Onadipe is also a Theology, Medicine, and Culture fellow. He recently was selected as a FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) Fellow for 2024.
I will be a physician, and I am interested in medical ethics and the intersection of theology and medicine. I am studying at Duke Divinity in between my third and fourth year of medical school at the University of Michigan. I wanted to participate in the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Fellowship to think theologically about health care.
The Bible and/as Poetry. It has helped me engage with Scripture on a deeper level.
Dr. Brent Strawn. He teaching style is engaging, and he demands a lot from his students in the best way.
I enjoy studying in the Methodist Reading Room in the Divinity School Library. It overlooks the Duke Chapel quad, which makes it a great place to study, especially when it is sunny.
I have enjoyed living in the Friendship House and the North Street neighborhood. It has been a great intentional community to live in and to spend time with people of different abilities. [Ed. Note: Friendship House is a residential ministerial formation program in which Duke Divinity School students and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live together in community.]
The variety of Christian traditions people come from. I have incorporated new spiritual practices because of this.
Miller won the Duke Divinity School Award for Excellence in Worship and Liturgical Leadership and the Seminarian Award of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music & Worship Arts. She also earned a Certificate in Preaching and a Certificate in Methodist/Wesleyan Studies.
At the time I came to Duke Divinity School, an M.Div. was not required for the path I had thought God was calling me into. I had received a robust theological education at an undergraduate level, but a desire to learn from the wisdom of church more ecumenically and cross-culturally brought me to Duke Divinity School. My time at Duke has planted and watered seeds for my vocation and call to discipleship that I could never have foreseen, and I am abundantly grateful.
I am excited about helping the church move forward into a new age with many challenges and (even more!) possibilities. I am particularly passionate about leading the church to be an agent for justice, peace, and reconciliation in regard to race, gender, care for God's creation, and creating genuine spaces of community that draw us into right relationship with God and others.
My experience in Centurion, South Africa, was incredibly eye-opening and transformative. It was a gift to learn from the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, a denomination that was instrumental in the struggle against apartheid. It was also a profound gift to get to do life alongside people and a community from a totally different context than my own. As a part of that internship experience, I also got to attend the Great Lakes Initiative Leadership Institute in Kampala, Uganda, which profoundly expanded my vision of the kingdom and God's work in the world.
Dr. Ellen Davis and Dr. Jerusha Neal co-taught a class called “Hope for Creation?: An Exilic Perspective,” and it was one of the best classes I've ever taken. The question mark in the title was very important for our journey together! When I think of the impact this class had on me, I think of the word expand—the course expanded my theological framework for understanding God's relationship with creation and humanity's place in it, it expanded my understanding of the multifaceted dimensions of the climate crisis, and it expanded the tools I can use as a pastor and preacher to address these issues. I went off paradigm to take this class, and I have no regrets.
Picking one Duke Divinity professor is such a challenge. But I have to say Dr. Jerusha Neal. Every course I have taken with her has expanded both my theological imagination and the skillset I have to pastor God's people well. She may not know she is my favorite, but I hope to live into my voice as a preacher with the same wisdom, grace, and resolve with which she lives into hers.
I appreciate the way my peers create room for friendship and discussion across differences but never shy away from talking about the hard things.
It may sound cliché, but success to me looks like faithful discipleship. I can't shake a call to vocational ministry and still be obedient in my walk with God. But I also know that in God's expansive wisdom, how that calling is embodied may vary significantly throughout my life, and I am here for that journey. It can be tempting to define success by money, power, or the prestige of a particular position, but I hope to continue assessing success by the measure of faithfulness to God.
During his time at Duke Divinity School, Wijoyo presented papers at theological conferences— including those hosted by Yale, Princeton Theological Seminary, Boston College, Villanova, and GTU—on the topics of political theology and Christian ethics.
Asian House of Studies, Center for Reconciliation, Duke Chapel Scholar
I come from Indonesia, have served for several years in pastoral ministry, and did an M.Div./B.Th. in Indonesia.
Rigorous theological ethics professors with a balanced blend of tradition and cutting-edge research.
