Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Richard C. Oudersluys Professor of World Christianity
M.A. Interdisciplinary Studies, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
Ph.D. Theology, Missiology and Social Ethics. Boston University, Boston, MA
About Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst yearns to see peace and justice embrace in the beautiful and broken world we call home. A wife of one and mother of many, theologian, missiologist, educator, and storyteller, she has been involved in leadership development and theological education for integral mission in her native Latin America for several decades.
In addition to teaching at WTS, she serves with the Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios (CETI, a learning community with students across Latin America), A Rocha Costa Rica, and the Networking Team of INFEMIT (International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation).
She currently contributes to the boards of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and the American Society of Missiology. Past board service includes A Rocha International and the International Justice Mission.
She lives with her husband, James, in Costa Rica as a member of Casa Adobe, an intentional Christian Community with deep concern for right living in relation to the whole of creation.
Areas of Expertise
Dr. Padilla DeBorst is passionate about justice, both social and ecological, and has written numerous articles and chapters in these realms. As a narrative theologian, she seeks to creatively bring together Word and World to bear an integral witness to the Good News in diverse contexts.
Academics