Princeton Theological Seminary

Virtual Open House: Learn More About Worship and Spiritual Life at Princeton Seminary
2021-03-11 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Virtual Open House: Learn More About Worship and Spiritual Life at Princeton Seminary”

Seminary is an academic journey and a spiritual one as well. It is a journey of the head, but it is also a journey of the heart and soul. One of the ways we seek to nurture the heart and soul is through our daily chapel services. When classes are in session, we gather for worship Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. Services are led by the president, faculty, administrators, and graduating students. The style and feel of these services are different every day as we encourage our worship leaders to bring their faith traditions and cultural experiences to the service. It creates a rich diversity in the worship life of our community.
You are invited to learn more about worship life at Princeton Theological Seminary and meet members of the Chapel Office team, who will share in conversation with you.
Join us March 11 to learn more about worship and spiritual life at Princeton Seminary.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About Field Education at Princeton Seminary
2021-03-04 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About Field Education at Princeton Seminary”
Field education connects the classroom and the church, integrating academic learning with the practice of ministry. In supervised ministry settings in churches, hospitals, and social service agencies in rural, urban, suburban, and international settings, students practice acts of ministry and reflect on those actions. They test their call, gain self-awareness, develop relationships, and acquire pastoral and leadership skills. The Office of Field Education is committed to providing cross-cultural, diverse, racial-ethnic, and international sites for ministry.”
Join Rev. Catherine Davis, interim director of vocational and field education, and Rev. Jennie Salas, associate director of field education, to learn more about the importance of field education at Princeton Seminary on March 4.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
Register Now

World Christianity Virtual Conference
2021-03-03 12:00 - 2021-03-06 12:00
The third international, interdisciplinary virtual conference organized by The World Christianity & History of Religions Program (Department of History & Ecumenics)

Recent decades mark a significant watershed in the study of world Christianity as an emerging field, its development into an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary endeavor in particular. Reflection on the complexity of Christianity as a pluricultural, global phenomenon has become robust. Framed loosely in terms of the seminal insights of Dale Irvin, who conceptualizes the study of world Christianity as a crossing of three borders — borders of culture, borders of confession, and borders of religion — our first two conferences (in 2018 and 2019) focused on historiography and ethnography, leaving other religions as the last of three major subfields still to be examined. This March, the World Christianity Virtual Conference will explore Christianity’s interactions with other faiths.
Delving into the premise that Christianity never emerges cross-culturally from a vacuum but always reciprocally in a variety of global contexts already conditioned by preexisting religions (whether African, Amerindian, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, or Islamic, to mention but a few of the myriad possibilities), the conference seeks to reflect on the state of the field, critique past practices, and explore innovative approaches that push the edge on world Christianity scholarship. For attendees and speakers alike, the conference provides an interdisciplinary space for intellectual encounter and exchange.
ConvenersAfe Adogame, professor of religion and societyRaimundo Barreto, associate professor of world ChristianityRichard F. Young, associate professor of the history of religions

Program Highlights
The 2021 keynote speakers for the World Christianity Virtual Conference are Professor Emeritus Andrew F. Walls of The University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Professor Shobana Shankar of Stony Brook University in the United States.

Shobana Shankar

Andrew F. Walls

This year’s conference will include panels and presentations addressing a diverse range of topics. Panels include “Andrew F. Walls and the Making of World Christianity” and “Ogbu U. Kalu and the Shaping of World Christianity.” Individual paper presentations include:

“Incurably Religious? Coming Out Atheist in ‘Africa’s Religious Mecca’”
“Constructing Islam in German East Africa: Missionary Perspectives and a Misalignment of Discourses”
“Multiple Religious Believing Without Multiple Religious Belonging?: Buddhist, Hindu, and Traditional Cosmology in Cambodian Christianity”
“Protestant Christian Publishing for Muslims in Late Qing and Early Republican China”
“The Middle East and the Margins of World Christianity: Interreligious Case Studies From Palestine”
“Becoming Jewish, Believing in Jesus? The Case of the ‘Judaizing Evangelicals’ in Brazil”
“’The Truth Will Set You Free’: Christianity, Politics, and Ideological Discourse in Contemporary Brazil”
“Sustained by the Spirit: West African Religious Cosmologies and Practices, Afro-Jamaica Religions and the Making of a People”

Conference Details
REGISTRATION
Conference registration will end on February 15, 2021 (deadline extended).
Register
FEES

