Peter Slade

Peter Slade teaches courses in the History of Christianity and Christian Thought. He received a doctorate degree in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. Prior to studying at UVa, Slade earned an M.A. in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and a B.D. with Honours in Christian Ethics and Practical Theology from St. Andrews University, Scotland. He also studied community work at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Slade's scholarship and teaching is grounded in his work and life in the Church. He served as a preacher for a small chapel in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains -- Mt. Olivet Church (UCC), Dyke, VA -- and worked for several years as a community development worker for the Church of England in Blackburn and Aylesbury. Interested in the lived ecclesiologies of Christian communities, his first book, Open Friendship in a Closed Society; Mission Mississippi and a Theology of Friendship (OUP, 2009), is an interdisciplinary study of an ecumenical racial reconciliation initiative in Mississippi. Slade's current research is into the practices of congregational singing in contemporary American churches and the ways that singing shapes--and is shaped by--the ecclesiologies of different congregations and communities.

Living in Ashland with his wife and two children, Slade attends First United Methodist Church where he is a musician and worship leader. In his spare time he enjoys playing with his children, making music with his wife, eating nice cheese and watching DVDs in surround sound.

•     M.A., Ph.D. University of Virginia
•     M.A. University of Mississippi
•     B.D. University of St. Andrews

Courses Taught:

• REL106 Exploring the Bible
• REL231 History of Medieval & Reformation Christianity
• REL232 History of Modern European Christianity
• REL233 History of Religions in America
• REL340 Religion and the Civil Rights Movement in America
• REL301J Topics in Religion: History of Christian Worship
• REL401/404 Seminar in Christian Ethics/Theology:Theologies of Resistance and Reconciliation
• REL497 Religious Thesis Seminar 

Publications:

• Open Friendship in a Closed Society: Mission Mississippi and a Theology of Friendship, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Journey Toward Justice: The Lived Theology of John M. Perkins, (co-edited with Peter Heltzel and Charles Marsh), University Press of Mississippi, 2013

Blogs:

• Open Friendship in a Closed Society
• Singing Church