SALISBURY – Dr. Kendal Mobley, visiting professor of church and society at Hood Theological Seminary, is the speaker for the seminary’s opening convocation, according to Dr. Albert Aymer, president.
“Since joining the seminary community two years ago, Dr. Mobley has become actively involved in all aspects of the seminary’s activities. We are proud to announce him as the speaker for our opening convocation service” said Aymer.
The opening convocation service will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday in the multi-purpose room on the seminary campus. This service marks the official beginning of the academic year and is a time when the seminary community joins together asking God’s guidance throughout the coming year. It is also a time that new students sign their names in a document which serves as a part of the historical record of the seminary. The public is invited to attend the service.
Mobley grew up in Heath Springs, S.C. He graduated from Charleston Southern University, where he majored in English and minored in religion. He then attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where he received a master of divinity degree.
After seminary, Mobley and his wife, Rhonda, moved to Rhode Island as urban missionaries and church planters with the Southern Baptist Convention. They worked with the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Church for 13 years in Providence, R.I., and Fall River, Mass.
While studying at the Boston University School of Theology, where he received a master of sacred theology and a doctor of theology degree, Mobley worked briefly with a local substance abuse recovery ministry. His dissertation on Helen Barrett Montgomery was published in 2009.
Mobley’s research interests include women in American Christianity, Christianity and culture in the American South, and Christianity and the problem of racism.
He and his family moved to Salisbury in 2005 when he assumed the pastorate at Enon Baptist Church. Since then, he has taught as an adjunct instructor at Pfeiffer University and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and became visiting professor at Hood in 2010. His wife is the parish administrator at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. They have two children: Rachel, who attends Salem College, and George, a student at Gray Stone Day School in Misenheimer.
Hood Theological Seminary, located 1810 Lutheran Synod Drive and sponsored by the AME Zion Church, is a graduate and professional school where intellectual discourse and ministerial preparation occur in tandem within the framework of a community of faith.