The Lived Theology and Race Workgroup
Michael Cartwright
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of Lantz Center for Christian Vocations (University of Indianapolis). B.A. (Hendrix College); M.Div. (Duke Divinity School); Ph.D. (Duke University).
From 1988 to 1996, Professor Cartwright was a member of the faculty of United Methodist-related Allegheny College, in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 1996, he assumed the position of Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Indianapolis, where he teaches courses in Philosophy and Religion as well as the graduate MBA course on Ethical Values for Business. In May 1998, Cartwright took on the additional responsibility of serving as Director of the ecumenical Lantz Center for Christian Vocations, a new academic unit that he brought into being with the assistance of a major program implementation grant from the Lilly Endowment.
Professor Cartwright is the author of numerous articles on topics ranging from the role of theology in racial reconciliation to moral issues in higher education to Christian attitudes to war and peace and contemporary issues in Wesleyan/United Methodist theology. Cartwright edited and wrote the introductory essay for, The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical (Eerdmans, 1994; Herald Press, 1998). He also has contributed to several collaborative studies, including Traditions of International Ethics (Cambridge U. Press, 1992), The Ethics of War and Peace (Princeton U. Press, 1996), and The Gospel in Black and White: The Role of Theology in Racial Reconciliation (InterVarsity Press, 1997). Recently, Cartwright completed The Hauerwas Reader, which he co-edited with John Berkman (Duke University Press, 2001).
An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church (UMC), Michael has served as a pastor in the North Carolina Conference (1983-1985) and on the staff of the Hinton Rural Life Center, a mission institution of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the UMC. He is a member "in full connection" of the Western Pennsylvania Conference. Michael has been privileged to lead retreats for a wide variety of Christian communities--from Quakers to Catholics, from Mennonites to Methodists, and Presbyterians to Nazarenes. A catalyst for church renewal who claims to be evangelical and catholic-- "little 'e' and little 'c'; don't take either of them away from me!"-- Cartwright enjoys opportunities for ecumenical engagement in the context of Christian service.
Michael is married to The Reverend Mary Wilder Cartwright, who also is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church currently serving as Minister of Discipleship at Roberts Park UMC, Indianapolis, Indiana, where the Cartwrights worship and serve. Mary and Michael have four children: Hannah Charissa (15), Erin Rebecca (12), and James Patrick (9), and Bethany Hope (7).