From the President‘s Desk

Holy Week draws us into the deep drama of the Christian story—a story marked by triumph and hosannas on the one hand and betrayal, sorrow, and the long silence of Saturday on the other.  

As I sat in worship on Palm Sunday at Trinity Church here in Princeton, the Reverend Paul Jeanes III reminded us of something all too easy to forget: though we know the Resurrection is coming, those who followed Jesus did not. After the procession and palm branches came confusion, confrontation, and the Cross. That is life. Even when we do not know what the future holds, we must trust in the One whose extraordinary love holds us—and our world—together. 

That message feels especially urgent in a time marked by cultural upheaval, civic instability, and increasing cultural anxiety.

At Princeton Seminary, we will not shrink back. We remain steadfast in our mission. We continue to expand the table of access and opportunity—from Minnesota to Myanmar, Atlanta to Accra—with the conviction that ecumenical, broad-based theological education is the lifeblood of a robust and healthy society.  

We were honored to welcome Professor Choon-Leong Seow back in March to deliver the distinguished Stone Lectures. Though now a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt, Professor Seow served on our faculty for more than three decades, shaping generations with his signature blend of intellectual rigor, poetic sensibility, and pastoral generosity. His five-part lecture series, “Consequences of the Whirlwind Discourses in Job,” engaged questions of suffering and evil through Scripture, music, visual art, and interfaith interpretation. As these lectures are posted to YouTube, I encourage you to watch and reflect. They are a gift. 

We also hosted the Sixth World Christianity Conference, a key feature of our distinct value proposition at Princeton Seminary. The theme—Migration, Diaspora, and Transnationalism in World Christianity—could not be more timely. Under the leadership of Professors Afe Adogame and Raimundo Barreto and the wonderful work of Dr. Soojin Chung and the Overseas Ministries Study Center, this convening reminded us that theological education must engage the fullness of the global church—its histories, traditions, tensions, and hope. Our student body, visiting fellows, and international partnerships enrich our learning community by transforming how Princeton Seminary views itself and our role in the world.   

In early April, we gathered with the broader Princeton community for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture, which featured Harvard Professor Brandon M. Terry. His lecture, drawn from his forthcoming book Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope, examined the Civil Rights Movement as a project of holy aspiration and heartbreaking disappointment. In a post-lecture conversation with Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. of Princeton University, Professor Terry urged us not to sentimentalize Dr. King’s legacy but to study and steward it with moral seriousness. This year, we proudly partnered with the Princeton Public Library to host the event downtown—an intentional decision to stand with institutions that defend intellectual freedom and resist the tides of censorship, historical revisionism, and anti-intellectualism. 

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In that spirit, I invite you to a special day of events on Monday, April 21st. 

At noon, we will host “Stories That Shape Us: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future,” a luncheon and storytelling workshop honoring Shirley Satterfield, local historian and civil rights advocate. The workshop, led by filmmaker Purcell Carson and historian Mélena Laudig, Assistant Professor of African American Christianity at Princeton Seminary, will explore how narrative shapes identity and justice. 

That evening at 5 p.m., we will gather in the Theron Room inside the Theodore Sedgwick Wright Library for the 2025 Prathia Hall Lecture featuring historian Danielle McGuire, author of At the Dark End of the Street. Her lecture, “The Radical Roots of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Its Lessons for Today,” will be followed by a conversation with Professor Keri Day, continuing our tradition of robust exchange with our guest lecturers. This lecture will also be livestreamed online.

RSVP to attend the Prathia Hall lecture

Princeton Seminary Matters! 

During uncertain times, when many are anxious or feel unseen in a world swirling with political volatility and cultural fear, I want you to know that your work matters. Your ministry matters. Your teaching, preaching, writing, and wrestling with the questions of God and neighbor—it all matters. 

Sin and evil are real. But they are not sovereign. 

Here at Princeton Seminary, we are forming leaders who will face the brokenness of the world with piety and competence, scholarship and compassion, moral integrity and joy. We are preparing people to preach good news in hard places and through difficult, uncertain times. And while we will not profess to have all the answers at Princeton Seminary, we can profess with clarity what we believe.    

At Princeton Seminary, we affirm: 

• The virtue of diversity as a strength that enriches—not threatens—the body of Christ and the task of theological education.  
• The sacred value of academic freedom, without which theological inquiry cannot flourish. 
• And the conviction that the Gospel not only commands us to care for the stranger, but to challenge the very systems that make people strange in the first place. 

Our institutional commitments do not change with the cultural winds. They are rooted in Scripture and nourished by the Spirit. And they are made visible every time this community gathers—in classrooms, in chapel, at table, and in public witness. 

So even if the world seems uncertain, we will continue to proclaim hosannas before a different example of power. We will continue to place our hope in a Gospel that reminds the world that the injustice of imperial crucifixion will not have the last word. That’s what Holy Week teaches us. And that’s what Resurrection Sunday declares. 

With hope, always— 

One Luv,

Jonathan Lee Walton, President

“The love of God and the love of humanity are one love”—Benjamin Elijah Mays