2019, and the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI)/Lilly fellowship in 2020. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church.

News and Stories

The 50th Anniversary of the Duke Divinity School Women's Center

The Women's Center, established 50 years ago at Duke Divinity School, serves as both a healing place for women-identifying people and as an educational space for everyone in the Divinity School community.

Duke Divinity School Receives Grant for $1 Million to Strengthen Preaching Program

The grant from the Lilly Endowment's Compelling Preaching Initiative will help launch the Transformative Preaching Lab to prepare theologically informed and culturally competent preachers.

Alma Tinoco Ruiz’s Journey from Mathematics to Ministry Leadership

New director of Hispanic House of Studies and homiletics lecturer on the call to faith, reconciliation, and unity.