Popular Searches
March 2025
With the lengthening of days brings fresh opportunities for renewal, reflection, and reconnection! The season beckons us from our hibernating hiding places—an important reminder at this particular moment.
In a recent article in The Atlantic entitled “The Anti-Social Century,” Derek Thompson highlights a concerning shift towards solitary lifestyles in America. Thompson notes that we’ve increasingly chosen screens over shared experiences—food delivery services instead of dining with friends, streaming movies at home rather than gathering at theaters, and endless scrolling through social media in place of interpersonal interactions.
Challenging this trend, The Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, the 133rd Bishop of London, reminds us in her book Rooted in Love: Lent Reflections on Life in Christ that spiritual growth, particularly during Lent, is not an individual pursuit. We should not embrace Lent as an individualized, herculean demonstration of our willpower. Instead, God encourages us to harness the wisdom and grace of the faith that we can only develop through robust engagement with other siblings in Christ.
At Princeton Seminary, as we continue to grow our digital and hybrid learning initiatives, we remain committed to curating meaningful encounters that ensure community and connection remain central.
Lent invites us into deeper reflection, renewal, and active engagement. It calls us from isolation into collaboration, encouraging us to embrace the enriching power of gathering together. At Princeton Seminary, we strive to offer flexible and accessible opportunities that enable us to learn, grow, and journey together in faith and scholarship. This commitment is our shared purpose and promise as an institution and learning community during Lent and beyond.
This semester has already been rich with learning experiences that reflect our commitment to embodying a community of belonging.
Liminality & Relational Wholeness with Carissa Dwiwardani from the 2025 Mental Health Conference
Phd Program Director Dr. Heath Carter and Bishop Karen Oliveto
“Let the Church Say Amen” featured alum William Nemon Heard (’04, ’05).
At the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton for a talkback on memory, ethics, and history with Professor Jill Dolan (Princeton University) and David Goldman (Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) following Moises Kaufman’s play, “Here There Are Blueberries.”
In January, the Center for Asian American Christianity hosted a hybrid conference titled “Navigating Transitions: Faith and Mental Health in the Asian American Experience.” This timely discussion addressed critical issues of spiritual care, moral responsibility, and communal resilience amid rapid social and generational changes.
The Office of PhD Studies, funded by a grant from the Wabash Foundation, facilitated a meaningful public dialogue titled “Are Bridges Still Worth Building?” Dr. Heath Carter, Associate Professor of American Christianity and Director of PhD Studies, interviewed United Methodist Bishop Karen Oliveto, a leader in building bridges across differences.
To launch Black History Month in February, the Association of Black Seminarians and the Seminary Chapel Office hosted “Let the Church Say, ‘Amen!’ Music of the African American Worship Experience.” Princeton Seminary alumnus William Nemon Heard (’04, ’05), accompanied by musicians Don Corey Washington and Mina Choi, led a vibrant and diverse assembly in an uplifting celebration.
We also hosted Yale University Professor Dr. Laura Nasrallah for the Reverend Alexander Thompson Memorial Lecture. Her illuminating lecture, “Speaking of Tongues: 1 Corinthians, an Amulet, and the Poetry of M. NourbeSe Philip,” beautifully explored the intersections of language, spirituality, and artistic expression from poets of the first century to the vamp of a contemporary Pentecostal organ.
From March 10-14, the World Christianity Conference will take place on our campus, focusing on “Migration, Diaspora, Transnationalism in World Christianity.”
On March 24-27, Dr. Choon-Leong Seow, Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt University, returns to Princeton Seminary, where he taught on the faculty for over three decades. Dr. Seow will deliver the Stone Lectures entitled “Consequences of the Whirlwind Discourses in the Book of Job.”
Professor Brandon Terry, the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, will present the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture on April 3. Terry is the co-editor of To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Harvard University Press, 2018) and the editor of Fifty Years Since MLK (Boston Review/MIT 2018). The lecture will conclude with a public conversation between Professor Brandon Terry and Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University. This event will take place in collaboration with the Princeton Public Library and our friends at Labyrinth Books on Nassau Street.
The Prathia Hall Lecture on April 21 will feature award-winning historian Professor Danielle McGuire, author of At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance-a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power (Knopf). Professor McGuire will speak on “The Radical Roots of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and its Lessons for Today.” Professor Keri L. Day, the Elmer G. Homrighausen Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion will interview Professor McGuire at the conclusion of her lecture.
From April 29 to May 2, join us as we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Institute for Youth Ministry at the Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry. This Forum will feature dynamic workshops, insightful lectures, and celebrations commemorating three decades of transformative ministry. Speakers and workshop leaders include Professor Andrew Root, the Carrie Olson Baalson Chair of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary; Professor Nate Stucky, Director of the Farminary at Princeton Seminary; and the Reverend Darlene Hutto, the Director of Experience Design for the Forum for Theological Exploration.
At Princeton Seminary, we find joy in expanding our table of access. By partnering with local institutions such as McCarter Theatre, the Princeton Public Library, Labyrinth Books, and our colleagues at Princeton University, we seek to curate memorable and meaningful learning experiences for students and all who are learners for life. These partnerships enrich the fabric of our community, offering opportunities to gather, reflect, and grow together. In this season of lengthening days, may we also extend our networks—deepening our bonds of faith and love as we journey together toward renewal.
With Lenten blessings…
One Luv,
Jonathan Lee Walton, President
“The love of God and the love of humanity are one love”—Benjamin Elijah Mays
I am always delighted to share a few books and articles that I’ve read recently and found thought-provoking.
