Dr. Elizabeth Johnson Walker will join the faculty of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in June as Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling. She currently is a professional counselor with the Georgia Association for Pastoral Counseling in Decatur, Ga., and an adjunct professor in the area of Persons, Society & Culture at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in religion and philosophy from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., and the Master of Divinity degree from Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. She earned her doctorate in theology from Gammon Theological Seminary and the ITC, where she completed her dissertation on “A Model of Pastoral Counseling with African American Women.” Her clinical training was received at the Georgia Association of Pastoral Care in Atlanta. She is a licensed marriage and family counselor (LMFT), a Member Associate of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC), a Clinical Member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a member of the Society for Pastoral Theology.
Walker enrolled in seminary following several years of service as an active duty staff sergeant in the United States Air Force, during which she was recognized with several awards. A member of the United Methodist Church, she served as the student pastor of three churches in Alabama. After earning her M. Div., she became the pastor of Saint Paul United Methodist church in Montgomery, Ala. While there, she founded and served the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry at Alabama State University. Walker continued to minister in Alabama congregations until she relocated to Georgia to work on her doctorate. In Georgia she served as the resident chaplain for the Covenant Counseling Institute in Snellville and continues to serve in extension ministry appointments with the Alabama West Florida Conference. She is the first African American woman to be ordained and hold membership in this Conference.
“I am inspired by the richness of Dr. Elizabeth Johnson Walker’s ministry as a teacher, pastor, counselor, chaplain, and juvenile justice advocate. Her diverse vocational experiences and commitments have prepared her to nurture our students and future pastors, teachers, counselors and chaplains in remarkable ways,” said LPTS President Dean K. Thompson.
When Walker joins the LPTS faculty June 1, she will teach in a marriage and family program that is only one of two accredited, seminary-based programs in the nation. The program was begun in 1993, and currently there are 44 students in the Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT), the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling degree programs. The MAMFT degree program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC), which has ranked the program one of the most outstanding in the nation.
