Craig Dykstra

Emeritus Research Professor of Practical Theology & Emeritus Senior Fellow at Leadership Education

Office

0038 Langford

Duke Divinity School
Duke University
407 Chapel Drive
Duke Box #90968
Durham, NC 27708-0968

Professor Dykstra is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before coming to Duke he was senior vice president for religion at Lilly Endowment, where he had served since 1989. Dykstra’s most recent scholarly work has focused on pastoral and ecclesial imagination, as well as Christian practices, as key concepts for thinking about what it means to live the Christian life, to organize the discipline of practical theology, and to re-envision the work of pastoral ministry. He is co-editor with Dorothy Bass of For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry (Eerdmans, 2008). His book, Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Practices (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1999) was published in a second edition in 2005. He also contributed to and collaborated with Bass in the creation of Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People (Jossey-Bass, 1997; second edition, 2010). Previously, Dykstra wrote a book on moral and religious education, Vision and Character, and was co-editor of a book of essays on contemporary faith development theory. At Duke, Dykstra will conduct research, write, teach and consult with current and future Christian leaders about ways in which religious institutions can flourish in their missions and ministries in the context of our rapidly changing society and culture.