The Rev. Dr. Kristine Suna-Koro
Dean Jonathan Strom has announced that Kristine Suna-Koro 10G will join the Candler faculty this fall as associate professor of worship. Suna-Koro comes to Candler from Xavier University, where she has served on the theology faculty since 2010 and as chair of the department of theology since 2023.
Suna-Koro is a Latvian-American theologian who works at the intersection of postcolonialism, sacramental and liturgical studies, and migration and diaspora discourses. She is the author of In Counterpoint: Diaspora, Postcoloniality, and Sacramental Theology (Pickwick, 2017), as well as numerous articles and book chapters on sacramentality and liturgy, constructive postcolonial theology, diasporic imagination, theological aesthetics, and the theology of migration. Suna-Koro also served as editor of the 2011 revised and updated English language edition of The Handbook of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).
According to Dr. Andrew J. and Georgia L. Ekonomou Distinguished Associate Professor of Patristic Theology Anthony A. Briggman, who chaired the search for the position, Suna-Koro will uphold Candler’s longstanding tradition of excellence in teaching worship while also shaping it anew.
“The breadth of Dr. Suna-Koro’s academic interests and the depth of her knowledge across fields—both related and unrelated to worship—are remarkable,” Briggman says. “I’m confident that her desire to think theologically and liturgically about immigration, postcolonialism, and ecumenism will spark fantastic discussions in our classrooms. I also look forward to seeing how our students benefit professionally and personally from the attentive mentoring for which she is known.”
An ordained minister in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Worldwide, Suna-Koro earned her PhD from Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion, where Don E. Saliers, William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theology and Worship, served as her dissertation advisor. She holds a master of sacred theology from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and a master of theology from the University of Latvia.
She maintains numerous professional memberships, including with the American Academy of Religion, the North American Academy of Liturgy, and the Society of Anglican and Lutheran Theologians. Suna-Koro is a founding member of the Society of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians.