Faculty
Sharon Thornton
Professor of Pastoral Theology
B.A., University of Washington
M.Div., Pacific School of Religion
Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union
Phone: Ext. 2374
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Biography:
Parish ministry and teaching in hospitals, prisons and urban settings inform Sharon Thornton’s passion for pastoral theology. She seeks to cultivate a classroom climate open to imagination, courage and critical thinking in order to address pastoral issues emerging in diverse communities of faith today. She served as pastor of Christ Church of Chicago, UCC. She also provided pastoral leadership for Sycamore Congregational Church, UCC, and Stanford Memorial Church in California.
Her book Broken Yet Beloved addresses contemporary experiences of historical suffering. She also is working with public school educators to bring a faith perspective into conversations about diversity in the classroom. Ordained in the United Church of Christ, Sharon joined the faculty of Andover Newton in 2000.
Courses:
DMIN 803F: Seminar on Ministry Writing
PRAC/CMLE 734/834F: Congregational Life: Cultivating Congregational Imagination
PRAC/PSYC 753S [EL]: Clergy Ethics
PRAC/PSYP 811/711J: Communities of Struggle: Voices of Hope
PSYF 684S: Love Through the Seasons of Death
Publications:
Homeless in Seattle: A Lived Religion of Hospitality
My Two Dorothys
America of the Broken Heart
Broken Yet Beloved: A Pastoral Theology of the Cross
