Rev. Dr. Amy Davis Abdallah (Ph.D., Drew University) is the Hollowell Chair in Practical Theology and leads the Department of Practical Theology. Amy served as Professor of Practical Theology and Worship at Alliance University (formerly Nyack College) for more than two decades, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, mentoring many, and coordinating chapels. She is also Professor for the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. She preaches and teaches for churches, conferences, and other ministries in the United States and internationally. One of her delights is bringing the Bible to life by leading transformative spiritual pilgrimages to biblical lands like Greece and Turkey.
Amy is also the founder and director of Woman: A Rite of Passage, an empowering program designed to facilitate the transforming journey of Christian womanhood by developing participants’ relationship with God, themselves, others, and creation. After helping university women discover identity, engage body and spirit, and empower voice for more than a decade. Woman is now a video curriculum available to churches and other organizations. Her first book is The Book of Womanhood, and her various writings have been featured in Everbloom and The Wonder Years, and by Christianity Today, CBE International, Redbud Writers Guild, InterVarsity Fellowship, and Missio Alliance.
Amy is a firm believer that rituals are transformative and powerful, and this led her write Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between.
Outside of teaching, writing, leading and preaching, you’ll find Amy beside a campfire, growing something green, climbing a mountain, traveling around the world, or enjoying good food with friends. She loves all kinds of beauty, mentors many, adventures in cities and on trails, and is a wife and the mama of two boys.
Publications
Print
Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything In Between Brazos Press, 2023.
“Female Christian Responses to Contexts of Imposed Impostorism” Theologica, Vol 6, No. 1, March 2022.
“The Fetters and Freedom of Family” In The Wonder Years: 40 Women Over 40 on Aging, Faith, Beauty, and Strength Kregel, 2018
“Don’t Minimize Us: How Bible Translation Shapes Our View of Women in God’s Story” In Mutuality Magazine, Winter, 2017
“The Best Things Can Happen When You’re Alone” In The I Am Bible for Military Teens. American Bible Society, 2017
“When I Wanted Someone to Complete Me” In Everbloom: Stories of Deeply Rooted and Transformed Lives, Paraclete Press, 2017
“Launching Into Womanhood” Alliance Life Magazine May/June 2016
The Book of Womanhood, Cascade Books, 2015
“Essential Relationships” Mutuality Magazine Autumn, 2015
“A Rite of Passage: Helping Daughters Reach their Godly Potential” Priscilla Papers Vol 27, No. 1, Winter 2013
“Development and Efficacy of a Rite of Passage for Women” Religious Education Vol 7 No. 5, October 2012
Online Blogs/Articles
“Welcoming the Change of Seasons” IWS Faculty Blog, 2024
“How to Grieve Losses with No Funerals” CMAlliance, 2024
“Empty Nest: How a Ritual Helps Us Process the Losses and Gains of Our Kids Leaving Home” Missio Alliance, 2023
“Job Loss, Liminality, and Rituals” IWS Faculty Blog, 2023
“God, I Need a Sign!” The Biblical Mind, 2023
“How to Celebrate a Meaningful Name Change: Consecrated Woman in Ministry to Reverend” Missio Alliance, 2023
“Ashes for Pandemic Grief” CMAlliance, 2022
“Embracing Ritual on Your Journey of Grief” Redbud Writers Guild, 2021
“Let’s Create Divorce Ceremonies, Church!” Redbud Writers Guild, 2020
“These Women Played an Enormous Role In Shaping Christianity” Missio Alliance, 2019
“Lessons from an Intercultural Marriage” Redbud Writers Guild, 2018
“Palm Sunday’s Short-Lived Praise” InterVarsity Fellowship Emerging Scholars Network,2018
“Do I Really Need a Sabbath?” InterVarsity Fellowship Emerging Scholars Network, 2018
“Can Christian Women Have Authority?” Redbud Writers Guild, 2018
“Losing My Independence” Meadow Rue Merrill and Maine’s Times Record, 2017
“Authentically Strong” Redbud Writers Guild, 2017
“Church on New Year’s Even When It’s Not a Sunday!” St. Anthony Magazine, 2017
“Embracing the Feminine Side of God’s Nature” Redbud Writers Guild, 2016
“Stop Blaming Venus and Mars. We’re All From Earth” Missio Alliance, 2016
“How I Learned to Love My Period” Her.Meneutics (Christianity Today), 2016
“Why I Raise My Voice” Nicole Walters, 2016
“I’m a Woman and My Church Didn’t Know What to do with That,” Missio Alliance, 2016
“Let’s talk about Sexuality” CBE International, 2015
“Let’s talk about Intimacy” CBE International, 2015
Podcasts, Webinars, and Videos
“Transitions and Rituals” Reimagining Retirement with Judy Allen, 2024
“Grief Journal: Navigating Loss” The Lisa Gay Life (youtube), 2024
“Make Meaning in the Moment” IWS Worship Webinar, 2024
“Amy Loves Ritual” The Habit Podcast, 2024
“Finding Meaning in Life Transitions” Famous at Home Podcast, 2024
“Marking Meaning with Ritual” In All Things Podcast, 2023
Episode 374 Faith Conversations Podcast, 2023
“The Power of Ritual to Help Us Navigate Joy & Pain in Our Lives” Recover Your Life Podcast, 2023
“Meaning in the Moment Interview Series” videos with Baker Publishing Group, 2023
“Rites of passage for Christian Women,” “Key Ingredients for Rites of Passage” and “On Impostor Phenomenon” videos from BluePrint1543, 2022
Interview with Courage 365 “The Power of Rituals for Survivors,” 2021
Interview on Tuesday Talks with Shawnee Alliance Church “Embracing Femininity,” 2019
Interview for InterVarsity’s Women in the Academy and Professions (Parts 1 and 2), 2018
Interview for When You Gonna Be a Real Pastor? “Rites of Passage in Youth Ministry,” 2017
Presentations at Professional Meetings
Institute for Biblical Research
“Go, Eat, and Rest: Embodied Ritual as Formation in Leviticus” (Scripture and Hermeneutics, 2024)
Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Multi-Academic Conference
“A Rite of Passage for Women” (2023)
North American Academy of Liturgy Annual Meeting
“Transforming Rites for Our Stories: Celebrating Beginnings, Middles, and Ends” (2021)
Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting
“Origin, Practice, and Lessons from Orthodox Memorial Services” (Practical Theology, 2023)
“Bible, Blessing, and Beyond in the Antiochian Orthodox Marriage Liturgy” (Biblical Worship, 2015)
“Invented Liturgies for Life Passages” (Biblical Worship Study Group, 2014)
“Women Teaching Men in the Church: Liberal or Historical?” (Northeastern District, 2014)
“Communion: Confession and Contrition or a Redemption Celebration?” (Biblical Worship, 2012)
