David B. Smith

My research project explores how early medieval Christian confessional manuals (Penitentials) both assume and generate relationships of asymmetrical dependency around gender and sexuality for biological males who engage in sexual intercourse with other males.

Though we have sparse evidence from the early medieval period as to the practical application of penitential canons, the relationship between penitents (both lay and ordained) and confessors (including priests, bishops, etc.) was conceptualized as one of spiritual dependency, which in turn justified certain asymmetrical relationships within the church hierarchy, and the extra-ecclesial realm. In ways both dissimilar and parallel to our own era, religio-cultural sexual and gender norms acted upon early-medieval persons who deviated from prescribed behavioral patterns in covert and overt ways. The 'sexual code(s)' outlined in the early- medieval Penitentials offer examples of how the foundations were laid for subsequent sexualized/gendered dependency structures in law, theology, and liturgical praxis. The three-fold approach of the BCDSS research group of which I am a member, i.e., legal, theological, praxiological, thus provides a valuable framework for interpreting the relationships between the norms enshrined in the penitentials and a specified cohort: biological males who engaged in homoerotic 'behavior' with one another. 

"Religious Freedom and Dependencies from the Perspectives of Ecumenism, World Christianity, and Inter-Religious Engagement," Graduate-level block seminar offered in collaboration between the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Bonn and the Theologische Hochschule Ewersbach, co-taught with Matthias Ehmann (Ewersbach) and Matthew R. Robinson (Bonn).

Groups Organized:

Organizer, World Christianity Studies and Asymmetrical Dependencies (WCSAD) Working Group

Founding Member of the Coordination Team, BCDSS PhD Forum

Active Membership:

Race and Dependency Working Group

since September 2023
Ecological Dependencies Working Group

since June 2023
Gender Reading Group (GRG)

since October 2022
Dependency and Ancient History Writing Group

since May 2022
Dependency from God, Gods, and the Divine Working Group

October 2021 to April 2022
Terminologies of Asymmetrical Dependency Working Group

since 2021
Doctoral Studies (Dr. theol.) in Theology (Church History), Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Bonn, Germany

2019–2021
Master of Arts (M.A.) in Ecumenical Studies, University of Bonn, Germany

2016–2017
Graduate Studies in Social Work as part of the M.Div./Master of Social Work (MSW) Partnership, Princeton Theological Seminary and Rutgers University, Graduate School of Social Work, United States

2014–2017
Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Princeton Theological Seminary, United States

2010–2014
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Religion & Philosophy, Montreat College, United States

Additional Certifications:
2023
Doctoral Certificate- Research Management Track, University of Bonn Graduate Center (BGZ)
Doctoral Certificate- Research Track, BGZ
Doctoral Certificate- Business & Organizations Track, BGZ

2021
Certificate in International/Intercultural Competence, University of Bonn

2017
Certificate in Gender, Women, and Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, United States

 
Further Study:
2023
Ecumenical School on Government, Economics, and Management (GEM School), Ecumenical Center of the Council of Christian Churches of Malaysia, World Council of Churches (WCC) and other partners, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (August-September)

Global Institute of Theology, World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the Pacific Theological College, Suva, Fiji (June-July)

2022
Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI), World Council of Churches (WCC) and University of Geneva, held in Karlsruhe, Germany (August-September)

Seventh International Annual Summer School in German & Theology, University of Mainz, Germany (July)

2021–2022
Latin Studies, POLIS Institute, Jerusalem, Israel (online due to COVID)

2020
Manhattan Bioethics Summer School, Global Bioethics Initiative, New York, United States (August)

2017
Global Institute of Theology, World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel, Germany (June-July)

since 2021
Research Associate in Research Group Structures of Dependency in the Late Antique and Early Medieval Western Church, University of Bonn, Germany

