Amy Oden Joins WTS Leadership
Published on Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Dr. Amy Oden will serve as Wesley Seminary's Dean for the 2009- 2010 academic year, following the retirement of Dr. Bruce C. Birch who has served as Dean since 1998. In announcing the appointment, President David McAllister-Wilson said, "I am so happy that Dr. Oden is willing to step into this important role. Amy is part of the soul of this community; faculty and students are all telling me how excited they are about this choice."
Dr. Oden is currently Professor of History of Christianity at Wesley, where she has served on numerous faculty committees and as faculty representative to the Board of Governors. She received a B.A. in Letters at the University of Oklahoma, summa cum laude, in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University in 1990. Prior to coming to Wesley in 2002, Dr. Oden was Assistant Professor of Church History at Saint Paul School of Theology in 1989-1992 and Claude and Ollie May Bell Professor of Church History at Oklahoma City University in 1992-2002. Dr. Oden is the author of God's Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World, published in 2008, and Women Speak of God, published in 2004 and which also appears as a Wesley Ministry Network video series and curriculum. She is the author of numerous other publications, book reviews, and papers and leader of many workshops. She served as Director of the Workshop for Pre-Tenure Faculty at Theological Schools at the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, June 2007-June 2008. She chaired the Program Policy Committee of the American Society of Church History, 2004-2007. Dr. Oden is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors, and the American Society of Church History.
In accepting this position, Dr. Oden said: "I am excited about next year because Wesley is positioned in strength to move into an exciting year ahead with the opening of the Mount Vernon Square location, arrival of new faculty, continued increase of younger students, and the opportunities God will bring that we don't even know about yet! This is a community full of gifts and full of the Spirit of God. We have an amazing faculty, folks who see their work as ministry and who are committed to our life together in the service of the body of Christ. I am grateful to be part of our witness in the world and am deeply honored to serve as Dean."
