Welcome from President Jody Hill
At Memphis Theological Seminary, we are committed to educating and sustaining women and men for ordained and lay Christian ministry in the church and the world.
MTS is a truly unique educational institution: though the seminary is an institution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, it is ecumenical and diverse. Our student body represents more than twenty-five denominations; over half of the student body is African American; and the seminary draws students from across the Mid-South region, including Arkansas, Mississippi, West Tennessee, North Alabama, and Kentucky.
When I received a call to ordained ministry, MTS was the only seminary I considered for pursuing my Master of Divinity degree. While I valued the ecumenical theological education of MTS, I gained a deeper appreciation for that journey when I began my first full-time pastorate at the Rogersville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in North Alabama.
The Rogersville congregation was a community of worship consisting of different kinds of people from various faith backgrounds. Some were liberal; some were conservative. Many were somewhere in the middle, just trying to do their best to practice their faith. As the pastor, I was inspired to learn that, in spite of their differences, these people of faith really liked each other. They did not always agree but they celebrated what they held in common more than they focused on what separated them.
This speaks to the heart of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination; a melting pot of people united by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. This also speaks to the kind of community we nurture at Memphis Theological Seminary. I am amazed every day that this ecumenical mission of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church has brought together students and faculty of so many backgrounds and beliefs, committed to learning, worshiping, and serving together.
At a time when the Christian Church is shrinking, and there is so much division in our nation, it is encouraging to know that there is a place like Memphis Theological Seminary where people are united by what they hold in common more than anything that could divide them. In this holy place, we find our unity in the love of Jesus Christ!
Prayerful blessings,
Rev. Dr. Jody Hill
President, Memphis Theological Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Jody Hill became the ninth President of Memphis Theological Seminary on January 1, 2020. Hill grew up in the Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Falkner, Mississippi. He was a three-year letterman on the Ole Miss Rebels Football Team from 1990 to 1992.
Dr. Hill is a graduate of the University of Mississippi (B.S.), Memphis Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.). He served as a member of the Board of Trustees for MTS from 2008 to 2014, and two terms as Moderator of the Board.
In his prior position, Dr. Hill was the Vice President for Community Relations at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. He has served full-time and bi-vocational pastorates in both the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is the New York Times bestselling author of 38: The Chucky Mullins Effect. Jody and his wife, Monya, have two sons, Noah and Luke.
line: 901.334.5810 or via email at jhill@memphisseminary.edu