Teddy Hickman-Maynard has been named associate dean for ministry studies at Harvard Divinity School, starting August 2.
In this role, Hickman-Maynard will oversee the School’s master of divinity program.
“I am delighted that Teddy Hickman-Maynard will join the HDS leadership,” said Dean David N. Hempton. “Teddy’s academic and ministry experience will be an invaluable addition to the School, and, together with his passion for ministerial and vocational education, he will not only inspire our students, but help prepare them as future leaders.”
Most recently, Hickman-Maynard was associate dean for student and community life and Assistant Professor of Black Church Studies at Boston University School of Theology, where he taught courses on social justice, church renewal, and practices of ministry in the Black Church tradition. At BU, he also served as a co-investigator on two research projects: “Creative Callings,” which explores innovative ministries that assist individuals and communities in pursuing lives of meaning and purpose; and “Trauma-Responsive Congregations,” a project that seeks to bring the resources of trauma theology and trauma-response chaplaincy training to bear on congregational ministry in urban settings.
Hickman-Maynard also has more than 20 years of ministry experience, serving in roles including senior pastor, youth pastor, minister to men, and minister of worship. Currently, he is an associate minister at Bethel AME Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, where his spouse, the Rev. Bernadette Hickman-Maynard, is the pastor.
“Preparing emerging faith leaders for vocations in ministry is the great passion of my professional life, and I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to purpose that passion in such a vibrant and diverse learning community,” said Hickman-Maynard. “Given the epochal shifts that are currently afoot with respect to religious thought and practice, the concept of ‘ministry’ has been loosed from its bureaucratic shackles and is emerging as an unpredictable, improvisational, and beautiful art of servant leadership that marshals the gifts of theological and ethical traditions to guide human communities in pursuit of love and justice in the world.
“Given the incredible depth of intellectual engagement across an unparalleled breadth of subject areas, HDS is uniquely positioned to provide the religious and theological education that will equip and inspire aspiring ministers for this kind of innovative moral leadership. I look forward to accompanying students in the MDiv program in the hard, yet joyous work of discerning pathways through the enormous range of academic opportunities available at HDS that make sense for their specific callings and vocational goals.”
Hickman-Maynard graduated from Harvard College in 2000, and earned his MDiv and PhD from Boston University School of Theology.
—by Michael Naughton