$40.00 (faculty based in USA, Canada, and Europe)
$25.00 (faculty based in the Global South, graduate students/retirees)

Resources from Past Conferences

2021 – VIRTUAL

Conference Program Book (pdf)
Video of Keynote Lectures and Panel
Event Recap
Conference Report by Ruth Amwe, Byung Ho Choi,and Sun Afia Kim (pdf)

2020 – CANCELLED
2019

Conference Program Book (pdf)
Video of Keynote Lectures and Panel
Audio of Keynote Lectures and Panel
Photo Gallery
Event Recap
Conference Report by Shalon Park, PhD Candidate (pdf)

2018

Conference Program Book (pdf)
Video of Keynote Addresses
Audio of Keynote Addresses
Photo Gallery
Conference Report by Briana Wong (pdf)
Conference Reflections by Dr. Jason Bruner

World Christianity Virtual Conference 2021
2021-03-03 00:00 - 2021-03-06 23:59
The third international, interdisciplinary virtual conference organized by The World Christianity & History of Religions Program (Department of History & Ecumenics)

Recent decades mark a significant watershed in the study of world Christianity as an emerging field, its development into an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary endeavor in particular. Reflection on the complexity of Christianity as a pluricultural, global phenomenon has become robust. Framed loosely in terms of the seminal insights of Dale Irvin, who conceptualizes the study of world Christianity as a crossing of three borders — borders of culture, borders of confession, and borders of religion — our first two conferences (in 2018 and 2019) focused on historiography and ethnography, leaving other religions as the last of three major subfields still to be examined. This March, the World Christianity Virtual Conference will explore Christianity’s interactions with other faiths.
Delving into the premise that Christianity never emerges cross-culturally from a vacuum but always reciprocally in a variety of global contexts already conditioned by preexisting religions (whether African, Amerindian, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, or Islamic, to mention but a few of the myriad possibilities), the conference seeks to reflect on the state of the field, critique past practices, and explore innovative approaches that push the edge on world Christianity scholarship. For attendees and speakers alike, the conference provides an interdisciplinary space for intellectual encounter and exchange.
ConvenersAfe Adogame, professor of religion and societyRaimundo Barreto, associate professor of world ChristianityRichard F. Young, associate professor of the history of religions

Program Highlights
The 2021 keynote speakers for the World Christianity Virtual Conference are Professor Emeritus Andrew F. Walls of The University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Professor Shobana Shankar of Stony Brook University in the United States.

Shobana Shankar

Andrew F. Walls

This year’s conference will include panels and presentations addressing a diverse range of topics. Panels include “Andrew F. Walls and the Making of World Christianity” and “Ogbu U. Kalu and the Shaping of World Christianity.” Individual paper presentations include:

“Incurably Religious? Coming Out Atheist in ‘Africa’s Religious Mecca’”
“Constructing Islam in German East Africa: Missionary Perspectives and a Misalignment of Discourses”
“Multiple Religious Believing Without Multiple Religious Belonging?: Buddhist, Hindu, and Traditional Cosmology in Cambodian Christianity”
“Protestant Christian Publishing for Muslims in Late Qing and Early Republican China”
“The Middle East and the Margins of World Christianity: Interreligious Case Studies From Palestine”
“Becoming Jewish, Believing in Jesus? The Case of the ‘Judaizing Evangelicals’ in Brazil”
“’The Truth Will Set You Free’: Christianity, Politics, and Ideological Discourse in Contemporary Brazil”
“Sustained by the Spirit: West African Religious Cosmologies and Practices, Afro-Jamaica Religions and the Making of a People”

Conference Details
Registration
Conference registration will end on February 15, 2021 (deadline extended).

Register
Fees

$40.00 (faculty based in USA, Canada, and Europe)
$25.00 (faculty based in the Global South, graduate students/retirees)

Resources from Past Conferences

2020 – Cancelled
2019

Conference Program Book (pdf)
Video of Keynote Lectures and Panel
Audio of Keynote Lectures and Panel
Photo Gallery
Event Recap
Conference Report by Shalon Park, PhD Candidate (pdf)

2018

Conference Program Book (pdf)
Video of Keynote Addresses
Audio of Keynote Addresses
Photo Gallery
Conference Report by Briana Wong (pdf)
Conference Reflections by Dr. Jason Bruner

