RSLMinistries

The Rev. Raquel S. Lettsome, Ph.D.  

The Reverend Raquel St. Clair Lettsome, Ph.D. is the Professor of New Testament and Womanist Biblical Interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO). She is also the Founder & President of RSL Ministries (www.rslministries.com), a 501(c)3 organization, where she works with faith leaders and lay people to interpret Scripture more effectively for preaching, teaching, and living. Affectionately known as "Rev. Raquel," Dr. Lettsome is committed to excellence and loves to help people move forward in their lives and ministries. Her ministry and scholarship flows from a faith commitment that values scholarship, integrity, and authenticity. With more than two decades of pastoral experience and extensive exegetical training, Dr. Lettsome integrates the highest levels of academic biblical scholarship, practical theology, and life-giving ministry, with the discernment of the Holy Spirit, to equip and empower believers.

Dr. Lettsome is nationally recognized for informing and inspiring congregants and classes through her preaching, teaching, writing, online courses, and webinar experiences. She is an in-demand preaching coach and ministry consultant who uses her gifts and experience to help pastors develop their ministerial staffs, coordinate their ministry operations, and train Christian education leaders. Her preaching merits include the Distinguished Preachers Series (Riverside Church, NYC), the George A. Crawley Women in Ministry Preacher (Hampton University Ministers’ Conference), the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, the Festival of Homiletics, The Craft of Preaching, Yale University, and Duke Divinity School.      

In 2022, Dr. Lettsome was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College. She has been an invited lecturer and instructor for classes at Princeton Theological, Payne Theological, and United Lutheran seminaries as well as national conferences and denominational meetings. Dr. Lettsome is also a published author in the fields of homiletics, biblical studies, womanist biblical interpretation, and Christian spirituality. Her first publication, Call and Consequences: A Womanist Reading of Mark’s Gospel was the first womanist Biblical interpretation monograph to be published. Her latest publication, Breakthrough You! 30 Daily Devotions to Move You Forward, was a #1 New Release in Religion & Spirituality Short Reads on Amazon.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (Yale University) and a Master of Divinity (Princeton Theological Seminary), The Reverend Raquel S. Lettsome became the first  African American to earn a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2005.

Rev. Raquel shares her life with her husband, the Rev. Lydell C. Lettsome, M.D., and their 2 children, Tiffany and Luke. 

Raquel S. Lettsome CV.pdf