A Callid FAQ
What is Callid known for?
Callid Keefe-Perry is an educator, consultant, theologian, improvisor, and minister within The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). He is Assistant Professor of Contextual Education and Public Theology at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry. Much of his work explores imagination, creativity, and education as sites of human and societal change.
How do you pronounce his name?
“Callid Keefe-Perry” rhymes throughout with “Salad Leaf-Berry.” That often helps people.
What does Callid do for work?
I serve as Director of Vocational Discernment and Ministerial Readiness at Brite Divinity School. My work brings together education, spirituality, and vocational discernment. That is, I like to help people think about what comes next. In lots of ways. Previously, I served as Director of Contextual Education and Assistant Professor of Public Theology at Boston College’s School for Theology and Ministry. As time and energy allows I also work as a consultant, workshop facilitator, and speaker. Alongside my institutional work, I lead Bellwether Way Consulting, an independent practice partnering with higher education institutions, nonprofits, faith communities, and executive leaders in multiple sectors. I work with organizations on strategic planning, organizational discernment, competency-based education, and facilitation. Over the years, my work has ranged from improv theater with high-school students and arts-based facilitation to trauma-informed culture-building and nonprofit strategy. I also offer talks, workshops, and tailored advising for educators and leaders exploring generative AI’s implications for learning, expertise, and professional identity. If you’d like to know more about my training and workshops, you can read more here.
What kind of academic research does Callid do?
My work is at the intersection of imagination, education, spirituality, and social science research. In jargony terms, I am a scholar of both “public theology” and “practical theology.” My research interests are a constellation of topics around chaplaincy studies, liberation theology, critical pedagogy, trauma studies, and philosophies and theologies of imagination. I'm also the author of lots of articles about those things and two related books: Way to Water: A Theopoetics Primer and Sense of the Possible: An Introduction to Theology and Imagination. Most recently I wrote Tending Call: A Liberation Theology of Vocation. Organizationally, I am a member of the Religious Education Association, the American Academy of Religion, and the Association of Practical Theology. You can read more about my academic work here and check out my CV directly.
Is Callid a minister?
On Carrying a Concern:
A Podcast of Friends in Service
Yes. I serve in the itinerant ministry within and beyond The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), often traveling as a retreat leader or teacher of discernment. Because our tradition does not practice ordination I am not technically clergy, however I have served in public ministry nationally since 2006. My congregation (Fresh Pond Meeting) and larger denominational body (New England Yearly Meeting) have endorsed my public ministerial service. While deeply grounded in my own tradition's Christian Quakerism, I have also been deeply influenced by Ignatian spirituality. With my wife, Kristina, I'm the person behind The Jewels of Quakerism Adult Religious Education materials and the Quaker ministry podcast On Carrying a Concern.
Where else has Callid worked?
I served as Assistant Director in the office of Contextual Education in Boston University's School of Theology, working directly with seminary students in internships as well as training their supervisors, helping the mentoring relationship to be the best it can be. I was also one of the architects of the 2017 renewal of ARC: Arts | Religion | Culture, an organization committed to supporting individuals and groups whose work is at the intersection of spiritual and creative practices, especially as those practices are done for community-building and work towards justice. I served there as an Executive Director until 2020. Before that, I was a public school teacher and the co-founder of a community theater in Rochester, NY.
Any fun facts?
Outside of work and service, I am a proud father to Nahar and husband to Kristina, folks who are seriously inspiring! I love playing complicated board games with my family, occasionally performing improv theatre, and dabbling as an amateur woodworker in both turned and flat work (bowls and boxes).