World Christianity Virtual Conference
2021-03-03 - 2021-03-06
The third international, interdisciplinary virtual conference organized by The World Christianity & History of Religions Program (Department of History & Ecumenics)
Recent decades mark a significant watershed in the study of world Christianity as an emerging field, its development into an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary endeavor in particular. Reflection on the complexity of Christianity as a pluricultural, global phenomenon has become robust. Framed loosely in terms of the seminal insights of Dale Irvin, who conceptualizes the study of world Christianity as a crossing of three borders — borders of culture, borders of confession, and borders of religion — our first two conferences (in 2018 and 2019) focused on historiography and ethnography, leaving other religions as the last of three major subfields still to be examined. This March, the World Christianity Virtual Conference will explore Christianity’s interactions with other faiths.
Delving into the premise that Christianity never emerges cross-culturally from a vacuum but always reciprocally in a variety of global contexts already conditioned by preexisting religions (whether African, Amerindian, Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, or Islamic, to mention but a few of the myriad possibilities), the conference seeks to reflect on the state of the field, critique past practices, and explore innovative approaches that push the edge on world Christianity scholarship. For attendees and speakers alike, the conference provides an interdisciplinary space for intellectual encounter and exchange.
Conveners
Afe Adogame, professor of religion and society
Raimundo Barreto, associate professor of world Christianity
Richard F. Young, associate professor of the history of religions
Program Highlights
The 2021 keynote speakers for the World Christianity Virtual Conference are Professor Emeritus Andrew F. Walls of The University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Professor Shobana Shankar of Stony Brook University in the United States.

Shobana Shankar
Andrew F. Walls

This year’s conference will include panels and presentations addressing a diverse range of topics. Panels include “Andrew F. Walls and the Making of World Christianity” and “Ogbu U. Kalu and the Shaping of World Christianity.” Individual paper presentations include:

“Incurably Religious? Coming Out Atheist in ‘Africa’s Religious Mecca’”
“Constructing Islam in German East Africa: Missionary Perspectives and a Misalignment of Discourses”
“Multiple Religious Believing Without Multiple Religious Belonging?: Buddhist, Hindu, and Traditional Cosmology in Cambodian Christianity”
“Protestant Christian Publishing for Muslims in Late Qing and Early Republican China”
“The Middle East and the Margins of World Christianity: Interreligious Case Studies From Palestine”
“Becoming Jewish, Believing in Jesus? The Case of the ‘Judaizing Evangelicals’ in Brazil”
“’The Truth Will Set You Free’: Christianity, Politics, and Ideological Discourse in Contemporary Brazil”
“Sustained by the Spirit: West African Religious Cosmologies and Practices, Afro-Jamaica Religions and the Making of a People”

Conference Details
REGISTRATION
Conference registration will end on February 15, 2021 (deadline extended).
Register
FEES

$40.00 (faculty based in USA, Canada, and Europe)
$25.00 (faculty based in the Global South, graduate students/retirees)

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture Featuring Dr. Marc Lamont Hill
2021-03-01 19:00 - 20:30
Princeton Theological Seminary welcomes Dr. Marc Lamont Hill to deliver The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. Hill’s lecture is titled “The Power of Protest: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter.”
Given the mass protest movements that spawned from Breonna Taylor and George Floyd’s killings last summer, where do we go from here in terms of working toward living in a society free of oppressive systems and forces that continue to kill and deprive resources of marginalized communities everywhere?
This lecture is presented by the Association of Black Seminarians. It will be livestreamed online via the link below.

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country.
He is currently the host of BET News and a political contributor for CNN. An award-winning journalist, Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Hill is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Prior to that, he held positions at Columbia University and Morehouse College.
Since his days as a youth in Philadelphia, Hill has been a social justice activist and organizer. He is a founding board member of My5th, a nonprofit organization devoted to educating youth about their legal rights and responsibilities. He is also a board member and organizer of the Philadelphia Student Union. Hill also works closely with the ACLU Drug Reform Project, focusing on drug informant policy. Over the past few years, he has actively worked on campaigns to end the death penalty and to release numerous political prisoners.
Ebony Magazine has named him one of America’s 100 most influential Black leaders.
Hill is the author or co-author of six books: the award-winning Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity; The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black life in America; Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on The Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond; Gentrifier; We Still Here: Pandemic, Policing, Protest, and Possibility; and Except For Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics. He has also published two edited books: Media, Learning, and Sites of Possibility; and Schooling Hip-Hop: New Directions in Hip-Hop Based Education.
Trained as an anthropologist of education, Hill holds a PhD (with distinction) from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the intersections between culture, politics, and education in the United States and the Middle East. For more information, visit https://www.marclamonthill.com.

