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Hindu, Muslim ministry initiatives announced at Harvard
Harvard Divinity Dean says programs aim to address gaps in religious leadership training across traditions
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Pranavi Sharma - Tue, 07, Apr 2026
- 03:17 EDT
- 3
Marla F. Frederick / Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School Dean Marla F. Frederick said the school is developing Hindu and Muslim ministry initiatives to address gaps in religious leadership education.
Frederick made the announcement during a visit last month to the Divinity School of Chung Chi College at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as part of an Asia trip with senior administrators from Harvard Divinity School. The visit included meetings with alumni and institutional partners in Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan.
According to a recording obtained by The Harvard Crimson, Frederick said the initiatives are part of a broader effort to expand ministerial training. She said that the programs are intended to respond to longstanding gaps in how religious leadership education is structured.
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“We're working to develop a Muslim Ministry Initiative and the Hindu Ministry Initiative,” she said.
Frederick said the effort responds to structural limitations in how ministerial education has historically been delivered.
“Historically, people who wanted to serve a ministry in a mosque have had to be trained through Christian ministry in order to do ministry in the mosque,” she said.
She pointed to a lack of direct pathways for non-Christian ministerial training as a key gap the new initiatives aim to address.
Frederick said the school’s Buddhist Ministry Initiative, launched in 2012 with support from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, could serve as a model. The program trains Buddhist religious leaders through coursework and field placements.
A Harvard Divinity School spokesperson declined to comment further.
The planned initiatives build on priorities outlined in the school’s strategic planning process, launched in fall 2024 under Frederick’s leadership. The process included input from more than 200 faculty members, students, alumni, and peer institutions.
That process identified a growing need to prepare students for leadership in an increasingly multireligious environment, with an emphasis on expanding ministerial studies. One priority calls for developing spiritual life and leadership initiatives across Hindu, Islamic, and Jewish traditions.
Frederick said the school’s academic model already encourages students to engage across traditions.
“Students can come to HDS to study a particular tradition,” she said. “But one of the things we’re trying to make sure of is that as they’re studying their own particular tradition, they’re required to take courses in other traditions to learn something about another tradition.”
She also acknowledged a longstanding imbalance.
“What we have had, as I said, a historical trend, is in the study of religion, not necessarily in the preparation of people going into ministry,” Frederick said. “And so that’s a part of our big work now, building out our Jewish Leadership Initiative, building our Muslim Ministry Initiative.”
Some affiliates said the expansion is overdue. Lizzy Lincoln, a 2025 graduate of the school’s Master of Divinity program, said she was “thrilled.”
“Historically, for a very long time at HDS, despite being a pluralist school, there have not been sufficient resources to support Muslim or Hindu students pursuing ministerial paths,” she said. “So I am genuinely tickled as an alum of the program to hear that this is happening.”
Current student Caleb J. Brantley said the initiatives align with the school’s mission.
“We’ve had significant changes in how we've seen these proposed initiatives being advanced,” he said. “You’re seeing more of a pluralistic environment. And of course, that’s the mission of HDS is to advance pluralism, religious pluralism at that.”
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