Dr. Michael Hogue Promoted to Associate Professor of Theology

March 9, 2009

On March 4, the Board of Trustees of Meadville Lombard Theological School voted unanimously to accept the recommendation by the faculty and the President to promote Dr. Hogue to Associate Professor of Theology. This promotion is an early one, recommended because of his scholarship, his teaching and his contributions both within the school and in the wider community.

His students describe Dr. Michael Hogue as brilliant and down to earth. In his classes, they find themselves challenged to think and respond in new ways as they expand their own knowledge base about theology and the place of religion in the wider world -- especially its intersection with environmentalism. This video includes current students Chris Stedman, Jan Taddeo and Scott Rudolph describing why they find Dr. Hogue's teaching style and content so compelling:

Dr. Hogue finds the students, themselves, are one of the reasons he feels honored by this promotion. "I am constantly inspired by their passion to deeply examine and to live their faith," he said. "The questing and compassionate spirit of Meadville Lombard students are what really make it such an extraordinary place."

Dr. Hogue's colleagues also find themselves engaged and challenged by the recipient of the 2008 Templeton Award for Theological Promise. The Rev. Dr. John Tolley, Associate Professor of Ministry and the Arts said "one of the joys of my teaching schedule here at Meadville Lombard has been to teach with Mike twice." Dr. Tolley and Dr. Hogue are currently co-teaching a class called Aesthethics which blends the disciplines of ethics and the arts of ministry. "Mike brings a depth of scholarship," says Dr. Tolley, "to which I can add practical applications in the teaching of this class.  What I love about working with Mike is that I know that he has as much appreciation for what I bring to the class as I have for what he brings -- and this, I think, may be rare in academic settings."

Dr. Sharon Welch, Provost, says that Dr. Hogue is an exceptional scholar and teacher, as well as an excellent model of what it means to live religiously in the world.  "Mike is a wonderfully generous and caring person," said Welch. "He presents theology to our students as something that one does, and he goes far beyond telling them that, he lives his own theology with integrity, creativity, humor and compassion."

"I love and learn from my colleagues daily," said Dr. Hogue, "and the likelihood of more collaborative teaching in the new curriculum is very exciting to me. The opportunity to be involved in shaping a new (and old) paradigm in theological education, one with truly transformative potential, is a real gift."

Dr. Hogue has a special interest in the religious underpinnings of environmental work.  He has brought to Meadville Lombard a project he worked on as a graduate student, OIKOS: the Religion and Environment Initiative. This "head, heart and hands" approach to environmental work is based in the reality that environmental solutions has to have an interfaith component.

"Mike's promotion is a recognition that he is on the cutting edge of theological thought -- and theological action," said Rev. Dr. Lee Barker, President. "He has been a leader in the creation of our new Master of Divinity degree program and will continue to be so  as we challenge our students to expand their practical and theological engagement in the world." (In the video below, Dr. Hogue talks about the pedagogical and theological elements of the new Meadville Lombard Master of Divinity degree program.)