Paul Robeson Ford

Paul Robeson Ford is a Third Year Ministry Student at the Divinity School.

Paul was born in New York City in 1979. He received his B.A. in 2002 from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a major in History and Revolutionary Studies. In 2001, he was awarded an Undergraduate Fellowship by the Fund for Theological Education. In 2002, he was licensed to preach the Gospel by Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines, Iowa. He is currently serving as Student Intern for Social Justice at Covenant United Church of Christ in South Holland, Illinois. Paul is also on track for ordination by the United Church of Christ.

One of the characteristics of the Divinity School that facilitates a powerful experience for its students is the fostering of intense intellectual investigation and critique. Students and faculty at the Div School are inveterate practitioners of critical thinking; no theological system, hermeneutical method, or historical interpretation goes unchallenged. The faculty here are among the best in their fields, a fact attested to by the wealth and quality of knowledge they have to share with their students—and share it they do. The Divinity School promotes the development and enhancement of critical minds eager and able to confront the array of theological, ethical, and historical conundrums that they inevitably encounter in their ministerial, academic, or other work.

I am pursing studies toward the Master of Divinity degree, with the intention of going into the ministry. While the curricular requirements relevant to the practice of ministry differ from those of other programs in Swift Hall, my elective course work has been concentrated in practical theology. In particular, I focus on pastoral theology and its application to prison ministry, an area of God’s work for which I have a distinct passion. As my work has evolved from class to class and paper to paper, I have moved toward developing a practical theology for prison ministry, with approaches from four distinct perspectives: education, pastoral care, public policy, and organizing. The beautiful thing about the Divinity School and the University of Chicago is that the resources I need for exploring all four areas in depth are readily available.

The faculty here has been an invaluable asset to me as I have begun creating a framework for understanding my work in prison ministry. In this regard, I am particularly indebted to Prof. Dwight Hopkins, whose immense work in Black theology and liberation theologies worldwide has informed my basic understanding of theology and what it means for serving God’s people. Furthermore, in every class he teaches, Prof. Hopkins challenges his students to question and expand their intellectual boundaries in developing their own theological voices. This challenge presents students with the opportunity to explore the myriad contours of theology as it relates to self and society. Faculty members like him remind me daily why I chose to attend this divinity school from among my choices of other top-ranked schools.