Sister Jamie T. Phelps | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 24, 1941 Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | November 22, 2025 (aged 84) Adrian, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Theologian |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Catholic University of America |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Systematic theology |
| Sub-discipline | |
| School or tradition | Catholic theology |
| Institutions | |
Jamie Theresa Phelps OP (October 24, 1941 – November 22, 2025) was an African-American Catholic theologian known for her contributions to womanist theology. She was the first Black member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Biography
Phelps was born in Alabama, the youngest of six children of a Catholic household. She became an Adrian Dominican Sister in 1959, desegregating the order from its all-White roots.[1]
She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology, science, and mathematics from Sienna Heights University, an MSW from University of Illinois Chicago, and an MA in Theology from Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. She subsequently pursued her PhD in systematic theology from Catholic University of America, publishing her dissertation in 1989 as The Mission Ecclesiology of John R. Slattery.[2]
She has taught at Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, Loyola University, Chicago and Seattle University, and for eight years as Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies and the Katharine Drexel Professor of Systematic Theology at Xavier University in New Orleans.[3] Phelps helped to restart the annual meetings of Black Catholic Theological Symposium in 1991, after two first meetings in 1978 and 1979.[4]
Phelps died on November 22, 2025, at the age of 84.[5]
Honors
In 1999, Phelps received the Harriet Tubman Award given in 1999 by the National Black Sisters’ Conference honoring a member who “through her ministry is an advocate for Black people.” [6]
In 2010, Phelps received the Ann O'Hara Graff Memorial Award from the Women's Seminar in Constructive Theology of the Catholic Theological Society of America.[7]
In 2016, Phelps received The “How Beautiful Are Their Feet” Award, given at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, a national network of progressive African American faith leaders and their congregations.[8]
In 2016, Phelps received an honorary doctorate from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, a graduate school in the Dominican tradition.[9]
In March 2025, Phelps was honored during the Catholic Theological Union’s Harambee celebration, which supports the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program.[10]
Works
- Phelps, Jamie T. (1989). The Mission Ecclesiology of John R. Slattery: A Study of an African-American Mission of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century. Catholic University of America.
- Phelps, Jamie T., ed. (1997). Black and Catholic: The Challenge and Gift of Black Folk : Contributions of African American Experience and Thought to Catholic Theology. Marquette University Press. ISBN 978-0-87462-629-2.
References
- ^ Scanlon, Leslie (2007). "For Sister Jamie Phelps, life's joys outweigh struggles | VISION Vocation Network for Catholic Religious Life & Priesthood | English". Vocation Network. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ Phelps, Jamie T. (1989). The Mission Ecclesiology of John R. Slattery: A Study of an African-American Mission of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century. Catholic University of America.
- ^ "Sister Jamie Phelps Works with Pax Christi to". Adrian Dominicans. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ "About us". Black Catholic Theological Symposium. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ CTSA Remembers and Prays for Sr. Jamie T. Phelps, OP – d. 11/22/25
- ^ https://www.nbsc68.org/harriet-tubman-award
- ^ Fox, Thomas C. (11 June 2010). "Dominican Sister Jamie T. Phelps honored at CTSA". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ https://adriandominicans.org/News/sister-jamie-phelps-recognized-for-her-dedicated-church-ministry
- ^ https://adriandominicans.org/News/sister-jamie-phelps-recognized-for-her-dedicated-church-ministry
- ^ https://ctu.edu/event/harambee-2/
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- 1941 births
- 2025 deaths
- 20th-century African-American academics
- 20th-century American academics
- 20th-century African-American women writers
- 20th-century African-American writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns
- 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians
- 21st-century African-American academics
- 21st-century American academics
- 21st-century African-American women writers
- 21st-century African-American writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns
- 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians
- African-American non-fiction writers
- African-American Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns
- African-American theologians
- American religious writers
- American Roman Catholic writers
- American women non-fiction writers
- Catholics from Alabama
- Catholic University of America alumni
- Religious studies scholars
- Women Christian theologians
- Womanist theologians
