Christopher Grundy

Christopher’s teaching asks students to take God’s activity seriously. In preaching classes, he urges preachers to enter the pulpit with a combined sense of humility and collaboration, knowing that preacher, listeners, and the Holy Spirit will all be active helping to discern the meanings of scripture for today. In worship classes, he similarly emphasizes our collaborative work with God and the gathered community.

“Many students come to my classes with an uncertainty or even wariness about what, if anything, God is doing during worship, or during a sermon. One of my main goals is to help open up that possibility in a way that calls forth an openness to the Spirit and a creative, cooperative impulse.”

Christopher’s teaching also focuses on the role worship has in forming, reforming, healing, freeing, and calling us out for the sake of God’s larger project in the world.

His research currently focuses on the ways that we are formed by sacramental participation, particularly in relation to issues of power and violence. He has published essays and sermons for The Chicago Theological Seminary Register, The Journal of Religion and Abuse, Homily Service, and Liturgy.

Christopher is ordained in the United Church of Christ, and served congregations in Iowa and Kansas. He has also been writing, recording, and performing music for local, regional, and national church gatherings for over two decades. His music is included in the United Church of Christ songbook “Sing! Prayer and Praise.”