The Rev. James W. Farwell, Ph.D. (’89)

H. Boone Porter Professor of Liturgics

  • Ph.D., Emory University
    M.Div., The General Theological Seminary
    B.A., Catholic University of America.
    Cert., Institute for Buddhist Studies, Graduate Theological Union

  • • Liturgical and sacramental theology;
    • Liturgy suffering and trauma;
    • Theories of ritual and theologies of religion;
    • Christian comparative theology with attention to the tradition of Soto Zen.

  • jfarwell@vts.edu

Faculty Bio

A member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Comparative Theology, Dr. Farwell convenes both the Seminar on Liturgy and Comparative Theology and the Anglican Consortium of the North American Academy of Liturgy. He holds a dual appointment as the H. Boone Porter Professor of Liturgics at The General Theological Seminary, and Professor of Theology and Liturgy at Virginia Theological Seminary.

In his thirty years in higher education, Dr. Farwell has taught theology, religious studies, and philosophy at college and graduate levels. He has been a priest of The Episcopal Church for 34 years. 

Dr. Farwell’s publications include book chapters, essays, and journal articles on liturgy, sacramental theology, prayer book revision, dual religious belonging, and learning across religious traditions. He is the author or editor of the following books:

  • Ritual Excellence: Best Practices for Leading and Planning Liturgy (Seabury, 2023)

  • T&T Clark Handbook of Sacraments and Sacramentality, co- edited with Martha Moore Keish (T&T Clark, 2023)

  • The Liturgy Explained (Morehouse, 2013)

  • This Is the Night: Suffering, Salvation, and the Liturgies of Holy Week (T&T Clark, 2005)