‘We’ve got your back’: Area celebrates Dr. Carla Works as Wesley’s new president
By Alison Burdett
When Dr. Carla Works looked across the congregation gathered Sept. 15 for her inauguration as the 11th president of Wesley Theological Seminary, she saw more than colleagues, church leaders and supporters. She saw former students.
“I can remember where you sat,” Works told them. “And you will never know what a privilege it has been to be part of your story.”
Many of those stories have led into the churches and ministries of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences. Former students who now serve as clergy throughout the episcopal area were among those gathered at National United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., where Works was formally inaugurated as Wesley’s first female president.
Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Area and a member of Wesley’s Board of Governors, played several roles in the service, participating in Works’ inaugural vows, joining ecumenical leaders in offering a blessing for the new president and seminary, and delivering the benediction.
In her blessing, Easterling celebrated Works’ call to leadership, "a sacred, noble and selfless task." She prayed that God would bless Works' wisdom, insight, and strength as she serves as God's spiritual leader, administrator, and chief educator. Bishop Easterling called upon the Holy Spirit to unite Wesley’s ministry partners “in a strong and holy partnership.”
Acknowledging that faithful leadership requires difficult, costly, and often misunderstood decisions, Bishop Easterling offered Works a promise.
“We’ve got your back,” she said, a refrain she returned to and the congregation echoed, as she charged Works to protect the integrity of theological education and remain faithful to Wesley's mission of preparing leaders for the ministry of Jesus Christ.
That partnership is already visible throughout the episcopal Area.
Works joined Wesley’s faculty in 2008 and has served as professor of New Testament, professor of biblical theology, and dean. A respected New Testament scholar, her work focuses particularly on the Apostle Paul.
She is also no stranger to the BWC. Works led Bible study during the 2024 Annual Conference Session and preached at its Service of Ordination and Commissioning. Introducing her at that service, Easterling said, “We need scholars like Dr. Works to help awaken us from our theological lethargy.” Works, looking out at the gathering then as she did at her inauguration, noted the many former students she saw among BWC clergy.
That connection was evident throughout the inauguration. BWC and Pen-Del clergy and laity were among those gathered to celebrate Works, including members of the Wesley Alumni and Friends Choir, whose ministries and lives have been influenced by her teaching.
Works’ inaugural sermon, “If Paul Was Here…,” offered a glimpse of the biblical scholarship and pastoral imagination that have shaped generations of those students.
Drawing on Galatians, Works centered her message on the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Paul’s ministry among the Galatians, she said, demonstrated that God’s Spirit was already at work among people the dominant culture feared, stereotyped, and rejected.
The lesson remains urgent, she said. People who think, vote, dress or look differently from us are among the neighbors Christians are called to love.
Works also spoke directly to those who may question whether they are the right person to answer God’s call. Naming women throughout Scripture who followed where God led, she declared, “‘Follow me,’ Jesus says, and you might just shatter a few stained glass ceilings.”
Ultimately, Works said, that calling is why Wesley exists.
“At Wesley Theological Seminary, we train leaders who will be brave enough to follow their call, bold enough to love all their neighbors and wise enough to seek a world where everyone thrives,” she said. Wesley will continue to be “rooted in Scripture, grounded in grace and planted in hope.”
For the many former students now serving churches across the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Episcopal Area, Works’ ministry is already bearing fruit. And as she begins a new season of forming the church’s leaders as Wesley’s president, Easterling made clear that she does not begin it alone:
“We’ve got your back.”
See photos from the installation service
If you were unable to contribute and would like to, you are invited to make a gift in honor of Dr. Carla Works to Wesley's Annual Scholarship Fund.