New York Theological Seminary

The Rev. Dr. E. Lee Hancock is Professor of Urban Studies and Spirituality and Director of The Center for the Study and Practice of Urban Religion (CSPUR) at New York Theological Seminary. As the former dean of Auburn Theological Seminary, she directed the Center for Church Life and the Center for Multifaith Education. A native of Bluefield, West Virginia, Dr. Hancock is a graduate of Mary Baldwin College (B.A.), Union Theological Seminary in New York (M. Div.), and Drew University (M. Phil., Ph.D.).  While at Drew she served as the Program Officer for the Newark Project, one of the projects that NYTS consulted in establishing Ecologies of Learning in 2004 the pre-cursor of CSPUR, and served as an adjunct professor both in the Theological School and in the Newark Track.  Her dissertation, which was completed in the area of Religion and Society, was an ethnographic study of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Newark.  An ordained member of the Presbyterian Church USA, she has served as a minister at Judson Memorial Church and Central Presbyterian Church in New York, director of the Women in Ministry Project for the National Council of Churches, associate executive presbyter for the Presbytery of the City of New York, and as seminary pastor at Union Theological Seminary. She has served as a program consultant to numerous church agencies, denominations, non-profits and corporations.

Dr. Hancock has lectured widely, published articles and edited The Book of Women's Sermons: Hearing God in Each Other's Voices (Riverhead Books, 2000). Her areas of interests include urban ministry and urban religion, healing and health care, the sociology and anthropology of religion, and spirituality.