Community Worship: Dr. Valerie Bridgeman

Lakeside welcomes Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, as Guest Preacher on Sunday, Aug 27. This week’s preacher is supported by the Rev. Dr. Charles & Barbara Yoost Endowment. 

Bridgeman will lead the 10:30 a.m. Chautauqua Community Worship Service in Hoover Auditorium.

Michael Shirtz and guest artists will provide musical leadership during the service, while the liturgy will be led by Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost, Senior Director of Religious Life & Pastoral Care. 

Following the opening prayer, children (ages 5-11) will proceed to Bradley Temple for Children’s Church with Chip Richter. There will be a message by Richter, songs, crafts, lemonade and cookies to share. Preschoolers are welcome if accompanied by an adult.  

Bridgeman is Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, as well as Associate Professor of Homiletics and Hebrew Bible at the Methodist Theological School of Ohio. She also is Founding President and CEO of Woman Preach! Inc., a non-profit organization that brings preachers to full prophetic voice.  

Bridgeman has been in licensed or ordained ministry since 1977 and has lectured in some of the nation’s premiere seminaries and divinity schools. She writes regularly for the Journal for Preachers and is a regular contributor to workingpreacher.org. 

Bridgeman serves on the boards of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Homiletic and the College of Affirming Bishops and Faith Leaders of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM).  

She was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars and Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta in 2010 and is an active member of the Society for Biblical Literature, where she currently serves on the Committee for Women in the Profession. 

Bridgeman graduated from Baylor University, where she earned a PhD in biblical studies (Hebrew Bible concentration) and secondary studies in ethics. She received her Master of Divinity from Austin (Texas) Presbyterian Theological Seminary and her bachelor’s in communication and religion from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.