Tricia Hoyt of the Diocese of Phoenix is a believer in lifelong faith formation—and not just for others! Tricia has enrolled in a PhD program in Biblical studies at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University. Is it hard for her to find the time? In her first year, the night and weekend work she performed for the Diocese of Phoenix allowed her to jet to Fort Worth for classes and return to her ministries with no reduction in weekly hours. One of her favorite classes, with Dr. Warren Carter, “takes seriously that economic and social concerns are everywhere in the Gospel According to Matthew,” she said. Dr. Carter is known internationally for locating “strategies of resistance” to the Roman Empire within the text.

Tricia explained that she has a special interest in “how Biblical texts have been used to disenfranchise people.” We all will recall wincing when culturally-bound Biblical texts are read (e.g. “Wives obey your husbands”), but Tricia’s aim is not to excise such texts from the Bible. Rather, she aims to “deconstruct and reconstruct” the texts so that they may come to be “heard in such a way as to be revelatory,” through new “hearing strategies.” “We must stop the misuse of a text,” she said.

Soon, Tricia will identify a dissertation topic—a completely original contribution she will make to Biblical studies. At this time, she feels especially drawn to humor in the Bible. Mind you, when Tricia speaks of humor in the Bible, she is not referring to knee-slappers (although the image of Zacheus in the tree gets me every time). Instead, she is looking at irony rooted in the context of the lives of the people who are hearing the message of Christ. For example, the term “savior” takes on an ironic meaning among a people accustomed to being told that the Roman Empire is their savior.

– Jeffry Korgen