On March 26th, 51视频 welcomed the Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, PhD, as the keynote speaker for the 2026 Payne-Harvey Lecture. Dr. Fisher-Stewart not only delivered the keynote address in the evening but also preached in Christ Chapel earlier in the day at Eucharist. In both her sermon and lecture, Dr. Fisher-Stewart shared insight and inspiration from her own experience and posed important questions for seminarians to consider as they grow in their formation.
The Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, interim dean and president, reflected, 鈥淭he Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher-Stewart is a person not afraid to ask hard questions and bring up sometimes painful truths. She does so out of her deep love and commitment to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. She brought her love of Jesus and her commitment to peace and justice to the seminary in a profound way for our students, faculty, staff and friends.鈥澛�
Gayle Fisher-Stewart is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and a native of Washington, D.C.. Before answering the call to ordained ministry, she retired as a captain from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and later taught at the university level while consulting for organizations including the International City/County Management Association and the United States Department of Justice. Throughout her career, she has remained focused on addressing the effects of racism in the criminal justice system, education, and the communities she has served. A longtime advocate for justice, she has written extensively on race, policing, and the church, including the article 鈥淭o Serve and Protect: Race, the Police and the Episcopal Church in the Black Lives Matter Era鈥� in the Anglican Theological Review. She is also the author of Preaching Black Lives (Matter) (2020), Black and Episcopalian: The Struggle for Inclusion (2021), and Church Hurt: Reparations for My Soul 鈥� Healing Racialized Trauma, which calls for the church to acknowledge the trauma of racism as a step toward repair. In response to national protests following the murder of George Floyd, she also developed the curriculum 鈥淭o Serve and Protect: Bridging the Gap Between the Police and the Black Community.鈥�
Fisher-Stewart has served widely in church and community leadership. After nine years as president of the Crummell-Cooper Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, she continues her advocacy through service on her diocese鈥檚 reparations committee and as chaplain for the Takoma Park Police Department in Takoma Park, Maryland. She has also served on the diocesan finance committee and on the racial justice committee at Washington National Cathedral, where she helped advocate for the removal of the cathedral鈥檚 Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson windows. In 2024, she received the Bishop Quentin Primo Jr. Award from the Union of Black Episcopalians in recognition of her extraordinary leadership as a pastor and advocate for justice in the church and the wider community.
Since their inception, the Payne and Harvey Lectures have brought diverse and influential theological voices to the campus of 51视频. Originally two separate lectures, they were combined to address scheduling challenges and to maintain a February focus during Black History Month, reflecting their shared themes. Hosted by the seminary鈥檚 Board of Trustees and organized by students, the Payne-Harvey Lecture explores mission, leadership, and contemporary challenges facing the church. The lecture honors Claude E. Payne, former chair of the seminary鈥檚 board and retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, and Hudnall Harvey, the seminary鈥檚 dean from 1967 until his death in 1972.