Stewart Clem (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is assistant professor of moral theology and director of the Ashley-O’Rourke Center for Health Ministry Leadership at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Oklahoma, he received BA and MA degrees in philosophy from Oklahoma State University. He and his wife, Molly, were confirmed at All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City in 2009. After discerning a call to the priesthood, he attended Duke Divinity School, where he earned an MDiv and Certificate in Anglican Studies. He was ordained to the priesthood in his home parish by the Rt. Rev. Edward Konieczny in 2013.
Stewart received his PhD in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2019. His primary research is in the area of moral theology and Christian ethics, and his interests include the thought of Thomas Aquinas, ancient and modern moral philosophy, medical ethics, and issues at the intersection of virtue theory, law, and public policy. His research in Anglican studies covers figures such as Richard Hooker, the Caroline Divines, and John Henry Newman, as well as 20th-century theologians such as Kenneth Kirk and E.L. Mascall. He has several projects currently in progress, including a monograph tentatively titled, Truth as a Virtue: A Thomistic Framework for the Ethics of Lying and Truthtelling. His scholarly articles have appeared in a number of journals such as New Blackfriars and Studies in Christian Ethics.
Stewart serves as priest associate at the Church of St. Michael and St. George (St. Louis, MO). He is a fellow of the Episcopal Church Foundation and frequently preaches and teaches in the parish.
Outside the church or university, you can find him spending time with his family, playing an assortment of stringed instruments, racing his bike on the velodrome, experimenting with a cocktail shaker in the kitchen, or rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