Duke Gardens, Nasher Museum, the silent nooks and crannies of various buildings.
The green spaces, the history, the organizing culture.
Some are the most bright, kind, and positive people I know.
Completing a doctoral program, teaching in seminary/theological school, and preparing the next generation of pastors, organizers, and theologians.
Bracy won the Award for Excellence in New Testament.
I chose Duke because I wanted an experience that would broaden my theological understanding by forcing me to be around people I would likely disagree with. That said, I had heard from past graduates that the faculty were deeply invested in the continued work of the church, so I was hopeful that we would share similar convictions about the need to take Scripture seriously, learning from tradition, and aiming our theological endeavors towards the flourishing of the church. If anything, Duke has only made me more excited for the future of the church in the coming decades.
I am particularly excited about the future of the local church and about my potential role in preaching and expanding biblical literacy. Before divinity school, I saw myself primarily as a writer. I published poetry, several nonfiction/memoir-style essays, and human-interest stories in various publications. Now, I can really see how this storytelling winds its way into my sermon writing, bringing lived experiences to the text—even if that experience isn't always explicitly in my final draft.
In my final year, I participated in a summer/academic year placement at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Hillsborough. I came into seminary convinced that I would become a professor, or a chaplain, or really anything other than a staff person at a church. At St. Matthew's, I discovered my love for parish life, saw how my gift at writing could translate to preaching and teaching, and have, as a result, both changed denominations and begun exploring the ordination process in The Episcopal Church. This wouldn't have been possible, however, if the two priests in my placement hadn't been willing to sit with me as I sorted out the small promptings of the Spirit, to listen without an agenda, and to offer a consistently supportive presence.
Dr. Lauren Winner has been my favorite. I appreciate her blend of assigned reading, which includes highly academic works mixed with practical theology and poetry. Her assignments consistently challenge us to take complex ideas, like trinitarian theology, and translate them simply, a practice which both ensures that we ourselves understand what we've read, and that we know the stakes for the churches where we will one day serve. I've taken three classes with her, and my most recent class had me design a full Advent retreat as a final assignment, which drew on resources from the class but which I very well might use.
I've been surprised by how much of my theological growth has happened outside of classroom lectures, and much of this growth can be attributed to my peers. I am friends with a thoughtful group of women and men who have come together with curiosity and openness to discussion about our similarities and differences. I have been able to evolve theologically because I have been given peers who did this work before I did, and so I have been able to believe that faith can lie on the other side.
After graduation I am returning to communications, working for a nonprofit that offers grants to Christian organizations that support local church work.
Burch also earned a Certificate in Methodist/Wesleyan Studies.
I am passionate about showing up as an expression of the church in the most unexpected places. I am excited to see where the Holy Spirit takes me—the local church, chaplaincy, or something not even thought of yet.
My Introduction to Preaching course with Jerusha Neal was nourishment that my soul needed. I am honored to have gotten to learn from her. The Methodist Studies courses have made me feel equipped and confident for the future. Finally, my clinical pastoral education course at Duke University Hospital taught me that I am capable of far more than I can imagine on my own.
Dr. Sangwoo Kim and Dr. Laceye Warner have help cultivate my passion and hope for the future of the United Methodist Church. On an individual note, I truly do feel as though they care about me. They are always so quick to call me into their office when I seem off or overwhelmed. I am thankful for the care that they both have for students.
The Brodhead Center is pretty awesome. I love all the food options that they have.
I love all the restaurants and fun activities, like seeing the Durham Bulls!
I hope to continue to fall deeper in love with God. I hope that my sense of imagination for the church never stops growing and evolving. I hope to cultivate and maintain a holistic sense of balance between my professional and personal life. Lastly, I want to muster up the courage to finally pursue my dream of writing and creating evangelical children's picture books that are fully representative of the expansive community of God.
First, I am getting married in June! Then, I have accepted a chaplain residency position at Duke University Hospital. While I am completing my residency, I will be applying for provisional membership in the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Mangum won the Jameson Jones Preaching Award at Duke Divinity School. She is also earning a Certificate in Food, Faith, and Environmental Justice and a Certificate in Preaching.
