PERSON: Jacqui Lewis

Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village of Manhattan. Middle Church is a dynamic 900-member multiracial, multicultural, inclusive congregation in which everyone is welcome just as they are as they come through the door. Lewis is also the Executive Director of The Middle Project, an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a more just society.<br> <br> Prior to Middle Church, Dr. Lewis worked as a senior consultant for the Alban Institute. Lewis has been a pastor to two congregations in Trenton, New Jersey. One was a new church development and community center called the Imani Community Church, a rich multicultural experiment, which cemented her commitment to multicultural and multiracial congregations as a way to dismantle discrimination. Lewis believes that when we “rehearse” the Reign of God in congregational life, we learn lessons for healing the world.<br> <br> Dr. Lewis graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, with a B.S. in Business Administration. She earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1992, focusing on preaching, urban ministry and education. Lewis earned a M.Phil. (2002) and a Ph.D. (2004) in Psychology and Religion from Drew University, writing a dissertation on leaders in multiracial/multicultural congregations.<br> <br> Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr. Lewis is a nationally recognized author, activist, speaker, and preacher on the topics of racial, economic, and gender/LGBTI justice. She has been adjunct faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, The Graduate Theological Union, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and Wesley Theological Seminary. Lewis has been interviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition, WABC, WNBC, CNN, GritTV, in Ebony and Forbes magazines, and The New York Times online. Author of The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leaders in Multi-Racial and Multi-Cultural Congregations and a children’s book that celebrates diversity, You Are So Wonderful!, Lewis has published numerous articles and sermons, and blogs for The Huffington Post. She is working on a spiritual memoir about getting a grown-up God.