Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley (’12,’19) is new Director of Theological Education at Episcopal Divinity School
The following is an excerpt of an article from ENS, “The Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley joins Episcopal Divinity School as Director of Theological Education,” published on August 4, 2025. Click here to read the full article.
Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is pleased to announce that the Reverend Doctor Brandon Thomas Crowley will join EDS as Director of Theological Education and Senior Research Fellow in Religion, Homiletics, and Ecclesiology – a new position. Dr. Crowley is an African American pastor, author, and scholar in religion, theology, and queer theory. He brings a wealth of experience at the intersection of academic theology and faith-filled, grassroots activism for justice. His leadership marks a significant step in EDS’s ongoing work to provide accessible, justice-focused theological education for the next generation of faith leaders.
The Rev. Dr. Crowley has lived in the intersection of church and academy through his ministry as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, one of the nation’s oldest Black congregations, and as a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, one of his alma maters.
This commitment to both theory and practice is a core theme in Dr. Crowley’s work, including his book, Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations. The book provides a systematic approach for challenging long-standing assumptions within Black churches, advocating for a “Black ecclesial Queering” methodology that centers on the lived experiences of Black Queer people.