Kenda Creasy Dean, Faculty Liaison

Kenda (she/her) is an ordained United Methodist pastor and the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her areas of specialization include Christian education and formation, adolescent spiritual formation, youth and young adult ministries, Christian social innovation, practical theology, and theories of teaching. She is the author of numerous books on young people and the church, including Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, and Innovating for Love: Joining God’s Expedition Through Christian Social Innovation. In addition, Kenda is the co-founder of Ministry Incubators, a consulting group that helps Christian communities try new things through social innovation and entrepreneurship, and after three years of directing Princeton Seminary’s Young Adult Innovation Hub, she now serves as senior faculty strategist for the Ministry Collaboratory. A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, Kenda served as the founding director of the Institute for Youth Ministry from 1994-1998.