Elizabeth Caldwell
Harold Blake Walker Professor of Pastoral Theology; Associate Dean of Students and Academics
Elizabeth Caldwell joined the faculty of McCormick Theological Seminary in 1984. In 1991, she was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament by Chicago Presbytery with a call to teaching at McCormick. She was named Professor of Educational Ministry in 1991 and the Harold Blake Walker Professor of Pastoral Theology in 1996.
Prior to her appointment at McCormick, Lib served as an educational consultant with three Presbyterian churches in northwest Alabama, 1973-1984. She is a member of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education and the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. In 2004, APCE selected Lib Caldwell as its Educator of the Year. In 2008, she was elected by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to serve as a member of the Presbyterian Publishing Board. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Childhood and Religion and was a member of the Editorial Board of the Common English Bible.
Education
B.A. Rhodes College
M.Ed. Vanderbilt University
Ph.D. Northwestern University
D.D. Rhodes College
Research
Lib's research interests include: faith and family in a world of diversity; an ecology of educational formation for faith and practice; and teaching and learning in multifaith, multicultural settings.
Published Work
God’s Big Table: Nurturing Children in a Diverse World, Pilgrim Press, 2011.
With Kathy Bostrom, Editor of Daily Feast Meditations from Feasting on the Word, Year B and C, Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, 2012.
Children’s Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, with Cathy Hoop, Congregational Ministries Publishing, 2008 and 2009.
Making a Home for Faith: Nurturing the Spiritual Life of Your Children, Pilgrim Press, 2007.
The Shelter, Nurture and Spiritual Fellowship of God’s Children, Geneva, 2006.
Leaving Home with Faith: Nurturing the Spiritual Life of our Youth, Pilgrim Press, 2003.
Come Unto Me, Rethinking the Sacraments for Children, United Church Press, 1996.
With Earle Hilgert, Horizons Bible Study for Presbyterian Women, Prayers of the Bible for a Faithful Journey (1993-94).
Hulda Niebuhr: A Mysterious Mantle, Pilgrim Press, 1992.
“Have You Asked a Good Question Today?” in From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings, Allan Cole, ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
"Religious Instruction: Homemaking," in Mapping Christian Education, Approaches to Congregational Learning, Abingdon, 1997
"Hulda Niebuhr: Teacher as Artist" and "Nelle Morton: A Radical Journey" in Faith Of Our Foremothers, Women Changing Religious Education, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997.
Courses
MEd 313: The Educational Ministry of the Church
MEd 413 Teaching Ministry of the Church
MEd 440: Congregational Models of Ministry w/Youth/Young Adults in the Church
MEd 539: Contemporary Issues in Religious Education
MEd/B 417: Reading the Bible with Children
MEd 414: Nurturing the Life of Children and Families