About Kate

Coming out as queer person in a fundamentalist Christian setting prompted Kate to seek justice for those marginalized by the church and to shape a more just Christianity. Throughout her life Kate felt a close connection to the Divine and the mystical. While her theological perspectives have changed, their embrace of Spirit and mystery remains.

Dr. Kate Common (she/they) is a designer and scholar in queer and feminist theory and theology, ecclesiology, practical theology, design thinking, and leadership. Her work focuses on reimagining church and culture in more flourishing ways. Since 2020, she has been an Assistant Professor of Public and Practical Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and a Louisville Institute Scholar.

In 2021 Kate earned her PhD in Theological Studies from Boston University School of Theology, while simultaneously designing part-time for the Marshalls creative team, a top Fortune 100 in-house creative department. The juxtaposition and integration between the corporate design world and academic world informs her approach to scholarship, teaching, and other creative endeavors.

These threads come together in her forthcoming book , Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Future of Christianity (Orbis Books, Feb. 2024). And her current book project Desiring Utopia: Queering Church (working on with the AAR Academy Series in conjunction with Oxford University Press).

Kate developed and teaches the course, Transforming Leadership by Design, an innovative class that integrates design thinking practices for leaders in the church, non-profit and activist worlds. The course is based in part on her research in the design thinking found in her article Introducing Design Thinking and Practical Theology.

The film project Forging Voice, which Kate co-produced, is another example of how she brings her design practice into theological scholarship. The film explores gender, race, and theology through conversations with pioneering feminist and womanist scholars in religion. Forging Voice first premiered at the Academy of Religion conference in 2017 and was the first film fully produced by religious scholars of AAR.

Kate first earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design at Kent State University and has been a designer and art director in agencies around Boston for over 10 years. She eventually left full-time design work to pursue a dream of going to seminary. She earned her Masters in Theological Research from Andover Newton Seminary, before continuing on to a PhD at Boston University.

Kate volunteering at Seminary Hill Farm part of Methodist Theological School in Ohio (Spring 2022).