Dr. Peter Claver Ajer joined Bexley Seabury Seminary in 2022 as Associate Professor of New Testament, bringing a scholarly focus that bridges biblical studies, ethics, and questions of peace, conflict, and social justice.

Peter has been a lecturer in New Testament Studies at Church Divinity School of the Pacific and part-time faculty at the University of San Francisco and Saint Mary’s College of California. He has taught Bible courses, both Old and New Testament, and Human Rights Ethics. 

Dr. Ajer earned his PhD in Biblical Studies, with an allied field in Peace and Conflict Studies, from the Graduate Theological Union. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and a BA of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Urbaniana University. His theological education also included significant study in moral theology and philosophical ethics, informing his interest in how faith and scholarship can contribute to more just and humane communities.

His scholarship centers on the New Testament, particularly the Gospel of John. He is the author of The Death of Jesus and the Politics of Place in the Gospel of John and is currently writing a second book, The Gathering Motif in the Fourth Gospel, which explores the gathering motif in the Fourth Gospel and the social construction of space in Paul’s letter to Philemon.

Born and raised in Uganda, Dr. Ajer's intellectual and vocational interests have been shaped by both the richness of Lango culture and his experience growing up during the wars in Northern Uganda. Those experiences contributed to his commitment to social justice and his decision to pursue peace and conflict studies alongside biblical studies.

Outside the classroom, Dr. Ajer enjoys playing the Adungu, an African harp originating among the Luo people of northern Uganda, and singing. A longtime soccer player, he competed while attending universities in both Uganda and Rome and continues to enjoy the game recreationally from his home in California.