Jennifer Ackerman
Assistant Professor of Preaching and Director of Brehm Preaching—A Lloyd John Ogilvie Initiative
BM, Moorhead State University
MDiv, Fuller Theological Seminary
PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary
Courses Taught
PR500: Homiletics
PR544: Preaching As Worship Leadership
FULLER Equip Courses
First Things (for preachers)
First Things for Flourishing (for anyone)
Campus Affiliations
Areas of Expertise
Liturgical and sacramental theology; homiletical pedagogy and practice; the convergence of worship, preaching, and justice; facilitating diverse peer clergy communities; preacher formation; ecclesial leadership development; the arts and leadership
“Why do we preach? Because the Word of God cannot be heard through a single voice. God’s grace is too abundant, imagination too extraordinary, wisdom too infinite to be contained in anything less than a multitude of voices.”
Jennifer Ackerman
Bio
Since 2017, Jennifer Ackerman has been directing the efforts of Fuller Seminary’s Brehm Preaching—A Lloyd John Ogilvie Initiative, where she has worked to catalyze a movement of empowered, wise preachers who live and lead at the convergence of worship, preaching, and justice. In 2022 she joined Fuller’s faculty as an assistant professor of preaching in the School of Mission and Theology.
Dr. Ackerman has nearly 30 years of experience facilitating the worship and preaching efforts of churches in multiple denominations across the US, and as an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she serves as the seminary’s liaison to the denomination.
She holds an MDiv and a PhD in Theology and Culture from Fuller and has experience as a professional musician, where she performed in theaters around the country while serving churches as a worship and music director. Her current research interests include Howard Thurman and sacramental silence; worship in postmodernity; prophetic preaching; facilitating sacred space for courageous conversation; and art-based training to increase capacity for church leadership at the convergence of worship, preaching, and justice. She authored a paper about art-based training for the journal Proceedings. She is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the American Academy of Religion, the North American Academy of Liturgy, and the Presbytery of the Cascades.
Believing her roles as pastor and academic are to be a spiritual guide, Ackerman is eager to walk alongside open and yearning hearts and minds as an advocate, partner, confidant, and truth-teller, to inspire and equip through fresh pedagogies in worship and preaching, to facilitate spiritual programs that engage intellect as well as emotion, encouraging wonder and awe rather than dogmatic certitude. Her desire is to bring all of these sensitivities to serve particularly Fuller’s online students, especially women sensing a call to vocational ministry across the country and around the world.
View Ackerman’s CV or visit her personal website.