Brite Welcomes New Director to Lead and Support Students in Tending the Call to Ministry and Service
Dr. Callid Keefe-Perry joins Brite as new Director of Vocational Discernment and Ministerial Readiness
Keefe-Perry to join the Brite community September 1, 2026
FORT WORTH, TX – Brite Divinity School is proud to welcome Dr. Callid Keefe-Perry as the new Director of Vocational Discernment and Ministerial Readiness, helping students understand and pursue their callings to serve God’s diverse world. In this role, Keefe-Perry will lead students through their pathway at Brite – from entry to graduation and beyond – shaping how learners explore their purpose and prepare for post-graduation ministry and service.
Keefe-Perry will be an integral part of the New Brite Path Initiative, an effort to break down barriers into ministry while strengthening post-graduate pathways to religious leadership. The initiative, funded by a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., seeks to prepare Brite’s future faith leaders to thrive in a rapidly changing world, equipped with a strong theological foundation and an agile, innovative spirit.
On joining Brite, Keefe-Perry said, “I’m particularly excited to be joining a team committed to innovation and exploration within theological education. It feels incredible that there’s a place where I can bring my commitment to supporting students in vocational discernment as well as develop an innovative approach to chaplaincy education.”
Dean and Executive Vice President Rev. Dr. Shonda R. Jones said, “Dr. Keefe-Perry’s scholarship and leadership embody Brite’s conviction that vocation is formed at the intersection of faith, practice, and the complex realities of our time. He understands discernment not as a single decision, but as a lifelong process of becoming—rooted in theological reflection, shaped by community, and attentive to both suffering and hope. We are excited for the wisdom and creativity he brings to our administrative leadership.”
Before joining Brite, Keefe-Perry served as Director of Contextual Education and Assistant Professor of Public Theology at Boston College, as well as a lecturer in Practical Theology at Boston University. His background outside the academy includes time as a public-school teacher, organizational consultant, and executive leadership positions for several arts-based non-profits.
In addition to numerous articles, Keefe-Perry is the author of Way to Water: A Theopoetics Primer, Sense of the Possible: An Introduction to Theology and Imagination, and his most recent book, Tending Call: A Liberation Theology of Vocation, a monograph that offers a renewed vision of vocational discernment that critically engages dynamics of power, privilege, and marginalization while remaining deeply rooted in spiritual formation. Influenced by Paulo Freire’s liberative pedagogy, the book frames vocation as a holistic practice shaped by social location, contextual learning, and a faithful commitment to personal and communal transformation.
As an educator and researcher, Keefe-Perry utilizes mixed-method approaches, doing constructive theological and philosophical inquiry while drawing on qualitative and quantitative techniques from social science. He is one of the researchers developing The Center for Chaplaincy Studies’ Chaplain Competency Framework. Keefe-Perry is a first-generation college graduate whose interests orbit the intersection of imagination, spirituality, and education as sites of formation. He is especially interested in exploring issues related to chaplaincy, moral injury, and how generative artificial intelligence can be used for learning and spiritual formation.
Read Dr. Callid Keefe-Perry’s full biography here.
About Brite Divinity School
Founded in 1914, Brite Divinity School is one of the premier progressive theological institutions in the Southwest. Located on the Texas Christian University Campus in Fort Worth, Texas; Brite Divinity School prepares leaders by focusing on excellent scholarship, pastoral training, and spiritual development through ministerial and academic programs. Led by a transformative calling, Brite Divinity School seeks to educate and inspire people to serve God’s diverse world as leaders in churches, the academy, and public life.