LAMPa welcomes Dr. Crystal L. Hall  on board as a representative of the United Lutheran Seminary. Dr. Hall is an Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies. Her most recent book is Insights from Reading the Bible with the Poor, published by Fortress Press.

Dr. Hall’s research and teaching address God’s call to justice and right relationship with the human Other and with Earth. Her research interests include the Pauline corpus, apocalyptic literature, poverty and wealth, and ecological and liberationist hermeneutics. She works to center voices that have historically been excluded from the classroom and the Church. Dr. Hall is a frequent speaker in congregational and synodical settings on topics including women’s leadership, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and immigration.

In addition to her work as an academic, Dr. Hall is a trained community organizer and political educator. She has worked with organizations whose lineages are grounded in human rights, environmental justice and the leadership of the directly impacted. She has served on staff with organizations including the Poverty Initiative (now the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice), United Workers and the Sierra Club. Dr. Hall resides in Philadelphia. She enjoys hiking, gardening and bringing friends together around a meal.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity to serve with LAMPa’s policy council as an expression of the baptismal calling all Lutherans share to strive for peace and justice in all the earth,” Dr. Hall said. ” When I read the Bible I see Jesus, as a poor person, living among the marginalized and outcast, which says something about who God is, and where God chooses to be especially present. I look forward to this Spirit-filled work of collectively and publicly advocating with and on behalf of the marginalized. It is work rooted in our call to be Church in the world.”

“Our world is always in crying need of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said LAMPa Director Tracey DePasquale. “We experience it in our time.  I am grateful for the continued commitment of United Lutheran Seminary to our joint work of equipping disciples, and to Dr. Hall for her willingness to share her passion and experience as part of LAMPa’s leadership so that we might be Church together, for the sake of the world, in Pennsylvania.”

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