Jill Y. Crainshaw

Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Academic Initiatives and Professor of Worship and Liturgical Theology

Dr. Jill Y. Crainshaw is a poetic theologian, liturgical scholar, and institutional leader whose work explores the intersections of silence, justice, embodiment, and theological formation. A founding faculty member of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Crainshaw serves as Vice Dean, where she provides leadership in faculty mentoring and the development of strategic teaching and research initiatives.

Crainshaw emphasizes in her teaching and writing the importance of self-awareness and spiritual intentionality in cultivating effective and justice-rooted religious leadership. She has received several teaching honors, including the 2018 Academics, Research, and Engagement award from the Wake Forest Office of Sustainability and the 2015 Teaching Innovation Award from the Wake Forest Teaching and Learning Collaborative. Both awards recognize her integrative course, “Saving Places; Savoring Graces: A Place-based Study of Sacraments and Ordinances,” which links local practices such as bread baking and water stewardship with core actions of Christian worship.

An ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Crainshaw is the author of seven books on liturgy, leadership, and theological education, including The Writing Work of the People: Liturgical Writing as Spiritual, Theological, and Prophetic Work (Episcopal Church Publishing, 2021), When I in Awesome Wonder: Liturgy Distilled from Everyday Life (Liturgical Press, 2018) and They Spin with Their Hands, They Open Their Hands to the Needy (Order of St. Luke Press, 2014). 

In recent years, her scholarship has shifted toward what she calls poetic theology—a creative, embodied, and justice-rooted form of theological reflection that centers silence, metaphor, and spiritual accompaniment. Her poetry collections, including When the Sun Was a Poet: A Lyrical Almanac of Life’s Seasons and Seasonings (Kelsay Books, 2025), Cedars in Snowy Places (WFU Library Partners Press, 2019) and Hip-Gnosis: A Skeletal Tale of Healing (forthcoming), engage the textures of grief, hope, and memory from an intersectional, contemplative perspective.

Crainshaw’s current work includes a book-in-progress titled The Murmuring Deeps: Listening for the Wisdom of Silence in a Noisy World. She brings to all of her roles—including her work as university ombuds—a pedagogy of kindness and a deep commitment to accompanying students, colleagues, and communities as they navigate questions of vocation, justice, and belonging.

Education

BA, Wake Forest; MDiv, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; PhD, Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education

Religious Affiliation

Presbyterian Church (USA), Minister of Word and Sacrament

Courses Taught

• Contemplative Theology and Liturgical Practice
• Liturgical Writing
• Queer Theology
• Theology and Disability
• Transformative Religious Leadership
• Spirituality, Health Justice, and Religious Leadership
• Worship as Spiritual Practice
• Sacraments and Ordinances: History, Theology, Practice

Books

Crainshaw’s scholarly writing spans liturgical theology, feminist leadership, and creative spiritual expression. In recent years, she has turned toward poetic theology, a form of reflective inquiry that blends metaphor, silence, and justice.

• The Writing Work of the People: Liturgical Writing as Spiritual, Theological, and Prophetic Work. Episcopal Church Publishing, 2021.
• When I in Awesome Wonder: Liturgy Distilled from Everyday Life. Liturgical Press, 2017.
• “They Spin with Their Hands”; “They Open Their Hands to the Needy”: Women’s Ordination Liturgies Shaping Priestly Communities. Order of St. Luke Press, 2015.
• Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States. ABC-CLIO Publishers, 2012.
• Wisdom’s Dwelling Place: Shaping a Wisdom-based Liturgical Spirituality. Order of St. Luke Press, January 2010.
• Keep the Call: Leading the Congregation without Losing Your Soul. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.
• Wise and Discerning Hearts: An Introduction to Wisdom Liturgical Theology.  Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2000.

Poetic Theology: Creative Publications and Recognition

Dr. Crainshaw’s poetry and flash fiction reflect her theological commitments to silence, justice, and embodied wisdom. Her creative work explores the sacred textures of memory, grief, queerness, and place—and has been recognized with nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net Anthology, and Best Microfiction. These pieces, published in diverse literary and spiritual venues, form part of her ongoing practice of poetic theology.

• “now i lay me down to sleep,” “a penny for your wishes,” “recognition,” “ashes to ashes”: Synkroniciti Magazine
• Cedars in Snowy Places, WFU Library Partners Press, 2019
• “Still Life,” Writing in a Woman’s Voice
• “The Other Half of the Sky,” Poets Reading the News
• “Summer Dance,” Panoply, a Literary Zine
• Cedars in Snowy Places (Chapbook), The Finishing Line Press, 2017.
• Five Poetry Magazine: “Red Deck Chairs on an Old Back Deck,” “rain delay,” “Wild Grace,” “Benediction,” “Orange”
• Mused: The Bella Online Literary Review: “Mockingbird Remix”
• “so two goats were stuck on a beam under a bridge, “six sixty-six on two two eighteen,” “the red suitcase,” “operation sophia,” “For Pat Summitt: never forgotten,” “Holy Hyperbole, Hillary”: The New Verse News
• Upon a Midnight,” “Breaking,” “Advent Three: Rejoice”: Patheos: Unfundamentalist Christians: “
•  “power in the blood”: Quail Bell Magazine:
•  “Muse,” “salt pillar”: Remembered Arts: 
• “Congregation”: Star 82 Review: 
•  “Out of the Ordinary”: Tethered by Letters

Featured Projects

Dr. Crainshaw’s current projects continue to explore the interweaving of poetic theology, silence, and justice through public writing and embodied practice:

• The Murmuring Deeps: Listening for the Wisdom of Silence in a Noisy World – A book in progress exploring silence as a radical theological force and communal practice of resistance, healing, and reimagining.
• Seasoned Light: Poetic Theology for the Liturgical Year – A chapbook weaving poems, reflections, and invitations to silence across the Christian liturgical calendar.
• “Thresholds of Becoming” – A reflective essay on pedagogical transformation and poetic theology (currently under submission).

Select Honors and Awards

• Recipient, WFU Office of Sustainability Academics, Research and Engagement Award, 2017-2018.
• The Seventh Moon Prize recipient, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, for “Biorhythmic Resistance,” July 2017.
• Recipient, Calvin Institute for Christian Worship grant, 2017-2018.
• Recipient, WFU Teaching Innovation Award, 2015
• Recipient, Summer Grant for Exploration of Technology Enhancing Teaching, Learning, Research, Scholarly, and/or Creative Work, 2015
• WFU Magnolias Project Participant, 2015 (integrating issues of sustainability in teaching and learning)
• Recipient, Religion NC Colloquium Grant: Project Title: “From Living Water to Running Water: A History of Baptistery Art in North Carolina”

Professional Affiliations

• International Ombuds Association
• North American Academy of Liturgy
• Advisory Board, Appalachian Ministries Educational Resources Consortium
• Advisory Board, Journal of Appalachian Health, University of Louisville