Candler Welcomes New Faculty, Celebrates Promotions

As the 2020-2021 academic year begins, Candler School of Theology welcomes new faculty to its ranks and celebrates promotions of current faculty.

Sarah Bogue joins the faculty as assistant professor in the practice of the history of Christianity and director of digital learning. Bogue earned her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and her PhD in early medieval history from Emory University. Before joining the faculty, she was reference and instruction librarian and head of research and access services at Candler’s Pitts Theology Library, and was voted by students as Candler’s Staffperson of the Year four years in a row. A candidate for ordination in the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta (PCUSA), Bogue has served as adjunct faculty at Candler and in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences. She is a member of the American Theological Library Association, the American Academy of Religion, the North American Patristics Society, and the Hagiography Society.

Joel Kemp joins the faculty as assistant professor of Hebrew Bible. He previously served as assistant professor of theology at the University of Scranton. Kemp holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Boston College, an MDiv from Andover Newton Theological School, and a JD from Harvard Law School. His research interests in biblical studies include the Old Testament, especially the latter prophets, biblical law, and the history of Judah and identity development. His additional scholarly pursuits include African-American appropriations of Scripture, the relationship between race, religion, and law within American society, and the use of the Bible in popular culture. He worked as both an attorney and a minister before pursuing graduate theological studies. His forthcoming book, Ezekiel, Law, and Redefining Judahite Identity (Mohr Siebeck), investigates how the book of Ezekiel uses legal elements to advocate for the reconfiguration of a Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian dominance. Other research interests include analyzing how prophetic texts and Second Temple texts were a resource to define and fortify a community, and examining the reception history of certain biblical texts in African-American contexts, informing discussions of racial identity, social justice, and political/legal equality in contemporary American discourse.

Kyle Lambelet joins the faculty as assistant professor in the practice of theology and ethics and director of Candler’s Formation Communities Program. Lambelet came to Candler in 2017 as a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. He holds an MTS from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and a PhD from the joint degree program in Theology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.  He teaches and researches at the intersection of political theology, religious ethics and social change. His first book ¡Presente! Nonviolent Politics and the Resurrection of the Dead (Georgetown University Press, 2019) explores the moral and political dimensions of nonviolent struggle through an extended case study of the movement to close the School of the Americas. His current research examines the apocalyptic dimensions of talk about climate change, and how apocalyptic political theologies can offer resources for pastoral and political engagement in the midst of endings. Prior to his postdoctoral fellowship, Lambelet worked for several years in faith-rooted organizing for racial and economic justice in the southeast United States.

Roger Nam joins the faculty as professor of Hebrew Bible. He comes to Candler from Portland Seminar at George Fox University in Oregon, where he served as dean and professor of biblical studies. A financial analyst before turning his attention to biblical studies, Nam focuses his research on the economies of the ancient Near East and the book of Ezra-Nehemiah, applying traditional historical-critical methods within social-scientific frameworks. He has also served as a pastor in Seoul, Korea. His first book, Portrayals of Exchange in the Book of Kings (Brill, 2012), examines the social structures that undergird the economy of ancient Israel. He is presently completing The Theology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge University Press) as well as a technical commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah for the Old Testament Library (Westminster John Knox). He is coediting The Oxford Handbook for Wealth and Poverty in the Biblical World (Oxford University Press), and co-chairs the steering committee for Economics in the Biblical World for the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meetings. He is a contributor to Working Preacher, a frequent collaborator with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, and a popular speaker at churches, conferences and universities.

Peng Yin comes to Candler as a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow from Harvard University, where he received his PhD in ethics. Yin holds an MAR in ethics from Yale Divinity School and a BS in communications from Hong Kong Baptist University. His research focuses on Thomas Aquinas, comparative ethics, Chinese theology, and religion and sexuality. At Candler, Yin will teach courses on queer theology and Christianity and equality. In 2017, Yin was recognized by Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning for excellence in undergraduate teaching. His research has been supported by the Political Theology Network, Yale’s Fund for Gay and Lesbian Studies, and The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History. 

Candler will also welcome M. Shawn Copeland, professor emerita of systematic theology at Boston College, as the 2020-2021 Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture. In this role, Copeland will present a public lecture on October 14 and will teach a systematic theology course, "Suffering, Solidarity, and the Cross."

Along with these new faculty members, Dean Jan Love has announced the promotion of Kevin M. Watson to associate professor of Wesleyan and Methodist studies.

Candler will open the new academic year with a virtual Fall Convocation on August 27 at 11:30 a.m. Marla F. Frederick, who joined the faculty last fall, will be officially installed as Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture and present the convocation address. Emory’s new president, Gregory L. Fenves, will also give remarks. Watch live on Facebook, Instagram, or the Candler website.