Wilson Dickinson
is a theologian, organizer, and minister whose work takes place at the intersection of constructive theology, environmental justice, and social change.
He approaches theology through traditions of liberative wisdom—integrating a wide range of disciplines from biblical studies, social history, practical theology, philosophy, social theory, and aesthetics and bringing them to bear on issues of everyday life, spiritual practice, community building, and cultivating movements for justice.
His first book is entitled, Exercises in New Creation from Paul to Kierkegaard. It articulates a vision for philosophical theology around the practices of the care of the self, the city, and creation. His second book, The Green Good News: Christ’s Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life, is an environmental justice reading of the Gospels that is written to bridge scholarly, church, and activist audiences. His third book, Singing the Psalms with My Son: Praying and Parenting for a Healed Planet is a collection of theological mediations that look to the Psalms and the practices of parenting as refuge, hope, and transformation in the face of climate change. He is currently working on a book on Christ and the Commons: Transatlantic Theologies of Land, Labor and Liberation.
He serves as Director of the Doctor of Ministry and Continuing Education Programs at Lexington Theological Seminary—where he accompanies ministers and lay leaders in listening deeply to their contexts so as to find openings to collaboratively transform their communities through social practice and prophetic imagination. At LTS he teaches courses like Pastoral Theology, Jesus and Environmental Justice, Food and Faith, Mystical Theology, Theologies of Wholeness, and Building Capacity for Transformative Ministry.
He previously served as the director of The Green Good News, an organization rooted in a number of food justice ministries and which educates, cultivates, and organizes Christian communities of justice and joy. Prior to that, he was Associate Dean for Religious Life at Transylvania University, where he developed an inter-faith campus ministry that integrated efforts in academic life, student life, spiritual life, and community engagement around issues of food justice. He taught in the Religion, Philosophy, and Environmental Studies programs.
He is also involved in collaborative research projects, building the capacity of justice-oriented Christian networks, and developing curricula and new media to equip faith communities to engage in food and environmental justice. He serves as Co-Chair of the Christ Seminar with the Westar Institute—an international research project on Christologies of the People. He is also Co-Chair of the interdisciplinary Social Gospel in the South Working Group with the Wendland Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
He holds a PhD from Syracuse University, an MDiv from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and a BA from Transylvania University. Dickinson is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).