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Ineda Pearl Player
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Ineda Pearl Player

Reverend IPearl Player Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor; H. Eugene Farlough Chair in African American Christianity
San Francisco Theological Seminary

About

The Reverend I. Pearl Player, PhD is a contemporary contemplative. She currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor and H. Eugene Farlough Chair in African American Christianity for the University of Redlands', San Francisco Theological Seminary. Ordained to the Gospel ministry, Rev. Player serves as an Associate Minister for the Allen Temple Baptist Church and Associate Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches Central Pacific Coast Region. She can also be frequently found in worship at her local Quaker Friends meeting house. In 2021, she received the Luke Mowbray Ecumenical Award--the highest ecumenical and interfaith honor given by the American Baptist Churches USA.

Education

  • Ph.D., Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, Graduate Theological Union
  • M.A., Religion and Psychology, Graduate Theological Union
  • M.Div., Christian Spirituality, San Francisco Theological Seminary
  • B.A., Architecture, University of California at Berkeley

Brief Description of Teaching:

Employing a liberative, contemplative pedagogy, my classroom foregrounds the voices and experiences of students through strategic, engaged, and relevant reflection. I intentionally work to create seamless conversations around both theory and everyday practice. The study of spirituality, cultural phenomena, pastoral care and counseling, social ethics, and the history of religions is an engaging and embodied experience in my classroom. Examples of current courses offered include Discernment in Systems; Womanist Spirituality; Contemplative Practices of the Black Church; Contemporary Theory in Social Ethics; Contemplative Listening; and Spirituality of the Radical Reformers.

Current Research

A spirituality scholar, practical theologian, and womanist practitioner, my current research includes an analysis of historical and contemporary uses of sacred spaces and their value; spiritual classics by and about African diasporans; and the spirituality of the sixteenth century radical reformers as insight for radical activism today.

Areas of Expertise

Spirituality; Contemplative Practices; History of Religions; African Diaspora Religious Studies; Spiritual Direction; Discernment; and Reformation Studies

Publications

  • The Spirituality of the Radical Reformers: Insight for Radical Reform Today. 1517 Media / Augsburg Fortress, expected 2028.
  • "Loving the Church in spite of Her Flaws" in Wounded in the Manger: Black Theological Essays on Church Hurt, Wipf & Stock, expected 2027.
  • Review of Pentecostal Spirituality in Black Female Experience: Endued with Power by Marcia Clarke, in Spiritus, expected 2026.
  • Ain't I a Contemplative: A Womanist Approach to Christian Spirituality, Dissertation 2026.
  • Review of Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora, Second Edition, by Michael A. Gomez, in Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, vol. 22, no. 1, Spring 2022.
  • "I Pray," in Prayers and Blessings for Healthcare Workers, Mandy Mizelle, ed., Morehouse Publishing, 2021.
  • "The Ordinances: Historical Insight into the Theology of Baptism and the Lord's Supper as Representations of Grace vs. Means of Grace Gleaned through the Lens of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt," American Baptist Quarterly, vol. XXXIX, no. 1, 2020.
  • Kaleidoscope: Broadening the Palette in the Art of Spiritual Direction, Editor and Co-Author, Church Publishing Inc., 2019.
  • "Contemplative Listening," chapter 4, and "The Gift of Discernment," chapter 6, in Kaleidoscope: Broadening the Palette in the Art of Spiritual Direction, Church Publishing, Inc., 2019.
  • "Forget about Jesus?" and "Holy Communion: Some Questions," in River of Life, Feast of Grace: Baptism, Communion, and Discipleship, Jennifer W. Davidson, Judson Press, 2019.
  • "Prayer and Social Justice," chapter 1, in Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Stories of Contemplation and Justice, Taylor-Stinson, ed., Church Publishing, Inc., 2017.
  • "The Ideal Beloved Community: The Perichoretic Nature of the Trinity Reflected in the Communal Nature of African American Believers as a Qualitative Model for the Ideal Beloved Community," American Baptist Quarterly, vol. XXXV, no. 2, Summer 2016.
  • "Becoming a Contemplative Sistah: Finding Weird Joy in Spiritual Freedom," chapter 7, in Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color, Bryant-Johnson, Norman-McNaney, and Taylor-Stinson, eds., Morehouse Publishing, 2014.