Livestream

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
2021-02-25 19:00 - 20:00
The Center for Black Church Studies hosts a panel reflection on the two-part PBS series,The Black Church: This Is Our Story: This Is Our Song. This moving four-hour, two-part series traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage.
Note: Please watch the film on your local PBS affiliate channel or online at The Black Church | PBS. The film premieres on Tuesday, February 16 and Tuesday, February 17 at 9 p.m. EST.

Panelists

Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce is professor and dean of the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC. She is the first woman to be appointed as dean in the divinity school’s 150-year history. In 2016, Pierce served as the founding director of the Center for African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Previously, she served as the founding director of the Center for Black Church Studies and associate professor of religion and literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. Pierce holds degrees from Cornell University and Princeton University.
In addition to her teaching and academic scholarship, Pierce is a dedicated mentor, community activist, board member of a foster care agency, and cable news commentator. She maintains a public intellectual presence through her blogs and frequent appearances on television and radio. She believes that teaching and scholarship are meaningful only if they truly enhance people’s daily lives, thus she works tirelessly to bridge the gaps between pulpit, pew, and academy. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc., and a native New Yorker, Pierce was raised in the Church of God in Christ and still maintains a close connection to her Pentecostal roots.
For more information, please visit Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce’s website.

Anthony B. Pinn received his PhD from Harvard University in 1994. Other degrees include the BA from Columbia University, the MDiv and MA, both from Harvard, and an honorary doctorate degree from Meadville-Lombard Theological School. Pinn began his teaching career at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota), where his research and teaching earned him early tenure and promotion to full professor within the first eight years of his career. In 2003, Pinn accepted an offer from Rice University (Houston, Texas), becoming the first African American to hold an endowed chair at Rice University. After an additional semester at Macalester and a semester at Williams College as the Sterling Brown 1922 Visiting Professor, Pinn joined the Rice faculty as the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. While at Rice, Pinn founded and directed the Houston Enriches Rice Education (HERE) project (2007-2012). During the summer of 2012, Pinn received approval to transform the HERE Project into the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning. This center is a part of the Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Pinn also founded and directs the doctoral concentration in the study of African American Religion at Rice. Outside Rice, Pinn has served as the first executive director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and he also served on the Meadville Lombard Theological School Board of Trustees (2007-2012). In addition, he has served in various roles on the board of directors and the executive committee of the American Academy of Religion. He is also the director of research for the Institute for Humanist Studies Think Tank (Washington, DC).
Pinn made his initial mark on the academy with Why, Lord?: Suffering and Evil in Black Theology (1995), galvanizing Pinn as an African American humanist and solidifying African American humanism as a historic, non-theistic religious orientation for African Americans. In this text, Pinn finds that Black theologians have no evidence to support the notion that God is working on behalf of the oppressed, and any theological position that claims such is based on redemptive suffering theodicies that perpetuate African American suffering. For Pinn, human liberation is more important than the maintenance of any religious symbol, including God. Pinn offers African American humanism as a strategy for “liberation” that does not make Black suffering virtuous.
For more information, please visit Anthony Pinn Online.

Rev. Delman Coates is a graduate of Morehouse College (BA in religion, 1995), Harvard Divinity School (Master of Divinity, 1998), and Columbia University (Master of Philosophy in religion, 2002; PhD in New Testament and early Christianity, 2006).
Coates’ published articles include “And the Bible Says: Methodological Tyranny of Biblical Fundamentalism and Historical Criticism” in Blow the Trumpet in Zion (2004), “Towards a Progressive Christian Interpretive Praxis” in The African American Pulpit (2004), and “Origen of Alexandria” in Union Seminary Quarterly Review (vol. 59:3-4, 2005). Coates wrote a piece titled “The New Abolitionism: Monetary Reform and the Future of Civil Rights,” which is in the book Mr. President: Interfaith Perspectives on the Historic Presidency of Barack H. Obama (2017). Among his published sermons include “From Proclamation to Protest” (The African American Pulpit, July 2008) and “Race Still Matters” (TAAP, 2009).
Coates has served as the senior pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Maryland since 2004. During this time, the congregation has grown to 9,000 members. Coates has initiated and revitalized ministries, expanded the church’s ministry campus and land holdings, and incorporated the Mt. Ennon Development Corporation (MEDC). In October 2009, Outreach Magazine named Mt. Ennon as one of the 100 Fastest Growing Congregations in the U.S.
For more information, please visit No Limits with Pastor Delman (delmancoates.org).

