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The Rev. Katrina Olson, PhD

Kat Olson headshot

Visiting Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology
kolson@cdsp.edu
B.M., University of Western Ontario
M.Div., Calvin Theological Seminary
Th.M., Calvin Theological Seminary
M.A., Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Curriculum Vitae

Bio:

Katrina Olson is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America who began her ministry in the seventh grade, playing piano regularly for church worship services. From that point onward, her call to serve the church grew. After earning a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario, she worked as a worship pastor for nine years in southwest Michigan. During this time, she also studied to receive both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology in Worship from Calvin Theological Seminary.

In 2016 she shifted from serving in parish ministry to theological education and attended Vanderbilt University to earn a PhD in Religion, specializing in the area of Homiletics and Liturgics with a minor in Feminist Practical Theology. While at Vanderbilt she was awarded a fellowship in the Theology and Practice Program and obtained certificates in Gender Studies, Homiletic Peer Coaching, and Teaching the Humanities. Her research focuses on social formation within homiletics and liturgics, creating a practical tool for evaluating and constructing these elements to generate greater communicative effectiveness, to form better public theology, and to deepen relationships with God, with others, and within our own self.

You can read more on her website: katolson.com

Why I Teach:

Teaching is a part of my call from God to serve the church, directly investing in people who have ekklesia calls of their own—in all multifaceted ministerial manifestations. I aim to create classroom spaces that account for a diversity in history, experience, and call by working with students to generate a learning space. Together we gather around a subject as co-contributors in a pedagogy of creation, working to bring the material to life through the unique handiwork of each group that gathers around it. I love teaching because I see it as a way that I can build up God’s gospel goodness in the world—encouraging students to know each other better, know their craft better, and know themselves better—to be and lead and change and equip and love the church.

Courses Taught:

  • Introduction to Pastoral Theology
  • Introduction to Homiletics