2014
Research Assistant, Montreat College, United States

2012–2014
Bible & Religion Department Tutor, Montreat College, United States

Service on BCDSS Committees and Teams

Steering Committee:

since January 2024
Elected Representative of Research Area E

2023
Elected Representative for Doctoral Candidates

 
Other BCDSS Committees and Teams:
since 2023
Anti-Discrimination Team Member

since 2023
Dependency Blog Editorial Team

 
Activities Beyond the BCDSS

since 2024
‘Theology in the Capitalocene’ Working Group, Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, TN, United States 

since 2021
Editorial Consultant for Religious & Gender Studies, Social Sciences & Development Review, Institute of Human and Social Development (IHSD) of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines

since 2021
Ambassador, Master of Arts in Ecumenical Studies Program, Faculty of Protestant Theology and Center for Religion & Society, University of Bonn, Germany

2019–2021
Substitute Examinations Committee Representative, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Bonn, Germany

2021
Resident Chaplain, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, United States (also served as Pastoral Care Intern at Jefferson during Clinical Pastoral Education [CPE] placement from May to August 2016)

January 21st, 2018
Ordination as a minister of Word and sacrament (pastor/teaching elder) in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by the Presbytery of Western North Carolina on behalf of the Presbytery of Philadelphia in Montreat, NC, United States

2015–2019
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA, United States

• 2018–2019: Interim Associate Pastor for Youth and their Families

• 2017: Interim Director of Youth Ministries

• 2015–2017: Seminary Intern (part-time)

2014–2015
Pastoral Assistant, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Trenton, NJ, United States (part-time)

Staff Facilitator, the Princeton HUB, Princeton, NJ, United States (part-time)

2013
Creative Assistant, Montreat Conference Center (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.), Montreat, NC, United States 
 
Additional Internships and Field Research Placements:

2019–2020
Ecumenical Studies Field Research Placement, American Protestant Church of Bonn, Germany

2016–2017
Generalist Graduate Social Work Intern, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) of Central New Jersey, United States (part-time)

2015
Mission Intern, The Center: Where Compassion Meets Justice, a Mission of the Presbytery of Baltimore, MD, United States

2013–2014
Pastoral Intern, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Asheville, NC, United States, including temporary 'supply' as Student Co-Pastor at Paint Gap Presbyterian Church in Paint Gap, NC, under the supervision of the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry (part-time)

2009–2010
Pastoral Administration Intern, Christian Family Academy & New Life Baptist Church, Conover, NC, United States (part of the 'Servant Leadership' program)

2022
Lombard Prize (third), World Communion of Reformed Churches & Lombard, Odier & Cie., Geneva

2021
Hochschulpreis for outstanding master’s thesis, Evangelischer Bund Rheinland, Germany

2020
Nominee for the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Preis/German Academic Exchange Service Prize (DAAD Prize), Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Bonn, Germany

2017
Seward Hiltner Award in Theology & Personality, Faculty of Practical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

2016–2017
Shreveport Presbyterian Scholarship

2015–2018
Euler Scholarship, Synod of the Mid-Atlantic of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

2014–2016
Presbyterian Study Grant, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Recent Academic Conferences and Workshops Organized

• Planned for October 2024. "Workshop on Intersectionality and Dependency Theory," International BCDSS Workshop held as part of the 'Research Area E: Gender (and Intersectionality)' Thematic Year Conference Series, Co-Organized with Eva Marie Lehner and Sara Eriksson
• 9 April and 27 June 2024. "Network Analysis and Asymmetrical Dependency Research Laboratory," Co-Organized with Prof. Dr. Julia Hillner (BCDSS) and in partnership with Alexander Ermakov and the Bonn Center for Digital Humanities (BCDH)
• 7–8 March 2024. "Islamic Feminisms and Dependency" (part of "Marking International Women’s Day" Events Series), featuring Miriam Cooke (Duke University), Co-Organized with Dima Al Munajed and Emma Kalb (BCDSS) in partnership with the Gender Group of the Bonn Center for Development Research (ZEFGG)
• October 2023. International PhD Seminar on Slavery, Servitude and Extreme Dependency ('Bonn/Leiden/Hull Seminar'), Member of the Organization Team and Panel Chair, University of Bonn, Germany
• July 2022. PR Team Member, "What Does Theology Do, Actually (III, Church History)," A Conference Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of the MESt/MEESt Program, University of Bonn, Germany

