About

Following three decades of pastoral leadership and public ministry, Bishop William J. Barber II, DMin, collaborated with Yale Divinity School to establish the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy to create a training ground for leaders who wish to be equipped with a moral framework as a guide for their vocations and to further explore the interconnectedness of public theology and public policy through scholarly research.

The mission of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy is to prepare a new generation of moral leaders to be active participants in creating a just society using the academic, practical, and research tools of past and present social justice movements.  

Programs

The Center’s programs and activities support our mission to prepare students to be moral leaders. We collaborate with programs and initiatives within Yale Divinity School, at Yale College, and Yale Law School. Beyond Yale, the Center will be a liaison to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the U.S. South to build pathways for HBCU students to meaningfully engage in the Center’s work and connect its programs to the history and work of southern freedom movements and institutions.

Teaching

We examine and teach the theory and practice of public theology and the principles and strategies of transformative social movements.  

  • The Center hosts courses, seminars, and events to introduce students to the historical and contemporary theories of moral advocacy in social justice movements.  

  • Through rigorous scholarship, the Center invites students to examine the need for moral leadership in the public square. 

  • The Center hosts regular convenings to provide opportunities for students to learn from  faith leaders, advocates, policy experts, and scholars engaged in the field. 

Training 

We provide students with opportunities for practical experience in movement-building work and public ministry.  

  • The Center provides students the opportunity to participate in social justice movements and to study and learn directly from clergy and pastors engaged in public ministry as an integral part of their pastoral obligations.  

  • The Center hosts a biennial summit designed to train attendees in our moral framework philosophy and put diverse leaders from today’s moral fusion movements in conversation with theologians, politicians, economists, and cultural artists. The first convening will be held in the fall of 2024. 

Research  

We cultivate research at the intersection of theology and public policy, critically framing public policy issues as moral issues and creating moral public policy solutions in collaboration with scholars, faith leaders, economists, lawyers, and the community. 

  • We invite collaborators to examine the interlocking injustices of racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism from an interdisciplinary perspective and foster conversations about which public policies are necessary to address this moment of social, spiritual, and planetary crisis.  

  • We create space for critical reflection on social issues, not limited to a partisan analysis, but based on the possibility of a moral grounding of public policy in America. 

Fellowship Program  

Our fellowship program recognizes the work of distinguished moral leaders across the country. Fellows convene on campus twice a year and collaborate on the Center’s programs and activities.