Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley is an ordained American Baptist minister and distinguished executive leader, serving as Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York from 2015–2026 and now as Interim President of the Berkeley School of Theology. Raised in Phoenix as the daughter of a pioneering African American missionary and a compassionate nurse, she developed early commitments to justice, hospitality, and service.
She holds degrees from Pomona College, Princeton Theological Seminary, and McCormick Theological Seminary. Dr. Dudley has led major pastoral, academic, global, and philanthropic initiatives, including roles with Church World Service, the Arcus Foundation, Bradley University, and Peoria Friendship House. Her leadership extends across numerous denominational and ecumenical boards, including presidencies of the Council of Churches of the City of New York and the ABCUSA Regional Ministers Council. She is known for her focus on equity, creative problem‑solving, and faithful innovation in a rapidly changing religious landscape.
As Interim president, Dr. Dudley will provide steady, strategic leadership. She will guide the school through organizational change, maintain continuity in mission and academic excellence, and ensure that faculty, staff, students, and trustees remain aligned and supported. Her role will include stabilizing finances, strengthening governance, and preparing the institution for its next long‑term leader.
Dr. Dudley will also serve as a pastoral and relational anchor, offering clarity, reassurance, and vision when uncertainty is high. By combining executive skill, theological insight, and collaborative leadership, she will help the seminary navigate change with integrity while laying the groundwork for future growth and renewed purpose.
I wish for students to discover the appropriate blurring of distinctions between “worldly” wisdom and the wisdom of God that invites them into relationship with God on a far grander scale than afforded otherwise by limiting knowledge to a strictly Christian worldview. As an interdisciplinary learner myself (biology, natural science, and Bible), I ask myself and, now my students, several questions: If Christians believe that God was self-revealing in nature (Rom.1:20), why then is this not also special revelation? Or, if we believe that God was self-revealing in Ancient Israel (or in Christ), why then is this not also natural revelation? Must holy or “revelatory” readings of history (Heilsgeschicte) and wisdom (liberal arts) be so systematically dichotomized when our own Scriptures refuse such systematic categorization? The Bible as Canon (a set of many books with many points of view) serves as a most profound creative model of education for someone seeking a seminary degree. Between its covers, the Bible contains numerous examples of liberal-arts-like education (or “natural” “worldly” revelation) and plenty more examples of what we more often narrowly call “special” revelation. Both forms of education contained in Scripture, under the canopy of the one God, might better be called “spiritual formation.” What better place than a seminary, with a generous orthodoxy, for students to experience multiple streams of “revelation” in creation, in Scripture, in art, in science, and in ordinary life? Is this not special natural revelation? Is this not natural special revelation? Is this not biblical revelation embodied?
Challenges facing the Christian educator engaged in spiritual formation today include:
Join us for this informative webinar on spiritual practices for discernment. All attendees will receive the following FREE digital download: Following the Flame of Pentecost, a 4-week reflective journey through scripture and spiritual practices.