World Christianity Conference (Princeton Theological Seminary and OMSC)

• 2024. Conference Theme: "Revisiting Women and Gender in World Christianity," held at the University of Ghana, Legon (Accra)

– Panel Chair: "Engendering Pentecostalism II: Violence and Entrepreneurship" with a focus on violence against women and the relationship between Pentecostalism and economic development in Ghana. 

– Paper Presentation: "'Nothing Manly in Him…' Hegemonic Masculinities, Asymmetrical Dependencies, and the Early Penitentials."

• 2023. Conference Theme: "War, Pandemic, and Climate Change: Global Crises- Past and Present and Their Place in World Christianity Scholarship"

– "Is it Possible to Read Early Medieval Penitential Literature in Light of World Christianities?" Conference Theme: War, Pandemic, and Climate Change: Global Crises-Past and Present- And their Place in World Christianity Scholarship, Panel Title: Dialogues in World Christianity in an Era of Global Crises and Challenges: Ecumenical, Interreligious and Transcultural Encounters

– "Church and War in Contemporary Europe (Focus on the War in Ukraine)," panel chair/moderator

– "The Future of World Christianity Scholarship: Perspectives from Graduate Researchers," presenter in Graduate Researcher Panel

• 2023. “Queer Presbyterians, Provocative Questions, and the Possibility of Building Solidarity with the Past,” Westminster College Cambridge, UK (attended online due to Schedule Conflict)

• 2023. "'The Slave has a Friend in Heaven …' Theodore Sedgwick Wright on Consistency and Circumstance," SST Annual Conference on ‘Power,’ University of Warwick, UK
• 2021. "Liberative Intercultural Linguistics: Young Theologians, Ecumenical Exposure Programs & Human Sexuality," SST Post-Graduate Conference, Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK

• 2022. Formal Response to Tim Middleton’s "Christology and the Temporal Trauma of the Anthropocene," University of Bonn, Germany

• 2022. "Home, but Always Away: An Illustrative Case Study of Bonn’s Stimson Memorial Chapel and its History," WDTD-3: A Conference Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of the MESt/MEESt Program, University of Bonn, Germany.

• 2022. "Yet More Light… From an Apologetics of Queerness to Re-De-Normalization in the Intra-Religious Protest Movement for Inclusion in the Presbyterian Church (USA)," Power and Authority in Religious Protest Section at the Biennial Conference, University of Bonn, Germany

• 2022. "Sodomites, Effeminates and other Fornicators: Masculinities, Homoeroticism and Dependencies in the Early Medieval Penitentials & Ecclesial Law," Dissertation Project Poster Presentation, Biennial Conference, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Mainz, Germany

• 2021. "Woven Confessions: Religious Symbology & the Intra-Ecclesial Struggle for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the PCUSA," Prophets, Prognosticators and the Theo-logics of Protest Panel, Annual Meeting, University of Münster, Germany

• 2020. "'Is Anyone Else Out there Gay?' Liberative New Testament Exegesis and the formation of the Presbyterian Gay Caucus" Second Annual New Testament Scholars Conference, Theme: "Human Sexuality in God’s Canvas of Creation" hosted by Ekklesia Center for Biblical Studies & Pastoral Accompaniment, India (via JioMeet due to COVID)

• 2018. "Beyond the Vigil: Ecumenical & Interfaith Youth Work as a Catalyst for Public Theology," Religion & Leadership Section, Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Region, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
• 2017. "Beyond the Closet: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Queer Ethic of Pride," co-authored with Robert T. Drake, The Women’s Caucus & Feminist Liberation Theologians Network (FLTN), Annual Meeting, Boston, MA

