Following a tumultuous year of responding to allegations that its former president and board bullied women, Northern Seminary has appointed a woman known for promoting cross-racial ministry to be its new president.
Northern’s board unanimously approved Joy Moore, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and longtime seminary professor, as president this week. Moore, who established Fuller Theological Seminary’s William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies program, asked for prayer for a “new season of ministry” in her public statement.
“I’m excited by Northern Seminary’s commitment to form leaders for the church, grounded in its commitment to innovation,” she said. “I am excited to step into this community and help equip a new generation to lead the church and engage the world with wisdom and grace.”
Professors and board members expressed confidence in Moore’s leadership and excitement for the future.
“Dr. Joy Moore’s arrival marks an exciting and refreshing start for Northern,” said Jim Stellwagen, Northern’s board chair. “Her exceptional experience and insight give the Board great confidence in her leadership. There’s an undeniable energy about her, and we believe Joy Moore embodies what it means to be ‘Northern.’”
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Last year, the Lisle, Illinois, seminary’s former president Bill Shiell was accused of bullying and retaliation against several women in key leadership roles at the seminary. The allegations rocked the seminary known for its “tov” culture of goodness.
Whistleblowers and students called for apologies and resignations from the board for mishandling years of allegations against Shiell. A female board member resigned in protest, accusing the board of bullying female board members. Two other board members resigned amid the allegations.
When Shiell resigned last March, he blamed “publicity” for preventing reconciliation. Northern initially appointed John Bowling, retired president of Olivet Nazarene University, to be acting president.
Shortly after, in April 2023, the board appointed Karen Walker Freeburg, a former Northern vice president, to be acting president while it searched for a permanent replacement for Shiell.
Freeburg, who spent the last 18 months leading Northern, previously said she would resign if she saw damage control rather than real reform at the seminary. In October 2023, Northern appointed two new female board members, Charlene Quint, an attorney who helps domestic violence victims, and Patty King Bilyeu, a seasoned pastor.
Bilyeu led the nine-month-long presidential search process.
“Joy’s gifts of vision, compassion, and her contagious passion for Christ will inspire our entire community as she leads us into the future,” Bilyeu said for Northern’s statement.
During last year’s scandal, one-third of the student body signed a statement of no-confidence in the board’s leadership. Many alum expressed excitement for Moore’s leadership on Northern’s Facebook page.
“I’m super excited!” wrote Northern alum Crystal Calhoun Johnson on Facebook. “Northern has just selected their first female president.”
“Big news out of Northern Seminary today” wrote alum Greg Armstrong. “We’re so excited!”
Moore worked on the Dialogue on Race and Faith Project with “The Color of Compromise” author Jemar Tisby. She most recently served as professor of biblical preaching at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and visiting professor of religion at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama.
She has also served in leadership positions at Duke Divinity School, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Wesleyan Theological Society. For the past five years, Moore has co-hosted the Working Preacher podcast, “Sermon Brainwave,” and Narrative Lectionary’s, “I love to Tell the Story” podcast.
Freeburg spoke highly of Moore in a statement from Northern.
“Dr. Joy J. Moore brings to Northern an extraordinary blend of pastoral, theological, academic, and executive insight that has already inspired all of us,” said Freeburg. “Her proven dedication to Christ and the Church, her scholarship in homiletics, and her leadership in higher education will be invaluable as we move into the future.”
A Chicago native, Moore received her call to ministry at her south Chicago Commonwealth Community Church, according to Northern’s statement.
During her time at her last parish, an African American congregation in Flint, Michigan, Moore led efforts to help during the city’s water crisis caused by aging lead pipes. She’s also known for using the Bible to address contemporary issues grounded in community.
Moore earned a bachelor’s in education and mathematics from National-Louis University, a master’s in divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in practical theology from Brunel University/London School of Theology.
Moore will begin her presidency Dec. 1.
Beth Felker Jones, professor of theology at Northern, said the faculty “warmly welcomes” Moore.
“She’s a Christian leader for both Chicago and the world, embracing the faith as an indivisible whole,” Jones said in Northern’s statement.
Nijay Gupta, Northern’s professor of New Testament and author of “Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church,” called Moore an answer to prayer in Northern’s statement.
“We prayed for a leader, and God gave us even more — a skilled scholar, dynamic preacher, team builder, and experienced educator,” said Gupta. “Dr. Moore has faithfully bridged the church and academy with humility, wisdom, and grace, and is perfectly positioned to guide Northern forward.”
