Rev. Larry A. Golemon, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Washington Theological Consortium. The Executive Director is charged by the Board of Trustees with the implementation of the mission of the Consortium.
Dr. Golemon’s priorities for the Consortium have been to strengthen working relations between leaders in member schools; build collaboration between schools and associate and affiliate members; develop unique public, faculty, and student programs about religion in public life; build new collegial relationships between different faculties; and develop relationships between students on different campuses. He has helped innovations at individual member institutions–like online learning and virtual leadership consultation–to be integrated into the practices of the Consortium. Larry built up Consortium membership in recent years through the inclusion of an Eastern Catholic seminary, an Ecumenical organization committed to East-West Church relations, and an educational museum in Washington, D.C. He also works to develop collaborative programs with outside organizations, especially in Interfaith education and leadership. One of his signature accomplishments has been to take the learnings from earlier interfaith courses to develop a full blown Abrahamic Dialogue immersion course with students from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim seminaries. In addition he has worked closely with faculty to expand the Certificates of Study in the Consortium beyond those in Ecumenism and Muslim-Christian studies to include Ecology and Theology, Criminal Justice and Reconciliation, and Ecumenical Spirituality.
Larry has served the wider church in a variety of capacities: youth minister, local pastor, college and seminary professor, missionary, and researcher. He received a B.A. in History from Stanford University, a Master of Divinity and a Master of Sacred Theology from the Yale Divinity School, a ThM from Columbia Theological Seminary, and a PhD in contemporary theology from Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister (PCUSA).
As a researcher, Dr. Golemon was an associate for the national study of theological education by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and co-authored their findings in Educating Clergy (2006). He taught at Dominican University of California and the GTU, and directed their research project entitled “Sacred Visions and the Social Good,” which explored religion in public life among Buddhists, Sufis, Native Americans, and faith-based Catholic and Protestant parishes. While at the Alban Institute in Virginia, he directed the Narrative Leadership project, which explored story-based transformation of congregational life. He also coordinated the “Ecumenical Project” at Virginia Theological Seminary, which identified capacities and new possibilities for ecumenical teaching and learning. He continues to write in theological education, with a new book entitled “Clergy Education in America: Religious Leadership and American Public Life, 1785-1935” (Oxford Press, 2021). The book analyzes how Protestants, Catholics, and Jews have educated clergy for American society, specifically as culture-builders in religious and public life. Later schools for woman, African Americans, and the white working class followed suit in their own distinctive ways. It is an historical argument for developing clergy today as cultural creators and thought leaders in society as well as the church. For information about this important book, visit: https://washtheocon.org/2021/05/10/golemon-book-on-clergy-education-and-public-life/
For a Recent Interview with Dr. Golemon on Close Up Radio click here
Selected Writings
Golemon, Larry Abbott, Clergy Education in America: Religious Leadership and American Public Life: 1785-1935 (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Larry A. Golemon, “Professional Identity Formation Throughout the Curriculum: Lessons from Clergy Education” in Mercer Law Review, 68:3, Spring 2017, 649-663.
Larry Golemon, editor and contributor, Finding our Story; Teaching our Story; Living our Story. Herndon, VA: Alban Institute Narrative Leadership Series. 2009. Editor and contributor to three volumes on Narrative Leadership project at Alban. Focus on relating narrative theory and practice from education, psychology, theology, business, and therapy contexts to revitalizing congregational life and theological studies.
Lawrence Golemon, general editor. Spotlight on Theological Education, American Academy of Religion: March 2007, March 2008. Editor and contributor to the first two issues of this journal, focusing on best practices in theological and rabbinic education in Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish schools.
Lawrence A. Golemon, “Practices of Integration in Clergy Education,” Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, Herbert Anderson, ed., vol. 27, 2007, 136-149.
Larry Golemon, Ellen Hammerle, Arthur Scott, D. Mark Wilson, and Colleen Hicks, “Sacred Visions and the Social Good: An Interfaith Approach to Religion in Public Life.: Online article for Sacred Visions Project, Dominican University. (2006).
Charles Foster, Lisa Dahill, Lawrence Golemon, and Barbara Wang Tolentino. Educating Clergy: Teaching Practice and the Pastoral Imagination. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2006. Co-author of this Carnegie Study of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish clergy education in the U.S., based on four year ethnographic and historical research.
Larry Golemon, “Teaching What May Not Be Practiced: A Review of Teaching Theology and Religion” in Teaching Theology and Religion, 5:4, October 2002, 236-242.
contact Dr. Golemon, you may e-mail him or call 202-832-2675.