Douglas R. Sharp

Douglas Sharp has served for more than thirty years as a theological educator and administrator. From 1973 until 1984, he served on the faculty and administration at the Berkeley School of Theology (formerly American Baptist Seminary of the West) in Berkeley, California. In 1985, he joined the faculty and staff at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.

While at Northern, he served in several administrative posts, including Director of Masters Studies and Dean of the Seminary. His areas of teaching integrate the disciplines of theology and the social sciences, with an emphasis on sociology and congregational studies.

In 2008, he joined the staff at Protestants for the Common Good as Dean of the Academy, with responsibilities for designing, staffing, and delivering a curriculum for faith-based social justice advocacy training

From May 2011 until January 2013, Sharp served as interim minister at Lake Street Church of Evanston, a progressive community in the Protestant tradition. He also served as interim minister at Hyde Park Union Church in Chicago from January 2015 until May 2016.

Sharp has worked with community and church groups as well as non-profit organizations in the areas of strategic planning, program assessment and development, church and community relations, and racial reconciliation. He has served on ordination commissions in both the American Baptist Churches of the West and American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago. He was instrumental in launching Moscow Theological Seminary in Russia in 1993, and for many years was a regular teacher there and member of the seminary’s board of directors.

He is the author of two books, The Hermeneutics of Election (University of America Press, 1990) and No Partiality: The Idolatry of Race and the New Humanity (InterVarsity Press, 2002), along with many reviews and articles. He continues to post regularly at his blog, Conversations for the Common Good, on subjects that express the belief that faith-based advocacy for the common good is an essential element in Christian life. The discussions there explore the issues and intersections of faith and public life with the intent to promote the well-being of all through participation in our political democracy.

He received his B.A. from William Jewell College in 1971, his M.Div. from the American Baptist Seminary of the West in 1975, and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in 1988.

Sharp is the Managing Partner of SharpPartners, consultants in leadership and congregational development. He blogs on faith and public life at academyforthecommongood.blogspot.com/.