Meet Dr. Smith

 

The Scholar

Shively Smith is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Boston University School of Theology and Affiliate faculty for the PhD Concentration in Homiletics. She is also Resident Scholar and an itinerant elder at the historic Metropolitan AME Church of Washington DC. 

Smith began her journey toward the life of the mind as an undergraduate at Fisk University focused on religious and philosophical studies. During her tenure at Fisk University, she earned the Luard Study Abroad Fellowship from the English-Speaking Union of America, traveling to Oxford University (UK) to study in the Theology department where her love for religious studies solidified. She was also featured in Essence Magazine as “One of the Most 10 Incredible College Students.” Smith went on to earn her Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology, an Advanced Master’s degree in Theological Studies from Columbia Theological Seminary, and finally a Doctor of Philosophy specializing in New Testament Studies from Emory University's Laney Graduate School.

Smith is currently the recipient of the Louisville Institute Scholar of Color Book Grant Award (2021). Smith has also been recognized as a leading scholar and a recipient of grants and fellowship from the following institutions:

 
 

The Writer

Dr. Smith is a multidimensional scholar whose breadth of work ranges from academic writing, to work for the ecumenical world, and religious writing for the public sphere. Most notably, Dr. Smith’s works include her book Strangers to Family: Diaspora and First Peter’s Invention of God’s Household,  her article “Witnessing Jesus Hang: Reading Mary Magdalene’s View of Crucifixion through Ida B. Wells’s Chronicles of Lynching” in the 30th Anniversary edition of the iconic, Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation.

Dr. Smith’s academic writing focuses on the New Testament letters from Hebrews to Jude, Howard Thurman, and 19th Century African American women.

Currently, Dr. Smith has a forthcoming book on 2 Peter and African American women writers like Anna Julia Cooper, Maria Stewart, and Zilpha Elaw.

She is also working on a book about Howard Thurman, building on her essay found in the book, Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet, called, “Thurman-eutics: Howard Thurman’s Clothesline for the Interpretation of the Life of the Mind and Journey of the Spirit.” 

Some of her other publications are listed below…

 
 
 

The Teacher

Dr. Smith is a vibrant, creative, and revolutionary educator, teaching at Boston University School of Theology (also known as “The School of the Prophets”). Smith is known for her eclectic teaching approach that cultivates communities of interpreters and conversations using not just biblical writings but art, music, film, poetry, meditations, and technology.

Known for her teaching and scholarship, Smith has been invited to serve on public panels and forums across disciplines as a subject matter expert. Some of which include:

    • Wesley Theological Seminary,

    • Columbia Theological Seminary

    • Christian Theological Seminary

    • Morehouse College

    • Emory University

    • The Women’s Certificate in Theological Studies Program at the Georgia State women’s incarceration facility

    • Course of Study for the United Methodist Church

    • African Methodist Episcopal Church Department of Christian Education

    • Womanist, African American, and African Diaspora Biblical Interpretation

    • Exegesis and Methods in the General Letters: From Hebrews to Jude

    • Howard Thurman as Interpreter

    • Imagining our Interpretive Practices and Hermeneutical Theories

    • Surveys in the New Testament

    • Introduction & Intermediate Biblical Greek

    • New Testament Studies and 19th Century African American Women Writers

 

The Preacher

Dr. Smith is a sought-after speaker and preacher for interreligious communities across the globe. From preaching in her own African Methodist Episcopal tradition to the United Methodist to Episcopalian to Jewish communities and Muslim communities. Smith, daughter and granddaughter of Baptist preachers, has been preaching since age sixteen. Rev. Smith engages in preaching as storytelling, highlighting voices unheard. Her ecumenical and interdisciplinary background is the foundation for her thought-provoking and entertaining preaching. Rev. Smith currently serves as Resident Scholar for the historic Metropolitan AME Church of Washington DC and has been visiting scholar of several other traditions in Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and non-denominational settings. 

    • The Balm in Gilead, Inc.’s Healthy Churches Conference (international)

    • Foundry United Methodist Church (Washington, DC)

    • St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (K Street, Washington DC)

    • Interdenominational Theological Seminary (Atlanta, GA)

    • Marsh Chapel, Boston University (Boston, MA)

    • Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA)

    • Candler School of Theology’s Cannon Chapel, Emory University (Atlanta, GA)

    • Fisk University (Nashville, TN)

    • Lakeside Chautauqua Preachers of the Week series (Chautauqua, OH)

    • Bates College (Lewiston, ME)

    • Nebo Christian Ministries (Baltimore, MD)

Read Dr. Smith’s Book: Strangers to Family

To read the Letter of 1 Peter is to care about what it means to be a diverse people of the Dispersion. First Peter is the most developed “Diaspora Discourse” of the New Testament. And Dr. Smith shows how the letter puts forward a social strategy of survival for those on the underside of society. At its heart, 1 Peter encourages connection and multiple attachments of hospitality and kinship to people “all over the world” (1 Peter 5:9).