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
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13 Responses
I like her already! Her love of Christ, her credentials, her experience, and especially her calling from God make a firm foundation for the wisdom and insight she will need for this position. May God gather those of like faith and like vision to her side to help her succeed at this ministry.
Indeed Marsha,
Sounds like she’s just the sort of leader Northern needs right now.
Godspeed and much success to Dr. Moore!
A woman cannot be an elder no matter which way you cut it.
So they replace one bully with another kind of bully. They hire a woman who is a Critical Race Theory hack. I’m sure that will go far in solving their seminary’s problems. Joy Moore teaches CRT. All she talks about is race and culture. Where is the actual Gospel? Race reconciliation is not part of the Gospel and constantly inferring that a certain group of people are perrennial racists does nothing to spread the message of salvation through Christ. Jesus wouldn’t preach CRT and neither would the Apostles. If only the Apostle Paul could post on this site or X and tell us exactly what he thought of CRT. Then, of course, there would be people who would argue with him and tell him he was wrong. Northern will continue to slide further down a hole with it’s leaders continuallying pointing to external things that have nothing to do with it’s deterioration. When you hire people like Moore, you get what you pay for and you reap what you sow.
Exactly. I read most of this article to my wife and said, “Where is Christ, where is the Bible, where is the gospel as Jesus proclaimed it anywhere in this whole discussion?” Just another example of corporate America masquerading as the church.
Acknowledging racism has been a problem since the beginning of time is NOT CRT. Actually, scripture is full of examples of us being called to reconcile and love across racial lines. Miriam being condemned for hating Zipporah for being Ethiopian; and the Good Samaritan upheld as an example of loving and caring across racial lines amidst the known conflict between Jews and Samaritans both come to mind, along with verses on how we are to treat the foreigner among us.
The refusal to see reconciliation and loving across races as a spiritual issue to be addressed (racism is a sin that should be eradicated, especially from among the body of Christ) is probably why churches tend to be among the most racially segregated communities.
Lazily saying “I love you with the love of the Lord” or “I don’t see color” yet doing nothing to hear and address the cries and experiences of racism (especially from other believers) is….not loving them. Responding to hurtful experiences of racism with “reconciling that isn’t in scripture, so anyway….” isn’t love.
And how do you plan on saving people you don’t love? How do you work alongside fellow believers (because we do come in all colors and races) you don’t love?
Marin:
We all acknowledge racism has been a problem since time began. Jesus had to teach his own disciples to love others in spite of cultural, gender, racial and disability divides. I can think of multiple examples in the Bible where Jesus reached out to people the disciples despised. I think of lepers, Samaritans, women, tax collectors, children, etc. Jesus did not tolerate putting others down simply because of their age (children), sex (women), lack of physical prowess (lepers), race (Samaritans), wealth status (beggars), etc.
Jesus always looked beyond appearances to the heart. He knew the woman who used her last penny as an offering had a golden heart, while those putting large checks into the offering plate could have given even more. She literally gave all she had, and Jesus knew it and lauded her for it.
Hearing the cries of racism from others will not stop racism. And how in the world does one address racism as a believer? Listening cannot change the past. Encouraging others to speak about their hurt feelings and sadness will not stop racism or change the past. Giving money to others will not stop racism or change this ongoing sin.
Only Jesus can change hearts. Until you and others realize that YOU are trying to change peoples’ hearts, I believe you will continue to be disappointed. It is an impossible task. Only God can do it.
Regarding this article itself, Northern Seminary has some very serious problems that will only get worse until they are pulled out by the roots. When women start gossiping, problems grow.
“And how in the world does one address racism as a believer?”
Love. It isn’t hard. We make it hard because we find excuses not to do it.
Listening does not change the past. That’s not even the goal; do you ask about someone’s day or upbringing in attempt to change it? No. But you are saying, “you matter enough to be heard.” THAT is loving. I’ve been silenced with “shut up and get over it” attitudes, and it was isolating, hurtful and demeaning. (By “Christians” nonetheless.)
In 2020, I wrote a heartfelt letter to my high school alma mater about what it felt like to be one of four Black students in an all-white school. My letter went viral among the community and I had several of my former classmates reach out. The responses of “I could tell you were lonely at times but didn’t know how to help”, “I never realized how much that joke hurt you”, and even “I had no idea you were hurting, how did you get through four years of it?” gave me a chance to share my faith. Two of my former classmates became believers and new friends.
