Priestly and Prophetic Reflections: A Weekly Devotional from the Fisk Memorial Chapel

About the Book

Many of the people that I admired over the years were local or nationally renowned ministers and pastoral who were also authors and scholars. Some of these individuals received both national and international recognition for their contribution to the church and the academy (e.g., Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, Dr. Howard Thurman, Bishop Vashti McKenzie and Dr. Cheryl Townsend-Gilkes), while others received love, acclaim, gratitude from their congregants and constituents of their church and local community.

About the Author

The Reverend Jason Richard Curry, Ph.D currently serves as the Academic Dean and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Payne Theological Seminary. He is the former Dean of the Chapel, Assistant Professor Philosophical and Religious Studies and Interim Director of the Ethical Leadership Institute at Fisk University. A native of Buffalo, New York, Dr. Curry became extremely active in Agape African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) at a young age. Reverend Curry is currently a licensed and ordained Itinerant Elder in the AMEC. Reverend Curry served as the Senior Pastor for 3 ½ years at the Historic St. Peter African Methodist Episcopal Church in Harrodsburg, KY and for one year as the Senior Pastor of St. Matthews AMEC in Midway, KY. While in Kentucky, Dr. Curry proudly served as a leader in the area of Christian Education in the Lexington District of the Kentucky Conference in the Thirteenth Episcopal District for three years. Reverend Curry remains active in the AMEC and has effectively addressed various assignments in the denomination under the leadership of Bishop Hartford H. Brookins, Bishop Frederick Talbot and Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the first African-American female bishop of the AMEC. Dr. Curry graduated from Morehouse College cum laude in 1992, receiving the BA degree in Philosophy and Religion. He also holds the Master of Divinity Degree from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. In 2005, Reverend Curry received the Doctor of Philosophy Degree from the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University. In his dissertation, entitled Improving Pastoral Counseling Among African-American Counselees, Dr. Curry argues that through the use of empirical research that the effectiveness of pastoral counseling as it currently exists among African-American parishioners could be greatly enhanced though insights and techniques currently used in the social sciences. Reverend Curry’s research interests at Vanderbilt University were a continuation of his research interests at Harvard University in which he argued the spirituality was a resource for the recovery of African American who were addicted to alcohol and other drugs. Dr. Curry’s research interests in the area of pastoral counseling are necessarily informed by his theoretical and practical experience in the area of counseling. As a doctoral student, Reverend Curry was a participant in Vanderbilt University’s Clinical Seminars at the Vine Street Pastoral Counseling Center and as an Intern for Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Project, sponsored by the Kelly Miller Smith Institute for Black Church Studies a Vanderbilt University. While completing his Masters’ Degree, Reverend Curry served the African-American community of Roxbury, MA as a Counselor and Case Manager at Dimock Community Health Center. Dr. Curry has taught courses titled the Sociology of Religion, the Psychology of Religion, the Philosophy of Religion and African-American Leadership. He has published the Forward in Now They Call Me Reverend by Sidney F. Bryant (2006), “The Essence of Holy Communion” in the Journal of Christian Education, (African Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday School Union, 2006) and “An Inquiry Concerning the Validity of the Religious Association Scale and the Validity of Self-Reports Among Substance Abusers” in The A.M.E. Church Review (September 2003). Reverend Curry presented a paper titled “Institutional Research and the Wider Community: The Importance of Collaborative Effort” at the Conference on Institutional Research in Historically Black Colleges and Universities hosted by Spelman College (2003). Dr. Curry also worked as a Consultant for the Reverend Dr. Daryl B. Ingram, General Officer and Director of the Department of Christian Education from the AMEC. His research interests in the area of higher education began as a Summer Research Fellow in Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University in New York City (1989) and as an intern in the Alexander Crummell Humanities Seminars at Boston University (1991). Reverend Curry has received several academic honors and awards including Dissertation Fellow, Fund for Theological Education (2003), Vanderbilt University Graduate Fellow (1997-1999), Outstanding Young Americans (1998) and the Benjamin E. Mays Scholarship from the Fund for Theological Education (1994-1996) As a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and a Connecting Link, Reverend Curry is also active in a number of civic organizations. Reverend Curry is married to Mrs. Angela Curry, Esq. and they are the proud parents of three children, John, Nia and Samuel Curry.