Before coming to divinity school, I studied earth science at Washington University in St. Louis and worked for a couple of years in environmental justice-focused philanthropy. I came to Duke Divinity to study at the intersection of faith and environment, and have loved my interdisciplinary studies here, both in and outside of the Divinity School.
I came to Duke Divinity to study at the intersection of faith and environment. As we face the climate crisis, care for our communities, and attempt to bring about a better future, it's important we bring all our spiritual resources to bear.
I loved both of my field education experiences, for different reasons. In one placement, I got to farm; getting my hands in the dirt all summer long was an invaluable way to connect with the earth. In my academic year congregational placement, I got to learn how to preach dialogically. Listening for the movement of the Spirit as a group of co-ministers crafting a message together in real time brought me closer to the active presence of God each week.
How to pick one?! I am forever moved by Dr. Jerusha Neal's Spirit-led, sermonic teaching style; Dr. Ellen Davis's inexhaustible curiosity and love for Scripture; and Dr. Wylin Wilson's compassion and abiding concern for her students' wellbeing. I am grateful to have been shaped by each of them.
I appreciate how curious and thoughtful Duke Divinity School students are, and the way that diverse perspectives are welcomed into conversation. Though I'm in a small contingent of Duke Divinity students affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC), I've deeply enjoyed learning from peers and professors from other traditions and experiencing the rich breadth of the body of Christ.
If I could change one thing about my time at Duke, I would spend more time on relationships and rest from the start.
Sharkey won the Duke Divinity School Award for Excellence in Old Testament.
A combination of friends, professors, circumstances, and financial aid. Duke was the last place I applied (I did not know much about seminaries and divinity schools), but I chose to come here when my offer came through. God brought me somewhere I never imagined I would be!
I want to love other people the way God has loved me throughout my life—he is so kind, and I want to show people that God gives us peace. I love to teach, and I cannot wait to teach the Scriptures in Greek and Hebrew. It is good for my soul.
I have absolutely loved working as a college minister this semester at UNC. My students are a tremendous blessing, and I have so thoroughly enjoyed growing, praying, learning, eating, teaching, driving, and talking with them this year. Among many other things, I learned how invaluable making yourself open to the small, off-the-books moments is to ministry.
A number of courses at Duke have been impactful for me. All three of my Hebrew courses with Dr. Stromberg (prose, poetry, poetry w/ new material) have helped me learn to cherish the beauty and power of the Old Testament. Ellen Davis’s Advanced Hebrew Prose Syntax course has been tremendously helpful in making me a better, more efficient, more detail-oriented reader of Scripture. Kavin Rowe’s course on Luke was a great help through its steadfast emphasis on paying attention to the language of the text and reading it over and over again as a lifetime practice. Jonathan Anderson’s Visual Art as Theology was one of the most stimulating, inspiring, and thought-provoking courses in my time at Duke. Stephen Chapman’s course on the History of Israel was also very useful and helped me clarify my understanding of the scope, role, and history of archaeology and historical-critical thought. I have also tremendously enjoyed my EvAnth course in Primate Paleobiology this semester with Richard Kay, who is an excellent teacher!
Duke Chapel! A mysterious and grand beauty testifying to God’s presence in the heart of campus. I think Duke is so beautiful, and it makes me very happy to look at the buildings in all kinds of weather!
Some of my peers here have clearly devoted their whole life to seeking God and living with him. God shines through them—their lives, examples, actions; prudence, wisdom, love. There are some real diamonds here at Duke Divinity School!
A life of humility and service to Christ. I want to know God face-to-face as a brother, friend, and Lord, not at a distance or merely “about” him.
TBD! Potentially future doctoral work in Old Testament. I hope to teach in some capacity.
Stambaugh won a Duke Divinity School McMurry Richey Award. She also earned a Certificate in Faith, Food, and Environmental Justice.
I grew up on an alfalfa farm in western South Dakota near the Black Hills. This area is my favorite place in the world.
