Rodney Aist
I'm the course director at St George's College, Jerusalem. 
I am a Holy Land scholar, pilgrimage author, and Methodist clergy.

Scholarship and Teaching

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University of Wales, Lampeter, 2008
​PhD in Theology (University of Wales, Lampeter)
MA in Celtic Christianity (University of Wales, Lampeter)
MDiv (Duke Divinity School)
BA (Southern Methodist University)

​Graduate Certificate in Native American Studies (Montana State)
Professional Certificate in Non-Profit Management (Arizona State)

Research Interests
* Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem before the Crusades
* Contemporary pilgrim spirituality
* Celtic Christianity
* Native American Studies 
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Teaching Experience
Course Director, St George's College, Jerusalem
Cohort Leader, DMin in Pilgrimage, Drew Theological School, New Jersey
TREC Cultural Immersion Courses (Jerusalem, Rome, Native America), Drew Theological School, New Jersey
Staff/Graduate Assistant, Centre for the Study of Religion in Celtic Societies, University of Wales, Lampeter

Cohort Leader: Doctor of Ministry in Pilgrimage and Spirituality (Drew Theological School)
I have previously been the cohort anchor for the innovative Drew's Doctor in Ministry (DMin) in Pilgrimage and Spirituality. The degree program included a cohort trip to the Holy Land. Program partners included St George's College, Jerusalem and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC). 

​Books
Mission Bound: Short-Term Mission as Pilgrimage. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2023.
Pilgrim Spirituality: Defining Pilgrimage Again for the First Time. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2022
Jerusalem Bound: How to be a Pilgrim in the Holy Land. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020.
​From Topography to Text: The Image of Jerusalem in the Writings of Eucherius, Adomnán and Bede. 
        Turnhout: Brepols, 2018.
The Christian Topography of Early Islamic Jerusalem: The Evidence of Willibald of Eichstätt (700-787).
         Turnhout: Brepols, 2009. See review by Jerome Murphy O'Connor in Revue Biblique 117 (2010), 633-34.
Voices in the Wind: Stories, Thoughts, and Reflections Along a Contemporary Christian Pilgrimage.
         South Bend, IN: Cross Cultural, 2003.

Edited Books (with others)
Holy Land Pilgrimage Texts, 300 - 1500 CE (Reading Medieval Sources). Leiden: Brill, forthcoming.
Adomnán of Iona: Theologian, Lawmaker, Peacemaker. Dublin: Four Courts, 2010.

Articles
'The Christian Topography of Pre-Crusader Jerusalem: Reading the Commemorative Material of Pilgrimage Texts', in Holy Land Pilgrimage Texts, 300 - 1500 CE (Reading Medieval Sources (Leiden, forthcoming). 

‘Pilgrim Traditions in Celtic Christian Practice,’ Perichoresis 15.1 (2017) 3–19.

‘Exploring the Sources: Adomnán, Arculf and the Source Material of De locis sanctis’ in J. Wooding, R. Aist, T. Clancy and T. O’Loughlin (eds.), Adomnán of Iona: Theologian, Lawmaker, Peacemaker (Dublin, 2010). 

‘Images of Jerusalem: The Religious Imagination of Willibald of Eichstätt’, in Anglo-Saxon England and the Continent, vol. 2 (Arizona, 2010).

‘The Monument of the Miraculous Healing in Post-Byzantine Jerusalem: A Reassessment of the North Gate Column of the Madaba Map’, Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society 26 (2008), 37-56.

‘Jerome’s Image of the Mount of Olives: A Critical Investigation of Epistula 108’, Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal 4:1 (2005), 41-54.

Additional Education
Clinical Pastoral Education, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
National Capital Semester for Seminarians, Wesley Seminary, Washington, D.C.
Duke Divinity School/Bonn, Germany Exchange Program
Denmark International Study Program, Copenhagen, Denmark 


​Clergy

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Holy Fire Ceremony, Jerusalem, 2014
​I am an ordained elder in the New Mexico Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.


Past Ministry Assignments
Italy
Pastor, Chiesa Evangelica Metodista, Milan and Novara, Italy (2011-13)
Locum Pastor, St Andrew's Church of Scotland, Rome (17 weeks / 2017-19)

Navajo Nation
Director, Four Corners Native American Ministry, Shiprock, NM / Navajo Nation (2008- 11)
    See Duke Divinity Magazine.
 
Scotland
Resident Pastor, St Anne's Kirk, Church of Scotland, Papa Westray, Orkney, Scotlad (2003, 2005, 2006-07, 2016-19)
Assistant Pastor, Cadder Parish, Church of Scotland, Bishopbriggs / Glasgow, Scotland (1992-93)

Arkansas
Associate Pastor, Sequoyah United Methodist Church, Fayetteville, AR (1997-2000)
Pastor, Calico Rock Charge, Calico Rock, AR (1993-96)

Philmont Scout Ranch
Protestant Chaplain, Cimarron, NM (2002)
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Student Pastor Internships
Assistant Chaplain, Methodist Retirement Community, Durham, NC
Student Pastor, Cherokee County United Methodist Parish, Cherokee County, NC
Student Pastor, Trinity United Methodist Church, Troy, NC
Youth Pastor, Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas, TX

People and Places

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Photo: Korea, 1997
Significant travels (global): An around-the-World trip to 20 countries and 6 continents;
Home stays in Communist Europe (Soviet Union / Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, E Germany and Czechoslovakia);
Middle East travel through Israel/Palestine, Jordan and Egypt), while living in Jerusalem;
Spanish lessons and church-related travels to Latin America (Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala);
Teaching at Ebeneezer Bible College in Kathmandu, Nepal;
Meeting my in-laws in Pampanga, Philippines, 2016.

Places lived (abroad): Denmark (Lyngby), Scotland (Bishopbriggs/Glasgow, Papa Westray/Orkney), Germany (Bonn), Wales (Lampeter), Jerusalem, Italy (Milan and Rome), North Macedonia (Skopje), Serbia (Belgrade), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo).  

Places lived (US): Arkansas (Little Rock, El Dorado, Jonesboro, Calico Rock, Fayetteville), Arizona (Tempe), Missouri (Warrensburg), Texas (Dallas), Minnesota (Lake Hubert), North Carolina (Durham, Andrews), Washington, DC, Vermont (Landgrove), Wisconsin (New Berlin), New Mexico (Cimarron), Navajo Nation (Shiprock), Colorado (Aurora). 

Organizations: I am an associate member of The Iona Community, a dispersed Christian ecumenical community working for peace and social justice. I am a contributing writer for Wild Goose Publications (Iona Books).                                                                                                                                                                 

Interests and Hobbies

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The Isle of Papa Westray
Favorite Places: Papa Westray, Orkney/Scotland (pictured), North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota/USA

Outdoor Activities: Hiking, camping, canoeing, music and storytelling festivals 

Scottish/Irish fiddle and American Bluegrass music:  5-string Banjo (low intermediate)

Been there/Done that: Dublin Marathon 2003, Camino de Santiago 1999, 2001.

Contact Me

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​rodney@rodneyaist.com
coursedirector@sgcjerusalem.org
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