Recent Colloquia and Workshop Presentations at the University of Bonn

• 2024. "Penancing Fornication: Men, Sex and Ecclesiastical Rank in the Praefatio Gildae," Kirchengeschichtliches Kolloquium, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, in dem Diözesanen und Dombibliothek, Köln
• 2023. "'Et mulles Sicut Adultera:' Male Sexuality, Gender Slippage, and Dependencies in the Early Penitentials," Annual BCDSS Doctoral Colloquium
• 2022. "Perspektiven auf Methoden der Kirchengeschichte aus den USA," Kolloquium Methodenbücher in der Kirchengeschichte, Kirchengeschichtliches Kolloquium, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät
• 2020. "Our Own Most Vexing Problem: LGBTQ+ Experience, Sin Talk &  the Ecumenical Movement," Systematische Theologie Doktoranden-Kolloquium with Prof. Dr. Richter, Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät

Recent Public Lectures and Panels

• 2023. "'From Caterpillars to Butterflies:' Multilateralism and Bonn’s 'American Settlement' in a Past Age of Geopolitical Competition." Invited Lecture. Bonn International Model United Nations, e.V. & Studium Universale, University of Bonn, Germany
• 2022. Plenary Address, iStart Alumni/ae Day, International Office, University of Bonn
• 2022. Leser und Diskussionsteilnehmer, "Gefesselt/Bound: Lesung & Diskussion mit Natassa Sideri," University of Bonn, Center for Dependency & Slavery Studies
• 2022. Hochschulepreis Acceptance Speech, "Geistige Heimat: Eine Zusammenfassung der Forschung zu internationalen protestantischen anglophonen Gemeinden." Evangelischer Bund Rheinland, Evangelischer Bund Westfalen und Lippe, Melanchton Akademie Köln
• 2022. "Faith for Rights: The Beirut Declaration and Religious Actors on the World Stage." Invited Lecture. Bonn International Model United Nations, e.V. & Studium Universale, University of Bonn, Germany
• 2022. "Visiting Wounds." Plenary Address and Panel Discussion, Pre-Assembly Ecumenical Youth Gathering at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Karlsruhe, Germany
• 2022. "Spiritual Care & LGBTQIA+ Identities: An Introduction to the Discourse in U.S. Health Care Chaplaincy." Trauer am Arbeitsplatz Seminar, DFG-FOR 2685- Resilienz in Religion und Spiritualität, University of Bonn, Germany
• 2022. "The 'Third Rome' and the 'Russian Peace:' Religious Dimensions of Putin’s War on Ukraine." Dies Academicus Lecture. Bonn International Model United Nations, e.V. & Studium Universale, University of Bonn, Germany
• 2021. "Ugnayan at Talastasan - Human Rights and Beyond." Institute of Human and Social Development (IHSD) Forum, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila

Recent Work with Ecumenical Bodies and Non-Profit Boards

• Selected Projects and Committee work with the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)

– since December 2023: Member of the Core Team on the Preparation of the 'Working Paper on Communion' for the 2025 General Council

– since 2021: Member of the WCRC Youth Summit Core Committee

– 2020–2021: Member of the WCRC Youth Summit Working Group

• August 2023: Delegate to the New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA) Consultation on Labor, hosted by the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) under the auspices of the International Labor Irganization (ILO), World Council of Churches (WCC), World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Christian World Mission (CWM), and World Methodist Council (WMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• since 2020: BIMUN/SINUB, e. V. 

– since 2022: Member of the Board of Advisors/Trustees (Kuratoriumsmitglieder) responsible for Lecture Series and Academic Affairs

– 2021: Member of the Advisory Team

– 2020: Member of the Executive Board and Director of the Lecture Series

• 2020–2022: Co-Host with Anitra Kitts and Matthew Lafferty, Intentionally International Podcast

• Forthcoming. 2025. With Raimundo Barreto, Julia Winnebeck, and Matthew Robinson. Special Issue "World Christianity and Asymmetrical Dependency." In Journal of World Christianity 15(1).