My interest in the intersection of theology, environmental justice, and agriculture.
I am passionate about engaging local congregations in direct action to mitigate the climate crisis. I am especially passionate about getting churches to integrate climate action more prominently in their ministries.
I got to serve with Way in the Wilderness in Black Mountain, N.C. I learned so much from my summer there and learned about the ways that regular engagement with beauty and delight can help sustain social justice work.
My favorite class so far has been Carceral Saints with Dr. Lauren Winner, taught inside the women's prison in Raleigh. It has been both personally and professionally transformative.
I entered Divinity School with deep fear of preaching. Dr. Jerusha Neal helped transform that fear into a genuine love of preaching! She has a gift for both teaching and preaching.
I love the walk up Chapel Drive towards campus—the view is incredible, the tree-lined street is always bursting with flowers and birdsong. That walk has been a regular rhythm for me through Divinity School.
Reigle won the Duke Divinity School Award for Outstanding Student in Theology. He also earned the Certificate in Anglican Studies and is a Thriving Communities Fellow at the Ormond Center.
High-profile university. Recommendation from campus ministers at Cornell.
St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee. They were very welcoming and provided me with my first opportunities to preach and teach in a church setting.
I took a course on Wittgenstein in the Department of Literature, which was very inspiring and helped to me see how theology can be in conversation with and welcomed in other departments.
Norman Wirzba is an excellent lecturer and generous with his time with students.
Great food. Great places to walk and hike.
Kindness, camaraderie, willingness to pray.
I am excited to do further research in the Th.D. program at Duke.
Baffa earned a Certificate in Theology, Medicine, and Culture and was a TMC Fellow.
I am a Roman Catholic from the Boston area and went to Smith College where I studied chemistry with a minor in religion. Before coming to Duke, I spent a little under a year working as a medical assistant. Next year, I will be going to doctoral study in theological ethics/moral theology with a focus on bioethics.
I really was attracted to Duke Divinity because of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture (TMC) program in particular. I was all set to begin sending my medical school applications in the spring of 2022, but I was feeling quite hesitant that I wanted to and should be working primarily as a clinician. Even while working with some amazing doctors during my time as a medical assistant, I felt I needed more time and intellectual resources for my own discernment. Since I had minored in religion as an undergraduate, I had done a bit of cursory research into bioethics from a Christian perspective to try to intersect my interests in science, medicine, religion, and ethics. When I discovered the TMC program, where I could dive deeply into issues of theology, health care, and bioethics through intentional community and formation, I just thought I had to apply. Now, I'm immensely grateful that I've had an opportunity to join Duke Divinity School through the TMC Fellowship.
I am passionate about medical ethics and am eager to produce scholarship that is theologically rich while remaining accessible to clinicians and patients who want intellectual resources to understand how to navigate health care and its ethical complexities.
Taking Latinx Theology with Dr. Peter Casarella has greatly shaped my thinking and research, providing me valuable familiarity with texts and thinkers that are now central to how I think about ethics and bioethics more specifically. This class also gave me the space to think creatively and try to make connections between my courses and across disciplines.
I love spending too much time at the round table in the TMC office suite. Depending on the day and time, it is the perfect spot to enjoy some sunlight while quietly getting work done or, at other times, to run into friends to chat and catch up with. Also, some of my favorite memories at Duke are watching the sunrise or basking in the afternoon sun on the steps in front of Duke Chapel with friends.
As part of TMC, taking coursework with our co-directors specifically on theology, medicine, and ethics has completely shaped my understanding of these overlapping disciplines and given me the knowledge to continue to pursue study in this area. Through the TMC spiritual formation group my first year, I was able to form truly deep relationships with my classmates that go beyond shared intellectual interests to close friendships.
In this last year, I also got much more involved in the Hispanic House of Studies as part of Caminantes and La Unión Latina and I have found those spaces to be some of the warmest and most welcoming I have encountered. I have felt I could be seen as my authentic, honest self and received with kindness and support among those groups, and for that I am deeply grateful.
This fall, I will be beginning my Ph.D. in theology, focusing on theological ethics.
