Office of Contextual Theology

Rev. Perzavia Praylow, Ph.D.

The Reverend Perzavia Praylow, PhD is the senior Pastor of Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC and the Director of Contextual Theology at Howard University School of Divinity. Previously, she was an assistant professor of American History at Augusta University in Augusta, GA. Her roots stretch from the Sea Islands of South Carolina to the skyline of Jersey City, NJ where she was born and raised. Dr. Praylow is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament serving in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. She has previous served as the pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Winnsboro, South Carolina and a minister/elder at The Church Of the Living God in Champaign, IL.

Dr. Praylow earned a PhD in American History, a MA in Education Policy and a MA in History all from the University of Illinois (Urbana, IL), a MDiv at Columbia Theological Seminary (GA), a Masters of Sacred Theology at Lutheran Theology Southern Seminary (SC), and a BA in History at Drew University (NJ). Dr. Praylow’s research focuses on 20th Century race relations, American religious history, African American social equality and the history of education.