Dr. Pamela Lightsey

Dr. Pamela Lightsey has a stellar history as a senior administrator and scholar in higher education. She currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meadville Lombard Theological School and Associate Professor of Constructive Theology. Before her appointment at Meadville, she was Associate Dean at Boston University School of Theology. She is also an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dr. Lightsey is a womanist theologian who has lectured at schools within and outside the continental United States. She has served as co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group. She is currently a member of the Workgroup on Constructive Theology. Dr. Lightsey is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Army. She served as a member of the original executive committee for the Soul Repair Project, which studies the role of moral injury in military veterans.

As an activist, Dr. Lightsey has worked within the LGBTQ community to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell military policy, and to ensure marriage equality. She has served as a member of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and now Mayor Brandon Johnson’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council. Pamela was on the ground protesting against excessive police force during the first 21 days of unrest in Ferguson and across one year was one of several livestreamers providing ongoing broadcasts. Her work is the largest video archive of this historic time captured live by a solo African American theologian in the country. Dr. Lightsey has consistently collaborated with activist- colleagues in the movement for the liberation of Black lives, those addressing violence against Black transwomen, and institutional racism on college campuses. Leading up to the Presidential election of 2020, she formed Blaque Political Collection, a team of activists whose sole purpose is educating and encouraging Black LGBTQIA+ persons to exercise their right to vote.

As ordained clergy, Rev. Dr. Lightsey is among the leading voices fighting for LGBTQ rights in the United Methodist Church. She was the first out queer lesbian African American ordained elder in full connection in the denomination. As United Methodism faces schism, Rev. Dr. Lightsey – understanding the subtle work of racism in times of crisis – is coordinating with other LGBTQ persons of color to ensure their lives are not made subordinate to the needs of white LGBTQ persons. Her concern about the viability of affirming churches inspired her to return to parish ministry in 2022. In addition to her work as academic dean, she currently serves as pastor to Urban Village Church, Hyde Park-Woodlawn site.

Pamela’s several publications include the full manuscript, “Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology” (Wipf and Stock, 2015), Transforming Service: Reflections of Student Services Professionals in Theological Education. Editors Shonda R. Jones & Pamela R. Lightsey. (Wipf and Stock, 2020), “I’m Black. I’m Queer Lesbian. I’m Methodist. I’m Thriving, Irregardless.” in I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2020). “Blinking Red: The Escalation of a Militarized Police Force and Its Challenges to Black Communities” (Lexington Books, 2019), in Feminist Praxis Against U.S. Militarism (New York: Lexington Books, 2019).

Pamela is the mother of two adult children, one grandson and one adult goddaughter, and her children. They are her central sources of joy and hope.