Jacquelyn Grant facts for kids

Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York

Jacquelyn Grant (born 1948) is an American theologian, a Methodist minister. Alongside Katie Cannon, Delores S. Williams, and Kelly Brown Douglas, Grant is considered one of the four founders of womanist theology. Womanist theology addresses theology from the viewpoint of Black women, reflecting on both their perspectives and experience in regards to faith and moral standards. Grant is currently the Callaway Professor of Systematic Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Biography

Grant was born December 19, 1948, in Georgetown, South Carolina. She was one of nine children born to her father, the Rev. Joseph J Grant, a pastor, and her mother, Lillie Mae Grant, a cosmetologist. Grant grew up interested in religion, attending Catholic school at a young age and graduating from the local Howard High School in 1966. A graduate of Bennett College and Turner Theological Seminary, she became the first black woman to earn a doctoral degree in systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary.

Her doctoral thesis was titled "The development and limitations of feminist Christology: toward an engagement of white women's and black women's religious experiences." At Union, she worked under professor James H. Cone, who is known as the father of black theology.

Grant was ordained by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1974. In 1976 and 1980, Grant wrote and presented position papers at the denomination's General Conference titled "The Status of Women in the AME Church" and "The AME Church and Women," respectively. She founded the denomination's Women in Ministry organization, which later became the Commission on Women and Ministry.

In 1977, Grant became involved with Harvard Divinity School's Women's Research Program. Her involvement with this program led to the creation of the Women's Studies in Religion Program, in which she worked for two years.

In 1981, Grant founded the Center for Black Women in Church and Society at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta in 1981, where she holds the title of Professor. The center's programs included The Womanist Scholars Program (WSP) and the Black Women in Ministerial Leadership Program (BWML).

Grant was the assistant minister at Flipper Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1980 to 1982, and later the assistant minister at Victory African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta. She is now the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Systematic Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Union in Atlanta. She is the widow of the Rev. Dr. John W.P. Collier, Jr., who worked as the executive secretary for the AME Church's Department of Missions.

Achievements and contributions

Grant is known for her commitment to building stronger communities and churches. In her professional capacities, she mentors numerous students, particularly women of color. Grant was featured as a contributor in the 1983 April issue of Ebony magazine to the article "School of Religion for Men Behind Bars" and to the article "Gifts of the Spirit" in the 1992 December issue.

Grant was the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ministry Award in 1986 and has been nominated as the Woman of the Year in Religion by the Iota Phi Lambda sorority. She has appeared in the Who's Who Among African Americans. Grant currently has a research project that examines African-American understanding of the divine through black theology and black art.

Grant has been professionally involved with a range of international and national organizations, including the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society for the Study of Black Religion.

As a womanist theologian

Theologian Jacquelyn Grant's scholarship "distinguishes between the remote and heavenly Christ worshipped in mainline white churches and the immanent and intimate Jesus whom black women recognize as their friend". Grant illuminates how many black women share a commitment in using their faith to avoid construction of stereotypes. Grant also examines how black women are the vast majority of active participants in their churches and that their work tends to be undervalued.

The professor and former pastor argues that women serving as activists for the black church are sometimes put into institutional categories for their political expression by the black church itself. Grant expounds on this and similar notions in her writings. She explains while it may sound like a compliment that black women are called the "backbone" of the church, in fact the author chides "the telling portion of the word backbone is 'back'. It has become apparent to me that most of the ministers who use this term have reference to location rather than function. What they really mean is that women are in the 'background' and should be kept there."

Grant, alongside Katie Cannon and Delores Williams, represents the first generation of womanist theologians. She differs from earlier black theologians such as James H. Cone, whose work Grant did not think adequately addressed the lived realities of black women. Grant highlights this critique of Cone's work by pointing out that "Black women have been invisible in theology including black theology and feminist theology". Grant also notably argues that the oppression of black women is different then that of black men. She also advances the idea that black women are more oppressed and ultimately need liberation more than white women and black men.