We welcome Rev. Dr. Anthony Bateza as our special guest at the 2023 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly.

At St. Olaf College, he is the: Associate Professor of Religion; Department Chair of Race, Ethnic, Gender and Sexuality Studies; and Director of Race and Ethnic Studies.

Anthony Bateza is a specialist in Martin Luther, moral theology and Christian ethics. Luther’s political theology is his primary area of resarch, focusing on the reformer's understanding of human agency and his relationship with the virtue tradition and Augustinian thought. He is also personally and professionally invested in questions of race, identity, and social justice. He has written on Black liberation theology and connections between Lutheran teaching and confronting racism in the United States.  

Dr. Bateza has earned degrees from Iowa State University (B.S, 2002), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (M.Div., 2006), and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D., 2017). He is an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) and frequently speaks in congregational settings and at church events.

Dr. Bateza lives in Northfield with his wife, Cynthia, their two children, Austen and Magdalene, and their loveable dog Charlie. In his free time he enjoys cycling, board games, comic books and cooking.