For immediate release
Aquinas Graduate with D. Min. in Preaching Receives Book Award: Rev. Kay Northcutt Honored for Kindling Desire for God
April 13, 2010
(Saint Louis) – Reverend Kay Lynn Northcutt, a 2006 graduate of Aquinas Institute’s Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (D. Min.) program, and currently the Fred B. Craddock Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at the Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been honored for her recently published book, Kindling Desire for God: Preaching as Spiritual Direction (2009, Fortress Press). Dr. Northcutt’s book has been chosen as one of the Top Ten Clergy Books of 2010 by the Academy of Parish Clergy.
In Kindling Desire for God, Dr. Northcutt offers readers a model of preaching evolved from previously developed persuasive, explanatory and communicative approaches. She offers the thesis that preaching should offer spiritual formation as a more complete way to orient listeners to God. Authority as a preacher comes from religious, spiritual sources, asserts Dr. Northcutt, making homiletics much more than a teaching or counseling exercise.
Ordained as a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Dr. Northcutt has served in pastoral leadership for several congregations. She is active in interfaith relations, serving as a member of the International Bilateral Commission for Dialogue between the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. As a professor at Phillips Theological seminary, Dr. Northcutt instructs advanced degree candidates in preaching, worship and spiritual formation. In addition to writing Kindling Desire for God, Dr. Northcutt has also published Praying by Heart: Prayers for Personal Devotion and Public Worship, as well as many other articles and book contributions. She has also been recognized with three Associated Church Press writing awards.
The Academy of Parish Clergy, begun in 1968 in Indiana, is an international organization of clergy serving in faith communities of all sizes and in a variety of locales. The Academy is dedicated to continuing the development of the pastoral skills of its members. The Academy annually identifies ten books notable for their excellence, newness of subject, and appropriateness for the spiritual growth, academic excellence and development of the art, practice and skills of congregational leadership. Aquinas Institute of Theology is a Saint Louis-based Roman Catholic graduate school of theology and ministry administered by the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Offering both residential and on-line degree programs, Aquinas Institute of Theology is the only Catholic institution in America to offer a Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degree in preaching.