Benjamin M. Stewart
Gordon A. Braatz Assistant Professor of Worship, Dean of the Chapel
Email: bstewart@lstc.edu
Phone: 773-256-0769
Education | Areas of Expertise | Profile | Published Works | Sermons
Of Interest
The 2011 Byberg Preaching lectures that Benjamin Stewart and Barbara Rossing and gave in Oregon are now available online for downloading or listening (click on the year at the right; media archive); Barbara gave three lectures and one sermon; Ben Stewart gave one lecture and one sermon.
Education
B.A., Capital University
M.Div., Trinity Lutheran Seminary
S.T.M., Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Ph.D., Emory University
Areas of Expertise
Topics that Dr. Stewart is available to address at adult forums and other congregational events
Christian theology and practice in an age of ecological emergency
Renewal of congregational worship life
Holy Week and the Three Days
Lutheran baptismal theology and practice as a source of renewal
Forming leaders (lay and clergy) of worship
Body and Theology
Profile
Benjamin M. Stewart is the Gordon A. Braatz Assistant Professor of Worship and Dean of Augustana Chapel at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where he has taught since 2009.
Ben is especially interested in how the embodied act of worship shapes theology and the Christian life. His dissertation examined baptismal practices at the Easter Vigil for their potential contribution to eco-theology.
In addition to articles in Worship, Liturgy, and Liturgical Ministry, Ben is a co-author of Worship Guidebook for Lent and the Three Days and author of A Watered Garden: Christian Worship and Earth’s Ecology (2011). Ben is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and contributes to its Liturgy and Ecology Seminar.
Ben previously served as pastor to a small, Appalachian community in Ohio, and as village pastor to Holden Village retreat center in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of Washington. Ben is part of Living Liturgy, a team of five worship leaders who lead events across the country on revitalizing congregational worship.
Ben enjoys bicycling, backpacking, and poetry read aloud with groups of friends. He lives in Western Springs, near Bemis Woods and the Salt Creek, with his wife, Beth, and their two sons, Forrest and Justin.
Published Works
BOOKS
A Watered Garden: Christian Worship and Earth's Ecology. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress (2011).
Worship Guidebook for Lent and the Three Days. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress (2009). With Susan Briehl, Mark Mummert, Liv Larson, and Gail Ramshaw.
ARTICLES
Edited volume: Liturgy 27.2, theme issue on Liturgy and Ecology, February 2012, invited guest editor
“Committed to the Earth: Ecotheological Dimensions of Christian Burial Practices.” Liturgy 27.2 (February 2012).
“Lessons and the Arts for Advent 2 – 4 and Christmas Day.” Lectionary Homiletics and GoodPreacher.com (December 2011).
"Water in Worship: The Ecology of Baptism," The Christian Century 8 February 2011 v. 128 n. 3.
“‘I Too Must Sing When All Things Sing:’ Paul Gerhardt’s Nature Hymns.” CrossAccent: Journal of the Association of American Lutheran Church Musicians 15:1 (2007): 40-44.
“Liturgical Preparation: Reviving the Center by Reaching Toward the Horizon.” Liturgical Ministry 16 (Winter 2007): 30-35.
“O Blessed Spring: Paschal Initiation in an Age of Ecological Disintegration.” Seattle University Theology Review 6 (2006): 76-88.
“Flooding the Landscape: Luther's Flood Prayer and Baptismal Theology.” CrossAccent: Journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians 13: 1 (2005): 4-14.
“Robert Hovda: Facing the Assembly.” Worship 78:5 (September 2004): 421-444.
BOOK CHAPTER
“Shifting the University: Faculty Engagement and Curriculum Change.” in Anthropology and Global Climate Change: Witnessing, Communicating, Acting. Susan A. Crate and Robert K. Hitchcock, editors. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2008. With Peggy F. Barlett.
DISSERTATION
The Role of Baptismal Water at the Vigil of Easter in the Liturgical Generation of Eco-theology. Ph.D. dissertation, Emory University, 2010. Published at Emory University's Electronic Thesis and Dissertation repository: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/7mckz
INTERVIEW
Interview of Don Saliers and Emily Saliers. Practical Matters: A Transdisciplinary Multimedia Journal of Religious Practices and Practical Theology, Issue 1. Spring 2009.