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
Register Now

Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About Princeton Seminary's Dual Degree Programs
2021-02-25 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About Princeton Seminary’s Dual Degree Programs”
The MDiv/MACEF program is designed for students who at the time of application know they wish to emphasize teaching, youth, and young adult ministries, or spiritual formation and mission in their program. The studies are coordinated from the outset to integrate preparation for ministry in the church with a specialization in teaching, youth and young adult ministries, or spiritual formation and mission.
The Rutgers School of Social Work and Princeton Theological Seminary offer an accelerated program in social work and ministry leading to dual master of social work (MSW) and master of divinity (MDiv) degrees. The program is designed for students who expect to enter forms of ministry requiring competence in the disciplines of theology and social work. The joint MDiv/MSW program allows a student to complete both degrees in four years of full-time study.
Join us February 25 to learn more about Princeton Seminary’s dual degree programs.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Perspective, Violence, & Empathy in Literature
2021-02-18 19:00 - 20:30
Read the award-winning book The Power by Naomi Alderman ahead of time and then come to hear Dr. Maggie Elwell, PhD ’19, MDiv ’14, speak on how we read and respond to violence in literature. Also, sign yourself up for a breakout room with friends for discussion before a final Q&A with Dr. Elwell. The Power is widely available in print, electronic, and audiobook formats through local libraries. This event is open to current students and members of the Princeton Seminary campus community, alumni, and friends of the Seminary.
This event is sponsored by the Center for Theology, Women, and Gender of Princeton Theological Seminary.

There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
REGISTER

On Womanist Theology
2021-02-18 19:00 - 20:00
Join the Center for Black Church Studies as we examine the past, present, and future of womanist theology within theological scholarship and the Black church in the United States. Womanist theology is a religious conceptual framework which reconsiders and revises the traditions, practices, scriptures, and biblical interpretation with a special lens to empower and liberate African American women in America. The term “womanism” was coined by Alice Walker, who offered a definition of the word in her 1984 book In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Walker described a womanist as a “Black feminist or feminist of color” who is bold and assertive, relishes African American culture, and is committed to the flourishing of the entire African American community. In the 1980s African American scholars — Katie Cannon, Jacquelyn Grant, and Delores Williams — realized there was a need for a more inclusive theological and ethical framework concerning Black liberation theology.

Speakers

The Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman is dean and vice president of Academic Affairs, as well as associate professor of homiletics and Hebrew Bible, at Methodist Theological School of Ohio. She also is founding president and CEO of WomanPreach! Inc., the premiere nonprofit organization that brings preachers to full prophetic voice. She has been in licensed or ordained ministry since 1977.
Bridgeman earned her PhD in biblical studies (Hebrew Bible concentration) and secondary studies in ethics from Baylor University. She earned her Master of Divinity from Austin Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major of communication and religion from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
She is a peace activist and advocate for human rights, and was inducted into the 2010 class of Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars and Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. For more information about Bridgeman, visit WomanPreach.

The Rev. Melanie C. Jones is a womanist ethicist, millennial preacher, and intellectual activist. Jones joined the Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty as instructor of ethics, theology and culture and inaugural director of the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership in fall 2019. Formerly, Jones served as the 2018-19 Crump Visiting Professor and Black Religious Scholar-in-Residence at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, and lecturer at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas; American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee; Chicago Theological Seminary; and The Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois.
Jones’ research probes the scripting of the body in theology and philosophy that fosters religious, cultural, and moral meaning for the present with particular attention to Black women’s body politics. Jones engages womanist theological ethics and sacred texts, millennials and faith, and Black aesthetics and popular culture. For her distinguished research, Jones has received notable fellowships and scholarships, including The Forum for Theological Exploration, The Louisville Institute, Wabash Center, and Villanova University Center for Church Management.
Jones is a thinking woman of faith embodying radical love and revolutionary justice in the academy, church, and global community. She is co-curator of #MillennnialWomanism Digital Forum and co-founder of The Millennial Womanism Project (TMWP) — an enterprise committed to enhancing the well-being of Black millennial women of faith and justice and fostering trans-generational womanist dialogue. As a global leader serving professional societies and international boards, Jones is the chair of the board of directors of the Daughters of the African Atlantic Fund.
A third-generation ordained Baptist preacher and sought-after lecturer, Jones is an emerging millennial voice with noted academic and popular publications as well as features on television, radio, and news outlets. Follow Jones on her website.

