Deborah Ross, Ph.D.
Lecturer and Director of Ministerial Formation
Dr. Deborah Ross has served on the JST faculty since 2013. She teaches field education courses and directs the M.Div. field education program. Through the program, M.Div. students engage in supervised ministry in San Francisco Bay Area parishes, universities, schools, prisons, hospitals, and social justice agencies.
Deborah received her B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies with English from St. Mary's University, London. Her M.Th. in Pastoral Theology and Ph.D. in Theology are from Heythrop College, University of London. Deborah’s Ph.D. focused on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) faith-formation process. Her S.T.L. degree in Pastoral and Liturgical Theology is from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University.
Deborah’s academic interests include catechesis, Christian initiation, contextual theology, ecclesiology, practical theology, sacramental and liturgical theology, and theological anthropology. She is pursuing research and writing on practical theology and the RCIA process. Deborah has a book on practical theology in preparation. She currently serves as president of the Association of Graduate Programs in Ministry (AGPIM).
Deborah co-founded “Action Research Church and Society” (ARCS), a Heythrop College project that facilitated theological reflection on pastoral practice through its partnerships with a diverse set of church groups and nonprofit agencies in London and the UK. She has pursued research exploring evangelization and mission in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and worked in parish, university, and sixth-form college ministry.
- M.Div. I Orientation Seminar
- M.Div. Integration Seminar II
- M.Div. Field Education Practicum
- M.Div. Capstone Seminar
- Th.M. Research Practicum
- “Ignatian Spirituality and Action Research: Exploring Lay Ecclesial Ministerial Formation,” The Way, 61/2, April 2022, 98-110
- Doing Theology as If People Mattered: Encounters in Contextual Theology, with Eduardo Fernández, SJ, and Stephen Bevans, SVD, editors (New York: Herder and Herder, 2019)
- “Introduction,” (with Eduardo Fernández), and book chapter, “Field Education at a Shared Parish: Navigating Contextual and Pastoral Opportunities,” in Doing Theology as If People Mattered: Encounters in Contextual Theology (New York: Herder and Herder, 2019)
- Introduction, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, by Victor and Edith Turner (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011)
- Talking About God in Practice: Theological Action Research and Practical Theology, co-author (London: SCM, 2010)