Matthew Sigler
Associate Professor of Worship and Historical Theology
Email: siglerm@spu.edu
Phone: 206-281-2714
Office: Alexander & Adelaide Hall 209
Education: BA, Huntingdon College, 2001; MA, Asbury Seminary, 2007; PhD, Boston University, 2015. At SPU since 2015.
Matthew Sigler holds a PhD in liturgical studies from Boston University, where his work focused on Methodist identity and liturgical praxis. Prior to becoming a professor, Dr. Sigler served for 12 years as a music minister in the church, and has written on contemporary worship as well as lyrical theology. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and is particularly interested in how the faith practices of communities of the past can serve as resources for renewal in the church today.
At SPU, Dr. Sigler teaches Wesleyan theology and history, liturgical studies, and University Foundations courses in Christian doctrine and Christian formation.
Books
Methodist Worship: Mediating the Wesleyan Liturgical Heritage
New York, NY: Routledge, 2019
What makes Methodist worship "Methodist" or "Wesleyan?" How do Methodists evaluate emerging forms of worship in light of their own liturgical heritage? This book considers these questions by bringing to light the work and significance of three Methodist liturgists who have until now received precious little scholarly focus: Thomas O. Summers (1812-1882), Nolan B. Harmon (1892-1993), and James F. White (1932-2004). Exploring each one’s contribution to the Methodist movement, it evaluates their continuing legacies as scholars and practitioners of Methodist worship.
Selected Publications
- “Methodist/Wesleyan Practices of Worship.” In Worship Prisms: Historical Streams for Entering Worship, edited by Mark Lamport and Melanie Ross, 208-224. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022.
- “Revive Our Spiritual Strength: Worship Practices Among the Abolitionists of the Revivalist Tradition.” In A Prophetic Past, edited by Doug Strong, David D. Daniel’s III, Diane Leclerc, and Christopher P. Mamony. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2024).
- “Fr. Dennis Bennett and the Charismatic Renewal at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.” Liturgy 37: 3 (July 2022): 11-19.
- “Not Your Mother’s Contemporary Worship: Exploring CCLI’s ‘Top 25’ List for Changes in Evangelical Contemporary Worship.” Worship 87.5 (September 2013): 445-463.
Please view Dr. Sigler’s CV (PDF) for additional publications.