The Rev. Dr. Monica A. Coleman is professor of Africana studies at the University of Delaware. She is also an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She works at the intersection of faith, culture, and social justice. She is the author or editor of six books, and several articles and book chapters that focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social and philosophical issues. Her book Making a Way Out of No Way: a Womanist Theology is required reading at colleges and universities around the United States. Her memoir Bipolar Faith: a Black Woman’s Journey with Depression and Faith received the Silver Illumination Award in 2017. Coleman is active in academic guilds, including the American Academy of Religion, the Society for the Study of Black Religion (SSBR), and the Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT). Coleman has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation, the Association for Theological Schools, and the Forum for Theological Exploration (formerly, the Fund for Theological Education). Coleman speaks widely on religion and sexuality, religious pluralism, churches and social media, mental health, and sexual and domestic violence.
In 2020, Professor Coleman was nominated and elected to the Program Committee of the American Academy of Religion (the world’s largest guild for the academic study of religion). She was also inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars. The American Academy of Religion Program Committee oversees the annual meeting program (over 10,000 attendees) — designing and reviewing the program structure, establishing categories and criteria for governing program units, and advising the executive director and the director of meetings on important programmatic aspects of the meeting. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars provides a creative learning environment where clergy and laity from diverse backgrounds, distinct faith traditions, and different generations come together as students of Dr. King’s philosophies to reflect on their personal calling, foster meaningful relationships with others who are answering their calling, and develop ideas and strategies for taking their calling to the world.

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There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Admissions Virtual Open House: A Conversation with Current Students
2021-02-18 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Admissions Virtual Open House: A Conversation with Current Students’

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There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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WIM on Wednesday Bible Study: "I See You, Sis"
2021-02-17 19:00 - 20:00
Sister, are you ready to effect change in your life — and your world — as a follower of Jesus?

A look at the stories of women from the Bible reveals that the issues they faced weren’t all that different from the heart issues with which women still wrestle today — being hidden or forgotten, trying to live up to an impossible ideal, struggling with difficult relationships, and waiting for God’s deliverance and favor. Now, come alongside both well-known and obscure women from the Bible to learn more about God’s plan to bless your own life!
Reverend Tisha Williams, a Brooklyn native, began serving as the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton in Bridgehampton, New York, in 2018 and is the creator of Who’s That Lady? Ministries, a global women’s ministry movement curated to inspire all women to live full, authentic, and passionate lives. As “Reverend Tish,” a gifted natural communicator, shares her heart, you will be encouraged by amazing biblical women who have a message for you, including:

Hannah, who discovered she had never been forgotten by the God who provides
Bathsheba, who went from a questionable past to a woman of virtue
Euodias and Syntyche, church leaders who were stuck in a seemingly hopeless conflict
Rahab, who waited for God’s deliverance from the place of the enemy
The daughters of Zelophehad, who boldly laid claim to their inheritance

Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking questions and suggested action steps to help you apply the timeless truths of these women’s stories to your life in the 21st century.
Are you ready to put aside the demons and difficulties of your past to embrace the victorious future and inheritance God intends? Read I See You, Sis to discover the lives of the women hiding in plain sight within the Bible — and be inspired to heroism in the story God has written especially for you!
This event is sponsored by the Women in Ministry (WIM) Initiative of Princeton Theological Seminary.

﻿Meeting Dates
WIM on Wednesday Bible study meets every third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. through June. Meeting dates in spring 2021 are:

January 20, 2021
February 17, 2021
March 17, 2021
April 21, 2021
May 19, 2021
June 16, 2021

If you would like to participate, send an email using the button below. A link to the Zoom meeting invitation will be sent to you!
EMAIL

Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About the New Curriculum at Princeton Theological Seminary
2021-02-11 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Admissions Virtual Open House: Learn More About the New Curriculum at Princeton Theological Seminary”
Last year, Princeton Theological Seminary approved a new curriculum that builds on a decades-long commitment to intellectual excellence to also emphasize emotional, social, and spiritual development. One of the notable changes is an emphasis on how students can enhance their communities with gospel-infused leadership. The result is a program truly dedicated to holistic formation.
Join our virtual open house session and hear from Dean Jacqueline Lapsley, dean and vice president of Academic Affairs and professor of Old Testament, and Dr. Shawn Oliver, senior associate academic dean.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Addressing Racism from the Pulpit
2021-02-08 00:00 - 2021-03-08 23:59
Course Description