Scripture tells us God gives us experiences to equip us to help others facing the same thing. Our stories are part of our testimony. My family’s existence from slavery through Jim Crow to the present is one huge multi-generational testimony of God’s hand on us. Hearing, listening and encouraging the stories of others to be told is not only a way of loving them, but could reveal a testimony that leads someone straight to the foot of the cross.
Cynthia, yes, Jesus changes hearts. In turn, we are called to actively live out our faith. Be salt and light in a dark world. Addressing racism—whether by listening, encouraging dialogue, or standing against injustice—is a way of demonstrating the LOVE without which we are resounding gongs and clanging cymbals.
We are called to “bear one another’s burdens” “mourn with those who mourn”, to be “quick to listen”. Listening to those who have been hurt by racism is not about changing the past—it’s about showing empathy, understanding the pain of others, and working intentionally to heal the hurts, even when we weren’t the one to inflict the hurt.
While you are right that only God can change hearts, we, the body of believers are to confront all types of sin. I think you have reiterated this many times in your past posts. Racism, like any other, should be addressed through discipleship, teaching, and accountability. Saying “only Jesus can change hearts” is to shirk responsibility.
Again, God is the source of transformation, but He calls His followers to participate in His work. Listening to others, addressing hurt, and working against racism are not attempts to “change hearts” on our own but acts of obedience to Christ, through whom all things are possible.
I hope you take to heart Marin’s lived example. When she was heard, lives were changed, even to salvation. God did the work but through the willingness of others to listen.
How can anyone dismiss her own testimony?
Tricia Russell,
Yes, everything you say here is true. My only point in speaking with Marin was to attempt to help her heal. If she has not healed yet from past racism against her, then she will constantly bring it up wherever she goes, whoever she talks to, whatever she does. I have seen this often in others who wallow in victimhood throughout their lives. To heal, to forgive, to move on is what brings maturity and growth. To wallow in the past, constantly referring to it, creates a stunted person.
If your identity revolves around being a victim, I believe you have not taken advantage of the power God gives to those who forgive and move beyond. As believers, we should not nurse the hurts of others until those hurts become who they are. Instead, we should listen and encourage them to grow. To “confront sin,” as you put it, is to acknowledge its existence without allowing it to fester and create a class of believers who cannot move into maturity because they are constantly bringing up how hurt they are by others.
I have seen this trend in the churches that are failing. Those churches tend to be full of believers who can only drink milk and cannot move on to the meat stage. Baby Christians listened to by baby pastors and nursed by “I feel your pain” crutches.
No. We are called to far greater things.
Cynthia –
“My only point in speaking with Marin was to attempt to help her heal.”
I have NO idea how my statements above led to any sort of conclusion about my needing healing. Sharing how my story became a testimony – and acknowledging God’s hand has been on me and my family for GENERATIONS – sounds a lot like VICTORY to me. What did I miss?
Furthermore, while I assume good intention, I’d like to caution that you are not using “wallowing in victimhood” language as a way of gaslighting, silencing, or avoiding a topic. I’ve had “Christians” respond to statements like, “My grandmother couldn’t attend Baylor because it was segregated, but fortunately my father could” with “stop wallowing in victimhood!” What happened DID happen, and acknowledging it is NOT “wallowing in victimhood”.
You mention healing and forgiveness: healing starts with acknowledging what happened, be it racism, abuse, or any other sin (as someone who was in an abusive relationship, I can say sometimes we even have to admit what happened to ourselves!). Because if it didn’t happen, what’s there to forgive? What’s there to work through? Refusal to acknowledge or discuss can cause things to fester – or even lay the foundation for the very thing you want to avoid. So before accusing someone of “wallowing in victimhood” I’d encourage you to ask a few questions:
– Have they been heard, or have they been dismissed?
– Where is God in this? Is this an opportunity to share their testimony….or for me to help them turn (whatever they are sharing) into a testimony?
Or simply admit, I don’t want to hear about this. Sometimes THAT is what’s happening. If so, that is on you.
I am interested in David’s accusation of Moore being a bully.
THAT is problematic; there should be no room for that at Northern. Can you share an incident of her bullying?
Excellent comment David. But the Apostle Paul does not need to comment on this site or X. Christ still speaks through Paul in the New Testament. This “seminary” is blind to God’s teaching and does not believe or obey. May God have mercy on their souls. Amen.