Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)
Applied Theology
Harvard Divinity School
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Faculty
Faculty
Cheryl Sanders, Th.D.
Professor of Christian Ethics
Department/Office
- Ethics, Divinity
School/College
- School of Divinity
Biography
Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D., is professor of Christian Ethics at the Howard University School of Divinity where she teaches courses in Christian ethics, pastoral ethics and African American spirituality. Her key areas of research and writing are African American religious studies, bioethics, pastoral leadership and womanist studies. Sanders has been Senior Pastor of the Third Street Church of God in Washington, D.C. since 1997.
She has ministered nationally and internationally for more than 30 years as a preacher for church services, camp meetings, conventions, conferences and revivals. In 2005, she was honored as one of the elders in the fall issue of The African American Pulpit: Those Preaching Women.
Sanders has lectured at colleges, universities and seminaries all over the United States, including the 2005 C. Eric Lincoln Lectureship at Clark Atlanta University and the Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar Lectureship. She has held visiting professorships at Harvard Divinity School and High Point University, and taught as an exchange professor at Wesley Theological Seminary and the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg. She is an author of more than 100 articles and several books, including "Ministry at the Margins" (1997); "Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture" (1996); and "Empowerment Ethics for a Liberated People" (1995).
She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Swarthmore College and two graduate degrees from Harvard Divinity School: Master of Divinity, cum laude and Doctor of Theology in the field of applied theology. In 2002, she was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky.
She is married to Dr. Alan Carswell, and is the mother of two children, Allison and Garrett.
Education & Expertise
Education
Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
Divinity
Harvard Divinity School
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Mathematics (minor in Black Studies)
Swarthmore College
Academics
Academics
African American Spirituality
Biblical Ethics
Christian Social Ethics
Ethics in Contemporary African American Cinema
Faith Development and Spiritual Formation
Field Education
Introduction to Christian Ethics
M.A. Colloquy
Pastoral Ethics
Senior Colloquy
Womanist Ethics and Theology
Research
Research
Funding
Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, 2000-01, Association of Theological Schools
Theological Scholarship and Research Award, 1993-94, Association of Theological Schools
Faculty Research Grant, 1993-94, Howard University
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
Melvin Banks Lifetime Achievement Award, Urban Ministry, Inc. and Jude 3 Project, 2021
Distinguished Alumni Award, The Sidwell Friends School, Washington, DC, 2021
Black Religious Scholars Group Distinguished Scholar Award, Boston, MA, 2017
Evans E. Crawford Living Legacy Award, Howard University School of Divinity, 2017
Inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame, 2013
Pillar of Faith Award, HUSD/United Church of Christ, 2013
Womanist Legend Award, Black Religious Scholars Group, 2012
Featured News
Featured News
Read: The Washington Informer | Richard Smallwood Celebrates 75th Birthday with Concert Featuring Gospel Legends
Read: The Christian Post | Challenged by racism in white churches, black churches endure but with competition
Read: The Washington Post | Liberated by grace
Read: PBS | 3 of U.S.’s biggest religious denominations in turmoil over sex abuse, LGBT policy
Publications and Presentations
Publications and Presentations
Ministry at the Margins
Ministry at the Margins: The Prophetic Mission of Women, Youth & the Poor
In this challenging book, Cheryl Sanders demonstrates how mission can be updated. Far from being regressive or irrelevant in a multicultural, nonpatriarchal world, Christian mission can come alive when it is not just ministry to but ministry by marginalized groups seeking justice. Ministry at the Margins is an important Christian ethicist's rousing call to "find grace to articulate a theology of inclusion and to establish inclusive practices and multicultural perspectives that harmonize with the gospel we preach and honor the Christ we proclaim."
Saints in Exile
Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture
Saints in Exile studies, from an insider's perspective, the worship practices and social ethics of the African American family of Holiness, Pentecostal, and Apostolic churches known collectively as the Sanctified Church.
Holiness and Black Consciousness
Holiness and Black Consciousness: The Social Witness of Black Saints, Shepherds, and Sages
Charles Price Jones and Charles Harrison Mason nurtured a programme of Black religion, identity, and culture during the formative decades of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements in the United States. This article disentangles the intertwined Black Holiness and Pentecostal traditions in an effort to describe the distinctive worship, lifestyle, and social awareness of Black saints. It considers the redemptive potential of holy Black consciousness to achieve three goals: revitalize Christian unity, restructure a progressive Christian identity, and reconfigure Christian pedagogy to promote resistance of racism and other forms of social injustice Black people experience in the church and society.
Why Prophesying Deliverance Still Matters
Why Prophesying Deliverance Still Matters
This paper recognizes the 40th anniversary of the publication of Prophesy Deliverance! by Cornel West, and acknowledges the broad impact of his intellectual leadership. It begins with the important question of whether West has centered or marginalized Pentecostal thought and culture in the presentation of his basic argument regarding the evolution of Black critical thought and prophetic Christianity. Next is an exploration of how West’s ideas about Black revolutionary Christianity find expression in recent studies of Black Pentecostalism, with particular attention to the Pentecostal social imaginary framed by Dale Coulter and by Keri Day.
Review of Azusa Reimagined By Keri Day
Review of Azusa Reimagined: A Radical Vision of Religious and Democratic Belonging By Keri Day
Holiness and Pentecostal Movements
"Black Radical Holy Women at the Intersection of Christian Unity and Social Justice" in Holiness and Pentecostal Movements: Intertwined Pasts, Presents, and Futures
Since the 1830s, Holiness and Pentecostal movements have had a significant influence on many Christian churches, and they have been a central force in producing what is known today as World Christianity. This book demonstrates the advantages of analyzing them in relation to one another.
Recent Articles
Multimedia
Jude 3 Project | Is Christianity Good For Black Women?
In this powerful episode, Lisa Fields sits down with Dr. Cheryl Sanders—professor of Christian Ethics at Howard University and senior pastor of Third Street Church of God—to discuss womanist theology, Black women's perspectives on scripture, and the ethical challenges facing the Church today.