Creative Writing and Public Theology

Engage your theological imagination and craft your public voice through creative writing! The Doctor of Ministry program invites students into a community of inquiry that accepts the unfinishedness of both theology and creative writing. During this hybrid program, you will explore the fluid dimensions of faith and the complexities of your vocational context with your cohort, our faculty, and the reading public. At the end of your coursework, you will write a publishable manuscript that engages your vocational context in conversation with your coursework. You will also produce a statement of vocation in public theology and offer a public reading and discussion of your creative work.

Students typically complete the 36 credit Doctor of Ministry program in three to four years.

Applications to this DMin cohort are accepted on a continual basis. Apply now to reserve your space in a future focus. Financial aid and scholarships are available for those who qualify.

Do you feel your heart burning with something to say? Would you like to experiment imaginatively with the ways that theological reflection can draw creatively from the prophetic tradition and engage the wider public? We have designed this program to help you bridge your vocational context and your call to write theologically. We will march with you out the doors of the academy and church and into the public space saying something unexpected, beautiful, and challenging. Join your voice with others in this exciting work!

What is the Creative Writing and Public Theology Focus like?

In the very heart of all theological writing is what Rowan Williams calls “an essential restlessness in the enterprise of Christian utterance.” As a result of the ongoing nature of our faith, we are always searching for bright new ways to communicate in churches, seminaries, and wider society about our life with God. Our sharing of these illuminating theological voices is more crucial than ever for our public sphere, which is in need of fresh, prophetic insights. In response to this need, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has developed this D.Min. program at the lively intersection of creative writing and public theology.

How is this curriculum shaped?

The program features two types of courses. The first are practical Craft of Writing workshops, led by professional writers and editors and focused on expanding creative writing skills in a variety of genres, including blogs and podcasts, poetry and literary non-fiction, children’s literature, memoir, and journalism. In addition to the craft workshops, the program features Theological Content courses, taught by working theologians; these relate creative writing to ministry, spirituality, theological reflection, the prophetic tradition, and the Bible. Discussing publishing practices and offering public reading of participants’ works are regular highlights during the course of study.

When and where do the classes meet?

The Theological Content courses are held in person at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa., and St. Petersburg, Fla., during alternating one-week blocks of time in January and June. These are followed by 10-week online workshops dedicated to the Craft of Writing in different genres. The first Creative Writing and Public Theology Focus cohort will begin with a Theological Content course in Pittsburgh in June 2021.

Courses May Include

Exploring Voice, Faith, and Place in Ministry through the Theological Imagination
Voices: Exploring a Sense of Faith and Place in Ministry
C. S. Lewis: The Bible, Storytelling, and Theological Imagination in Public Theology
Storytelling for Times Such as These
Religion and Experimental Poetics / The Sacred and the Profane
Creative Writing and Spirituality
Online Craft Workshops on
- Memoir
- Poetry
- Literary Journalism
- Short Stories
- Writing for Children
- Blogs, Podcasts, and Radio Shows
- Manuscript Writing

Creative Writing and Public Theology Student Learning Outcomes

One-Week Intensive Goals

Each one-week intensive session focuses on biblical and theological reflection that engages genres of creative writing and is dedicated to hearing myriad voices in different genres; some practices of writing will accompany discussion and other class activities. During each one-week course, students will take field trip(s) to an art museum, jazz performance, poetry reading, or other cultural event to stimulate creativity and conversation about engagement with theological imagination in public spaces in particular cultural contexts.

The courses and field trips will collectively:

Provide students with exposure to a number of creative voices from varying cultural, theological, and political perspectives;
Offer practical experience and professional support in writing the various genres included under the creative writing umbrella;
Ground students in practices of healthy attentiveness and theological reflection that are rooted in a sense of place with an eye and ear toward the salient concerns and opportunities within their contexts;
Create opportunities for students to construct different voices and experiment with those voices in different genres of theological writing;
Invite students to consider the doing of public theology from new angles.

Craft of Writing Workshops Goals

In lieu of a second week of class held in-person and on site, we will meet in a 10-week, online writing workshop that will function as craft classes. Except for the Publication Lab, each of these workshops will focus on a particular genre and will introduce aspects of content and form in that genre of writing.

The Craft of Writing Workshops will:

Give students a deep dive into specific genres of writing, both as readers and as writers;
Allow students to experiment with voice in and through different genres;
Provide numerous opportunities to explore voice with an ear toward public theology in different cultural contexts;
Help students learn how to listen more attentively to their own and others’ writing and how to be more competent proofreaders and editors of their own work;
Invite students into relationship with working writers who will begin the mentoring process even before formal mentoring has begun;
Assist students in placing their work for publication.

Mentorship Goals

The Mentorship part of the program will begin a little less than halfway through the cohort’s time together. The primary goal of the Mentorship is to support each student in writing a significant work for presentation for the degree and for eventual publication. Mentors will walk with each student through the final manuscript process and serve as readers on each completed manuscript.

Listen to Learn More

Welcome to Doing it Different, a limited podcast partnership with Porshanality Media and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. This podcast explores the Seminary's cutting-edge Doctor of Ministry degree and its various focus areas. Together we will explore conversations with faculty, staff, and students alike. Cheers to Doing It Different.

In episode 1, the relationship between womanism and the new Creative Writing and Public Theology Doctor of Ministry Focus at Pittsburgh Seminary is exposed in a conversation with Porsha Williams Gates and Shan Overton, hosted by Shannon Garrett-Headen.

Listen to Episode 1

Listen in as scholar/writer J. Kameron Carter and practical theologian/writer and Director of the Center for Writing and Learning Support at PTS Shan Overton join in a round table conversation on the Seminary's new Doctor of Ministry Creative Writing as Public Theology cohort on this aij podcast, featuring conversations and performances at the intersection of art, inspiration, and justice.

Creative Ministry as Public Theology Round Table, Part One

Creative Ministry as Public Theology Round Table, Part Two