When was the last time you preached about racism? When was the last time you heard a sermon that addressed racism? In a world where racism continues to evolve and wreak havoc on individual lives and whole communities, preachers need to name it as the sin that clings so closely. Join Dr. Carolyn Helsel, preaching professor and author of two books, Anxious to Talk about It  and Preaching about Racism, as she helps us unpack the challenges to preaching about racism and ways to tackle those challenges head on. Preaching about racism has never been easy, but this course will give you tools to make the task less daunting and give you the courage you need to address this important subject.

Who Should Enroll
This course is for preachers interested in exploring racism and how this difficult topic may be addressed in the preaching life of the church. Any curious Christian seeking deeper theological understanding and personal enrichment may take part in this online course but pastors are with regular preaching responsibilities are encouraged to enroll.

What to Expect
Learning community: You will be immersed with a community of learners. Just as you would in a traditional classroom, you will engage the course material with your peers, faculty, and teaching assistants.
Course platform: The inviting environment of the online course platform engages students in active learning. The weekly modules guide you, step by step, through videos, readings, written reflections, and peer discussions.
Book: Participants will need to have a copy of the primary text for the course, Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders, by Dr. Helsel.
Live sessions: Dr. Helsel will offer two 90 minute live online sessions as part of the course. The two live sessions with Dr. Helsel will take place 7:00–8:30 p.m. eastern time on Mondays, February 8 and March 8.
Time commitment: Complete course material on your own schedule while meeting weekly deadlines.  Teaching assistants follow your progress and respond weekly to your work in the learning path.  You will exchange ideas with peers in the discussion board.  Expect to spend 6–8 hours per week on course modules and the live sessions.
Instruction and review: Written course work is reviewed by the instructor and teaching assistant.  Dr. Helsel will engage with students in the online discussions.
Successful Completion and CEUs: Those who satisfactorily complete all steps of the three modules will receive a notice of completion and earn three Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

About the Instructor
Carolyn Browning Helsel obtained her MDiv and ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary. After completing her PhD at Emory, she joined the faculty of Austin Seminary in 2015. Prior to her appointment she was a transitional pastor for The Presbyterian Church in Sudbury (Massachusetts). She also served as visiting professor at both the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and Wartburg Theological Seminary. She was a teaching assistant for professors Tom Long, Teresa Fry Brown, and Luke Timothy Johnson; the title of her dissertation is “The Hermeneutics of Recognition: A Ricoeurian Interpretative Framework for Whites Preaching about Racism.”
Helsel was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and served as associate pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church (2005–2007) in San Antonio, Texas. While in Boston, she served on the Synod Work Group on Race for the Synod of the Northeast and on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry for Boston Presbytery.
Helsel is the author of Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders (Chalice Press, 2018) and Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Race (Chalice Press, 2018)

Fees and Registration
There is no cost for this course but registration is required.
Registration will close on February 1st at 11:59 p.m.

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A Conversation with White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor
2021-02-05 19:30 - 21:00
Join the Center for Black Church Studies as we speak with journalist Yamiche Alcindor. Alcindor is currently the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour. She also serves as a political journalist on NBC and MSNBC. Alcindor will join us to talk about her vocational work as a journalist and about covering the Trump White House and the tumultuous election and post-election crisis.

