Benjamin J. Brenkert

Dr. Benjamin James Brenkert, an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies (since 2021) is a Candidate for Ordination in the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Long Island. He will be ordained to the transitional diaconate in January 2024.  Brenkert revised the Master Syllabus for THEO 3400, The Spirituality of the Educator for the Department. He is a member of the St. John's University Employee Resource Group.

Brenkert is also a Tenured School Social Worker, employed by the New York City Department of Education, where he serves on the School Based Support Team at 17K006, 17K316, 17K353 and 17K543. His clinical expertise is in school social work and palliative and end of life care.  He actively supervises graduate students of social work during their field education, including students from Fordham University and Columbia University. 

Brenkert writes about Ignatian Pedagogy and Public Education, Character Formation, Teacher Training and Ethics. He earned graduate degrees in Theology from Boston College and the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. At Teachers College, Columbia University, Brenkert completed his doctorate under the tutelage of Ernest Morrell, Christopher Emdin and Pierre Faller.

Brenkert is also a scholar of the Newport Sex Scandal, 1919-1921. He is published by the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, The Advocate, Out Magazine, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast and other outlets. 

Brenkert worships at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Jackson Heights, New York.