Meet Jennifer Powell McNutt

Reformation Scholar Ministers to the Church

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt is the Franklin S. Dyrness Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College, where she has taught Christian History and Theology since 2008. For over a decade, she coordinated the M.A. program in History of Christianity, and she is the first woman appointed to the Dyrness chair (Press Release).

Education

Rev. Dr. McNutt received her B.A. in Religious Studies with a concentration in Biblical Languages from Westmont College (2000) and her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary (2003). In 2003, she was awarded an Overseas Research Student Award (2003-2006) to pursue her doctorate at the University of St. Andrews. She graduated with her Ph.D. from the School of History (2008) at St. Andrews (Reformation Studies Institute). The bulk of her doctoral research was conducted at l’Université de Genève’s Bibliotheque de Genève and L’Institut d’Histoire de la Reformation as well as the Archives d’état de Genève. Her monograph, Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of Enlightenment (Routledge, 2014), reflects a decade worth of archival research.

Church Ministry

Rev. Dr. McNutt was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2010. She and her husband, the Rev. Dr. David McNutt, currently serve as Parish Associates at First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn and provides pulpit supply for Chicago Presbytery. They are also Fellows with the Center for Pastor Theologians and run a co-ministry that they co-founded called, McNuttshell Ministries. Their ministry seeks to serve as a bridge between the academy and the church through speaking, preaching, and writing on topics of Scripture, Theology, Culture, and Church History. They are currently co-writing a forthcoming book for Zondervan Academic, Know the Theologians. Rev. Dr. McNutt is also a founding Board Member for the Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson Divinity School (formed by Kristen Padilla in 2020) and has been a speaker for various women’s retreats and conferences focused on women in Scripture and Church History.

Research & Writing

Rev. Dr. McNutt’s academic research specializes in the history of Christianity and theology from the Reformation through the Enlightenment with expertise in Reformation Studies (history and theology), John Calvin and the Reformed tradition, the history of the Bible, science and Christianity during the Enlightenment, and women in early modern history. Her work has appeared in numerous edited volumes and journals. In addition to her monograph, she has co-edited The People’s Book: The Reformation and the Bible (IVP Academic, 2017) and the forthcoming, The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation (Oxford University Press), which features the work of over 50 early modern scholars worldwide. Dr. McNutt’s research and writing on John Calvin is currently supported by a Meeter Family Research Fellowship at Calvin University and under review with Oxford University Press. Her ongoing archival research on the history of the French Bible has led to fellowships at the Huntington Library, the University of St. Andrews, Cambridge University, the American College of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence, and (currently) the Newberry Library as Scholar-in-Residence. She is also co-editing a Reformation Commentary on Scripture with Dr. Derek Cooper for IVP Academic.

Rev. Dr. McNutt’s work is also directed toward a wider audience in her role as scholar and pastor. She has published numerous articles with Christianity Today and Christian History magazine. In 2017, Rev. Dr. McNutt was awarded first place in Christianity Today’s Science Essay Contest (2017) for “Forgotten Figures: How Pastors of the Enlightenment Helped Advance Modern Science.” She also co-wrote the cover story, The First Christian, for the Dec. 2019 issue with Rev. Dr. Amy Peeler. In 2017, Rev. Dr. McNutt also participated as an expert for the Reformation documentary, A Call for Freedom, which won three regional Emmy awards including “Outstanding Historical Documentary” (Press Release). She regularly appears on a various podcasts, writes for guest blogs, and speaks at venues for laity and clergy.

Awards

Rev. Dr. McNutt is the first scholar to have received two prestigious writing awards from the American Society of Church History: the Sidney E. Mead Prize (2005) for her first academic journal article and the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize (2014) for her first monograph, Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of Enlightenment, 1685-1798 (Routledge, 2014). In 2014, she was elected Fellow to the Royal Historical Society. Dr. McNutt also received Wheaton College’s Leland Ryken Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities (2013-2014), and she was awarded one of Westmont College’s 80th Anniversary Alumni Award (2017).

Accounting for the Journey

Read more about how Rev. Dr. McNutt navigates a three-fold calling as Mother, Professor, and Pastor:

Jennifer Powell McNutt, “Run, Mama, Run!” for Christian Scholar’s Review (Nov. 9, 2021): LINK