Dr. Carmichael D. Crutchfield, Vice President Academic Affairs/ Dean and Clara Scott Chair of Church and Ministry and Professor of Christian Education, Spiritual Formation, and Youth Ministry at Memphis Theological Seminary is also the pastor of Mother Liberty Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Jackson, Tennessee and General Secretary of Christian Education and Formation for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Dr. Crutchfield holds a B.S. Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) from the University of Tennessee Martin and a Master of Science Degree in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. He earned a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Memphis Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). in Christian Education and Congregational Studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary (GETS).
Crutchfield’s work in the church and the academy complements each other and he considers them intertwined as an academy-church or church-academy ministry. Crutchfield likes to think of himself using a term he first heard from Dr. James Cone, “spiritual intellectual.”
Dr. Carmichael Crutchfield joined the faculty of Memphis Theological Seminary in Fall 2012. His research interests include Human Development, the Human Brain, Teaching and Learning issues, the Formation and Nurture of Christians, Contemplative Pedagogy, African American Adolescent Males, Discipleship, Critical Pedagogy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom.
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As General Secretary of the Department of Christian Education and Formation of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a position he has been elected six times to four-year terms by the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Dr. Crutchfield has written and published numerous curricula, including the first published Vacation Bible School material for the CME Church. Other highlighted curricula developed are The Enlightened Males Manual: A Rites of Passage for African American Males and It is All About Discipleship.
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In addition, Crutchfield has published numerous articles in his denomination’s Church School curriculum as the Managing Editor and written several articles in the denomination’s official periodical, The Christian Index. He has authored many articles and books on youth, discipleship, spiritual formation, faith formation, and Christian education for the CME Church and since 2018 regularly contributed to the Department of Christian Education’s quarterly publication The Practitioner.
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Crutchfield has a book chapter in Educating for Redemptive Community: Essays in Honor of Jack Seymour and Margaret Ann Crain published by Wipf and Stock. He has published in the Religious Education Journal the article “An Essay: Becoming Good Ancestors and the article “The Intersection of Religious/Christian Educator and Denominational Leader.” He has written book reviews and given scholarly presentations at Religious Education Association meetings and beyond. He has given hundreds of ecclesial presentations/workshops/seminars across the United States and beyond.
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