The Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie is a minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). He has built regional and national interfaith coalitions to address critical issues, such as homelessness, healthcare, gun violence, climate change, and immigration reform, over a thirty-year career in ministry, activism, and higher education.
He most recently served as director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality, university chaplain, and assistant professor of religious studies at Pacific University. His academic work has focused on the intersection between theology and public policy. Pacific University granted Dr. Currie emeritus status as a Creighton Honoree in 2021.
Before joining Pacific University, Dr. Currie served as the long-term interim minister at Parkrose United Church of Christ in Portland, acting minister at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Salem, and senior minister at Sunnyside Church and University Park Church in Portland.
Dr. Currie spent 17 years working directly on homelessness and housing issues before entering the ministry. His work included overseeing redesigns of the Multnomah County and the City of Portland service delivery systems for single adults and youth. He was 18 when he joined the board of Burnside Community Council, which operated Baloney Joe's and the West Women's and Children's Shelter.
Dr. Currie also played a pivotal role in opening the Goose Hollow Family Shelter and, as a member of the board of directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless, advocated for successful federal law changes that led to new protections for students experiencing homelessness in the United States.
Dr. Currie writes frequent opinion pieces for national and local publications and often appears in the news for his work.
In addition to providing volunteer assistance to various local and state national public policy campaigns, Dr. Currie served as a surrogate for Obama for America (2008, 2012) on faith outreach and a surrogate for Correct the Record during the 2016 election cycle.
Dr. Currie earned a Master of Divinity degree at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis and a Doctor of Ministry degree, focused on public theology, at The Chicago Theological Seminary. In 2021, Eden Seminary conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree on Dr. Currie. In addition, the Chicago Theology Seminary presented Dr. Currie with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020.
Dr. Currie is married to Liz Smith Currie, a former Congressional aide and children's advocate who retired after over a decade as the senior policy advisor to the Multnomah County Chair. They have two children, Frances and Katherine, who are in college.
He worships at Ainsworth United Church of Christ in NE Portland.