J. Michael Clark

J. Michael Clark (McNeir-Clark) was born in Morristown, Tennessee in 1953. He earned a B.A. degree from from Emory-Henry in Virginia, an M.Div. degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts at Emory in religion and literature. He was a trailblazer in gay liberation, ecology and religion, and eco-theology. He was one of the founders of Congregation Bet Haverim, which began as the gay and lesbian synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia.

Michael started writing about being gay in the early 1980s, authored many papers for the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and was the first to start the Gay Men’s Issues in Theology section in the AAR. He authored over 30 books and even more articles, and is credited with pioneering truly unapologetic gay/lesbian theology. Michael was also a creative and caring teacher to undergraduates at Georgia State University, Agnes Scott College, UNC-Asheville, and Warren Wilson College. His areas of expertise include gender and ecotheology, HIV/AIDS, theodicy, gay men and men’s studies, and gay sexual ethics.

He died on October 9, 2024.

(This biographical statement provided by Bob McNeir.)

Biography Date: April 2025

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