Reunion Highlights

*The Edwin H. Rian Alumni Lecture is made possible by gifts to the Edwin H. Rian Alumni Lecture Fund. The lecture is given annually at Alumni Reunion. Edwin H. Rian, BD ‘27, served as assistant to Princeton Theological Seminary’s President, James McCord, from 1967 – 1979. Rian’s earlier career included serving as assistant pastor of New Jersey’s Westfield Presbyterian Church and in higher education administration at institutions such as Westminster Theological Seminary, Christian University Association, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Beaver College in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, Jamestown College in Jamestown, ND, Biblical Seminary, and the Institute for Educational Planning.

ALUMNI LUNCHEON AND AWARD PRESENTATION

Join fellow alumni to honor the accomplishments and contributions of the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus, Dr. Richard Grounds and the Alumni Council Service Award recipients, Dr. Erin Raffety and Dr. Teddy Reeves. You will meet and celebrate this year’s awardees as President Walton presents the awards at this lunchtime gathering.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT AND SEMINARS

Reunion attendees will engage with Princeton Seminary professors at the Faculty Spotlight plenary session and following seminars. Come see what it’s like to be back in the classroom again. This year you will hear from five of our current faculty:

Dr. Kenneth Appold, the James Hastings Nichols Professor of Reformation History
Title: “Lessons from the German Peasant Revolts of 1525”
Description: The German peasant revolts of 1525 marked a turning point in the Reformation, typically described as the moment the Reformers “lost the people” and became a movement carried by educated urban elites. This seminar looks at those events and discusses their long-term implications for mainline Protestantism today, ending with the question: how do we reach the people we have “lost”?

Dr. Keri Day, the Elmer G. Homrighausen Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion

Dr. Mary Farag, Associate Professor of Early Christian Studies 
Title: A Curious History of Pentecost
Description: This seminar explores an under-articulated scene in the history of the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 out of which North American Pentecostalism emerged. We examine World Fairs at the start of the twentieth century and their explicit appropriation of the Pentecost narrative to justify hyper-capitalist logic and colonial practices. The Azusa street revival can be partially interpreted as a Christian movement that confronts and critiques this malformed, market driven, and racially exploitative appropriation of Pentecost. Drawing on Azusa’s ecclesial life, participants are invited to reflect on how a church’s liturgical and social practices might serve as a response to unjust racial-capitalist formations today.

Dr. Elaine James, Associate Professor Old Testament 
Title: Ecclesiastes and Women’s Arts: Aesthetics of the Everyday
Description: There are few traces of women’s arts from the biblical world. What they made is ephemeral, it leaves no trace: food, music, fabric, even children. Ecclesiastes contains reflections on this exact fact, and offers a pathway for embracing ephemerality in our lives.

Dr. Mark Taylor, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Theology and Culture
Title: Christians, U.S. Empire, & Genocide in Gaza
“My brief talk will broach key questions about how Christians might think and act to resist the current ongoing genocide by U.S.-backed Israel in Gaza. Focal Question for the seminar: What are the key beliefs that can motivate a Christian “counter-imperial faith” for resisting today’s genocidal violence in Gaza?”

Dr. Gorgon Mikoski, Associate Professor Christian Education with Marcell Sass, Professor for Pracitcal Theology and Religious Education at Phillipps-University Marburg, Germany.
Title: Sailing the 7 Cs of Innovation: Pastoral and Pedagogical Leadership in the Digital Age
What uniquely human mindsets and skills do Christian pastors, teachers, and leaders need in the Age of AI? As self-teaching algorithms and large language models of AI strengthen, many aspects of traditional Christian leadership will change dramatically in the next several years. The coming redivision of labor for ministry will clarify the central importance of seven crucially important things that only humans can provide.

ALL CAMPUS PICNIC LUNCH ON THE QUAD

Reunion will conclude with an all-campus lunch on the Quad. Enjoy a meal with alumni, staff, current students, and faculty.

WALKING SIGHTSEEING TOUR IN PRINCETON 

For 17 years running, The Princeton Tour Company’s signature public walking tour has been the #1 Princeton attraction on TripAdvisor. Impressive, right? The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post have all written about it. Spoiler alert… they all say it’s awesome! 

When it comes to legendary movers and shakers, the town of Princeton has an embarrassment of riches. Yet we never shy away from bragging about them non-stop during our most popular and comprehensive guided tour. On this picturesque 3-mile active and upbeat walk, you’ll learn the fascinating history of Princeton University while taking in all the must-see campus sites, including Nassau Hall, Princeton Chapel, Prospect Garden, Blair Hall and Rockefeller College. Outside the gates, we’ll head to Princeton Theological Seminary to visit the homes and hangouts of Archibald Alexander, Albert Einstein, F Scott Fitzgerald, TS Eliot, Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, Robert Wood Johnson and even ‘80’s icon, Brooke Shields, just to name a few! Whether you like to curl up with a history book or an US Weekly, this tour has something for everyone. 

Led by Mimi Omiecinski, founder of The Princeton Tour Company, this tour begins at the intersection of 1 Palmer Square East and Nassau Street (in front of J. Crew) and ends in the heart of downtown close to all our favorite restaurants, pubs, cafes and ice cream shops! (Remember, this is a colonial town so expect to go up and down steps, tackle a hill or two and cover a 3-mile route within 2 hours.)