Peter W. Marty serves as editor/publisher of The Christian Century, a journal devoted to shaping America’s conversation about religion and faith in public life. He writes a monthly column for the Century. He is also a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) who spent 39 years in parish ministry, the last 28 of which as senior pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, a 3500-member congregation in Davenport, Iowa.

A frequent preacher and speaker at churches and conferences across the country, Marty has written hundreds of articles related to culture, character, and faith issues in our day. He is the author of The Anatomy of Grace (Augsburg Fortress, 2008). From 2004-2009, he served as host of the national radio broadcast, Grace Matters.

In 2010, the Academy of Parish Clergy named him “Parish Pastor of the Year,” an award recognizing leadership excellence and faithfulness in congregational development.

Peter has preached in some of America’s more notable pulpits including Washington National Cathedral, Duke Chapel, and Yale University. From 2010 to 2016 he served as the lead columnist for The Lutheran magazine. He is the recipient of Yale Divinity School’s Alumni Award for Distinction in Congregational Ministry (2022), and was the visiting Hoskins Fellow at Yale in 2009.

Peter Marty has served on various hospital, college, foundation, and community boards. He has served as narrator for different faith broadcast documentaries. Marty is a one-time fellow of the Fund for Theological Education, past member of the Louisville Institute’s Pastor’s Working Group, and a former participant in the Duke Project for the Study of Ministry.

He is a graduate of The Colorado College and Yale Divinity School, and was the recipient of an honors fellowship in history for study at Oxford University.

Peter W. Marty has piloted interfaith dialogue events, been active in anti-hate group efforts, and served on different ecumenical ministry boards. For 18 years at St. Paul Lutheran Church, he led a pastoral residency program designed to foster pastoral excellence in new pastors, a program funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc.

He is the recipient of three honorary doctorates. Peter is married to Susan, and they have two adult children with families in Colorado.