Nell Becker Sweeden

I teach because I love to learn and walking alongside others in the learning process. I am continually challenged by new material and new perspectives from students in the classroom. My research and teaching lies at the intersection between theology and culture. Drawing from scholars of color as well as two-third world perspectives, I focus on how the life of the church and theological praxis take shape and are re-appropriated anew in different cultures, times, and spaces.
One of research passions explores social consciousness and activism among postdenominational Christians and how Wesleyan theology and Wesleyan-Holiness traditions can speak into this phenomenon through social responsibility and social holiness. Another project focuses on the complexities of race, class, and gender in Wesleyan-holiness historical identity narratives. I am working on a congregational resource for exploring hospitality and otherness.
I am an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and currently serve as Director for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Intl. I have had the privilege to teach in over ten countries, and I presently serve as Intercultural Studies section chair for the Wesleyan Theological Society. My husband Josh and I love exploring the outdoors with our two boys in our spare time.