L. Roger Owens

The Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens is the Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Pastoral Theology and received his Ph.D. in theology from Duke University where he was awarded a Lilly Fellowship for the Formation of a Learned Clergy. Before that he completed his M.Div. at Duke Divinity School. As an undergraduate he studied philosophy and Bible/religion at Anderson University in Indiana. Before coming to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Owens served both urban and rural churches in North Carolina for eight years as co-pastor with his wife, the Rev. Ginger Thomas. As a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. Owens currently serves as co-senior pastor of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church with his wife in addition to his work at the Seminary. His books include Everyday Contemplative: The Way of Prayerful Living (Upper Room Books, 2022), Threshold of Discovery: A Field Guide to Spirituality in Midlife (Church Publishing, 2019), A New Day in the City: Urban Church Revival (Abingdon, 2017), What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality (Upper Room Books, 2015), Pastoral Work: Engagements with the Vision of Eugene Peterson (Cascade Press; edited with Jason Byassees), Abba, Give Me a Word: The Path of Spiritual Direction (Paraclete Press, 2012), Wendell Berry and Religion: Heaven’s Earthly Life (University of Kentucky Press, 2009; edited with Joel Shuman) and The Shape of Participation: A Theology of Church Practices (Cascade Press, 2010), which was called “this decade’s best work in ecclesiology” by The Christian Century. Dr. Owens has preached and lectured across the country, and his work has appeared in The Christian Century, Currents in Theology and Mission, The Journal of Religious Ethics, New Blackfriars, and elsewhere. Dr. Owens serves on the faculty for the Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation, where he lectures on the history and practice of Christian spirituality. Dr. Owens and his wife are the parents of Simeon, Silas, and Mary Clare.

Everyday Contemplative: The Way of Prayerful Living (Upper Room Books, 2022)

Threshold of Discovery: A Field Guide to Spirituality in Midlife (Church Publishing, 2019)

A New Day in the City: Urban Church Revival (Abingdon, 2017)

What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality (Upper Room, 2015)

Pastoral Work: Engagements with the Vision of Eugene Peterson (editor; Cascade, 2014)

Abba, Give Me a Word: The Path of Spiritual Direction (Paraclete, 2012)

The Shape of Participation: A Theology of Church Practices (Cascade, 2010)

Wendell Berry and Religion: Heaven's Earthly Life (co-editor with Joel Shuman; University Press of Kentucky, 2009)