In Memoriam: Sonia Elaine Waters, 1972-2023

Sonia Elaine Waters, an associate professor of pastoral theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary, died late last month. He was 51 years old.

A native of Cuckfield, England, Waters immigrated to the United States when she was two years old. She earned her undergraduate degree in literature with a minor in gender studies from Wheaton College. She held a master of divinity degree from The General Seminary of the Episcopal Church, and a Ph.D. in pastoral theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Dr. Waters served as an Episcopal priest at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights, New Tork, Christ Church in Budd Lake, New Jersey, and Trinity Church in Princeton. She committed herself to feminist advocacy work, focusing on the prevention of violence against women and serving as a crisis counselor and shelter advocate.

In 2014, Dr. Waters joined the Princeton Theological Seminary faculty. Her research interests included addictions, contextual pastoral theology, relational perspectives on the self, socioeconomics and mental health, and creativity. Dr. Waters was the author of Addiction and Pastoral Care (Eerdmans Publishing, 2019).