Biography

The Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Cady II (he/him) has spent his career trying to balance the church, academy, and public life. While his vocational center of gravity has always been in the local church—serving three congregations over the last twenty years—he has never been far from the academy.

For the twelve years prior to coming to Brite Divinity School, Cady served as the Senior Minister of Asbury First United Methodist Church in Rochester, NY—a Reconciling Congregation of more than 2,300 members dedicated to outreach and social justice. During his tenure, he successfully completed a campaign to convert an historic building on campus into a fully accessible Community Outreach Center that offers hot meals, showers, laundry, healthcare, clothing, hair care, and bicycle repair to the most vulnerable in the region. At the same time, he led intentional anti-racism and LGBTQ inclusion efforts that enriched congregational life while redoubling efforts to thwart systemic injustices in the region. While serving Asbury First, Cady taught as an adjunct faculty at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School before moving onto their Board of Trustees and eventually becoming their Board Chair.

Cady received his Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. His dissertation put the rich theology of Howard Thurman in conversation with the worship practices of youth and young adults. He was named a Timothy Scholar by the United Methodist Foundation for Evangelism, was twice the recipient of a Dempster Fellowship through the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and was chosen as a John Wesley Fellow by the Foundation for Theological Education. While completing his Ph.D., Cady also served as the minister of Kingston United Methodist Church in Kingston, NJ, which was designated as a teaching congregation for young adults during his tenure.

He completed his M.Div. at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on the campus of Northwestern University, while serving as the Associate Minister of Park Ridge Community Church in Park Ridge, IL—a United Church of Christ congregation on the northwest side of Chicago.

He has preached, lectured, and/or taught in seminaries and churches both nationally and internationally, including in London, England, Oslo, Norway, and Pretoria, South Africa. This past spring, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College. Cady has been the keynote speaker for the Rochester Citywide Martin Luther King Jr. celebration as well as the Gamma Iota Boule Foundation of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He received the Denman award for Evangelism from the Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and was elected as a delegate to the 2020 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Cady grew up in Olathe, KS and attended Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, OH) where he received a B.A. in Theatre. He was active on the stage and in commercials prior to entering seminary. Stephen and his wife, Emily, have three children: Ellie, Charlie, and Hannah.