Carrington also earned the Certificate in Baptist Studies; Certificate in Preaching; Certificate in Theology, Medicine, and Culture; and the Certificate in Black Church Studies. She is also a TMC Fellow.
Understanding my background involves recognizing the intersection of my identities as a Black and American Indian woman deeply influenced by my upbringing in a military town and my profound commitment to public health and ministry. My journey has been marked by the challenges of navigating spaces where my presence was often an anomaly, particularly in military and public health contexts. Despite the systemic barriers encountered, including significant resistance within women's ministry roles, I've found substantial support at Duke Divinity School. The Baptist House of Studies and the Theology, Medicine, and Culture initiative have provided crucial affirmations of my calling.
My academic and professional experiences are intertwined with a dedication to serving as an Air Force chaplain, reflecting a deep commitment to support service members facing unique challenges. I hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in public health and have worked as a public health researcher at the federal level for the past five years, focusing on injury and violence prevention. My personal experiences with gun violence have profoundly shaped my approach to ministry and advocacy.
This background underscores a mission-driven life aimed at creating systemic change, promoting equity, and fostering an inclusive community that reflects Christ's teachings. Through this journey, I've experienced the power of presence, defined my public health theology, and confirmed my calling to amplify voices that have been historically marginalized or silenced.
My path to Duke Divinity School was profoundly influenced by my commitment to serving those in uniform, shaped against the backdrop of my role as an injury and violence prevention researcher and Air Force public health officer. Witnessing the stark reality of service members struggling with the depths of despair, often leading to tragic outcomes such as firearm suicide, I felt hopeless. These were not mere statistics; they were vivid, painful stories of lives cut short, potential unfulfilled. The resolve to become an Air Force chaplain, to offer solace, guidance, and hope in the midst of such profound suffering, led me to Duke.
The Divinity School's Theology, Medicine, and Culture fellowship and its environment that encourages the intertwining of faith with practical service presented the ideal setting to prepare for this unique ministry. Duke Divinity offered me not just theological education but the opportunity to deeply understand the spiritual dimensions of healing and resilience.
What excites me most about my future vocation as an Air Force chaplain is the unique opportunity to support service members at crucial intersections of faith and public health, particularly in addressing the issue of firearm suicide. My five-year background in injury and violence prevention research and public health deeply informs this call, driving my commitment to providing holistic spiritual care within the military community. This role allows me to be a beacon of hope and unconditional support for those navigating the complexities of service life, offering a safe space for faith exploration, comfort in distress, and strength in vulnerability. I am passionate about advocating for systemic changes to address mental health stigmas and enhance support systems in the military. Integrating my public health expertise with spiritual ministry enables me to contribute to a culture of care that prioritizes mental and spiritual well-being. This convergence of ministry, equity, and military service embodies my faith in action, aiming to create a community where every service member feels valued, understood, and supported.
My favorite Duke Divinity School professor is Dr. Warren Kinghorn, who taught Trauma and Theology. He has been an exceptional resource and mentor in research. His expertise in the intersections of theology, medicine, and mental health has significantly influenced my academic and vocational journey. His guidance in navigating the complexities of trauma through a theological lens has been invaluable, enriching my understanding and approach to ministry with those experiencing trauma, and shaping my aspirations towards integrating faith with healing and advocacy in my future roles.
What I love most about campus is grabbing pumpkin bread and a vanilla latte in between classes at the West Union, lifting weights at Wilson gym to unwind, finding great deals on books at the Divinity School bookstore's clearance section, and hunkering down for late-night study sessions in room 031 during reading week.
Durham is amazing, with its quirky mix of cultures, food spots, and vibrant arts scene. Whether it's trying a new restaurant, catching a live show, or just soaking in the diverse vibes at a local market, there’s always something cool happening.
I truly appreciate my Duke Divinity School peers for their openness, support, and passionate commitment to ministry. Their diverse perspectives and experiences make us better. It’s inspiring to be among individuals so dedicated to making a difference, grounded in faith and driven by a desire to serve.