The Reverend Jacqui Lewis, Ph.D. joined the staff of Middle Collegiate Church in January 2004. “My very first day, though, was Christmas Eve in 2003. Gordon Dragt, our former senior minister, called with no voice and asked me to come to work that evening. I had just moved to the East Village to start my new call to ministry. It was a magical night, with two amazing concerts, warm and loving people, and a great staff. I knew I was home!”

Jacqui felt God calling her to ministry when she was child in Chicago. “In lots of ways—my first communion at our Presbyterian Church; the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; at camp as a teen in Michigan; directing my college gospel choir—I felt God calling me to an artistic, multicultural ministry of reconciliation. Middle feels to me like the culmination of all of the dreams I have had of church—it is a rehearsal of the reign of God. It is home.”

Home for Jacqui’s family was on Air Force bases. They landed in Chicago, where she went to grammar school and high school. Jacqui attended Northwestern University (“I was pretending to be a chemical engineer…”) and then graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, with a B.S. in Business Administration. Jacqui spent eight years at Eastman Kodak Company, first as a buyer, then as a manager in Human Resources, and finally in sales before going to seminary. “I used to think that I was running away from ministry for all that time, but now I know how much all of those experiences are essential to the ministry I do in the world.”

Jacqui earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1992, focusing on preaching and education. She earned prizes in Urban Ministry, Music, Pastoral Theology, and Care. After graduation, Jacqui worked in two congregations in Trenton. One was a new church development and community center called the Imani Community Church. “Ours was a rich multicultural experiment, one that cemented my commitment to multicultural and multiracial congregations as a way to deconstruct discrimination. When we practice living together in congregations, we learn lessons for all of our lives.”

Jacqui’s ministry in Trenton led her to ponder how spirituality shapes people’s lives. She earned both a Master of Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Religion (2002) and Society: Psychology and Religion (2004) from Drew University. Her dissertation is an identity study of clergy who serve multiracial and multicultural congregations. “I came to Middle Church to study Gordon Dragt and this congregation. How wonderful to find myself working here!” A re-write of the project has led to a book deal with Abingdon Press. Jacqui’s third book, The Power of Story: A Guide for Leaders in Multiracial/Multicultural Congregations, will be published in April 2008.

As Collegiate Senior Minister/Minister for Vision, Worship and the Arts, Jacqui is responsible for planning worship and artistic events at Middle Church. “I have so much joy working with my colleagues and our artists to help our community catch a vision of what the reign of God is like. I am so proud of the ways lay people are doing their ministry more and more. I am so proud of the teaching church we are developing as well that includes several national conferences.”

Part of Jacqui’s job is to spread the spirit of Middle Church beyond its walls. She is a sought-after speaker at denominational conferences on the multiracial/multicultural future and has spoken at Reformed Church in America, Presbyterian, and Methodist conferences. She has been interviewed on several media outlets including “30 Good Minutes.” She is an adjunct professor at Union Theological Seminary in preaching and worship as well as being on the faculty of the Center for Arts in Religious Education (CARE) at the Graduate Theological Union, at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

- jlewis@middlechurch.org

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