About the Presentation

J. Philip Wogaman

Interim President and Visiting Professor of Christian Ethics, Iliff School of Theology Denver.
B.A., University of the Pacific
M.Div., Ph.D., Boston University

J. Philip Wogaman recently joined the Iliff community as interim president and visiting professor of Christian ethics. He is the former president of the American Theological Society and professor emeritus of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Well-known in religious, political and academic circles, Wogaman taught at Wesley from 1966-1992, serving also as dean of that seminary from 1972-1983. He also taught at the University of the Pacific from 1961-1966. From 1992-2002, he served as senior minister at the Historic Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., where he was pastor to President and Mrs. William J. Clinton.

Presently retired as a minister in the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference, Wogaman was a delegate to the denomination’s General Conferences of 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000, as well as a member of the World Methodist Council from 1986-1991. He also served on the Transition Committee for the United Methodist Connectional Table.

Wogaman’s published works include 17 books, among them: An Unexpected Journey: Reflections on Pastoral Ministry, Christian Perspectives on Politics: Revised and Expanded, From the Eye of the Storm: A Pastor to the President Speaks Out, Speaking the Truth in Love: Prophetic Preaching to a Broken World, Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction, Christian Moral Judgment, The Great Economic Debate, Faith and Fragmentation and To Serve the Present Age: The Gift and Promise of United Methodism.

President Wogaman is active in many professional, denominational and ecumenical organizations, including The Interfaith Alliance (of which he is a past president) and the Society of Christian Ethics (president, 1976-1977).

Additional Resources

About Dr. Wogaman’s latest book:
Faith and Fragmentation: Reflections on the Future of Christianity
In this classic reissue, scholar, pastor, and author J. Philip Wogaman addresses book to “people who wonder whether Christian Faith makes sense in light of the sweeping changes of our age,” changes that have created at the same time a pluralistic world, a technologically sophisticated world, a dangerous world, and a world of great prosperity and yet great suffering. What are we to make of this time we live in? Can the Christian faith really provide a stable foundation? Wogaman wrestles with these and other questions as he investigates the true meaning of a Christian faith with a positive understanding of religious pluralism and a rejection of fanaticism. He concludes that this faith is a “hopeful love” that proclaims the centrality of love against selfishness and the power of hope against despair. “Christian renewal depends on what Christians do about the great opportunities and the treasure given into their keeping,” he writes. “The treasure they have in earthen vessels; but if the treasure is shared, the vessels need not be broken.”

Article in Reporter Interactive 9/15/04, “Interim prexy brings ‘outsider’s perspective to Iliff”

Contact: [email protected]