Guest Speaker

Yamiche Alcindor is the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour and a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC.
Before joining PBS NewsHour, she worked as a national political reporter for The New York Times where she covered presidential campaigns, Congress, and the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies on working class people and people of color.
Alcindor often tells stories about the intersection of race and politics as well as fatal police encounters. She’s also traveled extensively to closely cover the campaigns of Senator Bernie Sanders and Trump. Before joining The New York Times, she was a national breaking news reporter for USA Today and traveled across the country to cover stories including the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut; the death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida; and the police-related protests in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland.
She earned a master’s degree in broadcast news and documentary filmmaking from New York University and a bachelor’s in English, government, and African American studies from Georgetown University. A native of Miami, Florida, Alcindor is the daughter of Haitian immigrants who met while attending Boston College.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Admissions Virtual Open House: A Conversation with the Center for Black Church Studies
2021-02-04 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 60 minutes. See you soon!
This week: “Admissions Open House: A Conversation with the Center for Black Church Studies”
The Center for Black Church Studies endeavors to cultivate Black theological genius and inspire people to interweave their ministry and scholarly work into the historical tapestry of the Black church’s prophetic witness. Subsequently, critical reflection is for emancipatory action. Come and meet Rev. Kermit Moss, the interim director of the center and current students that will share their experiences of the center and of Princeton Seminary.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Virtual Open House: A Conversation with Housing
2021-01-28 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays for 45 minutes. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!
As a residential community of learning, students not only take classes together but share life together in a way that extends and deepens the educational experience. It is a crucial part of how we prepare students for ministry. This week, representatives from Housing and Student Administrative Services will discuss the various housing options offered at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Preaching in the Purple Church
2021-01-21 14:00 - 15:30
How do you preach faithfully to a purple congregation? Red vs. blue partisan tensions are also present in the pews of “purple churches,” both large and small, creating weekly angst for the preacher. The preacher in the purple church often feels like they are on a homiletical tightrope. They want to follow the text where it leads, or speak to a pressing contemporary issue, but are unsure of how to avoid falling into the trap of political divides and partisan echo chambers. Join these preachers in a conversation about faithful preaching in the purple church the day after the presidential inauguration.

Leaders

Patrick W. T. Johnson, PhD ’13, MDiv ’06, began his call to ministry at First Presbyterian Church Asheville, North Carolina on December 15, 2015. Johnson has served congregations in several states, including Virginia, California, and New Jersey, and is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Princeton Theological Seminary. Prior to being called to Asheville, he was a solo pastor for six years in New Jersey and adjunct faculty at Princeton Seminary. He is the author of numerous published articles and reviews, and the book The Mission of Preaching: Equipping the Community for Faithful Witness.
His spouse, Caitlin, is also a seminary graduate and candidate for ordination in the PC(USA). They live in North Asheville, with their four children, Isla, Luke, Claire, and Felicity. Johnson loves to spend time with his family outside, whether hiking the mountains or playing in the waves; and he enjoys any time spent in the woodshop.
At FPCA, Johnson focuses on worship and preaching, strategic direction, leadership and stewardship development, pastoral care, and community involvement.

Amy Miracle is the pastor at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio. A lifelong Presbyterian, she grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Princeton University. Following graduation, a Marshall Scholarship sent her to Northern Ireland where she received her Master of Social Sciences in Irish political studies from Queen’s University of Belfast. Upon returning to the United States, she earned her Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Before coming to Broad Street, Pastor Miracle served as associate pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado, and senior pastor and head of staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, Iowa.

Hardy Kim is head of staff at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale, California. In 1996 he received his bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and enrolled in law school at the University of Michigan until confirming his calling in ministry after serving a year as a Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer in Mission in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Kim received a Master of Divinity degree in 2007 from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.
In 2008, he completed a two-year program at Fourth Presbyterian Church as a Lilly Pastoral Resident and continued that ministry as Associate Pastor for Church Growth Ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta before returning to Fourth Church in 2011 to serve as Associate Pastor for Evangelism. He joined Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in 2017.

Registration
There is no cost for this event but registration is required.
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Virtual Open House: A Conversation with Alumni in Non-Traditional Ministries
2021-01-21 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives.
Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting.
Come and meet Princeton Seminary alumni that have vocations in various ministries that are beyond the church.

Virtual Open House: A Conversation with the Asian American Program
2021-01-14 18:00 - 19:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!
The Asian American Program seeks to equip and empower the next generation of Asian American leaders for service in church, society, and academy. You are invited to meet Dr. David C. Chao, the director of the newly expanded Asian American Program at Princeton Theological Seminary. He teaches courses on Asian American theology, organizes academic programming in Asian American theology and ministry, and mentors Asian and Asian American students. Come and hear more about the program and the student experience.

Black Church Traditions Related to Land, Food, and Racial Agency
2021-01-11 09:00 - 2021-01-15 12:00
The lack of racial diversity in some of the most widely known environmental movements often reveals glaring blind spots that frustrate sustainable progress on issues such as food security, conservation, and climate change. The “green ceiling” — as it’s called — can not only be found in White-led environmental organizations but in ecclesial and academic circles as well. As a result, we are often left ignorant, for example, about the robust legacies of African Americans and the Black church as it relates to land, food, and agricultural resistance to oppression. Through this lens, we will study people of faith such as Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, Rev. Vernon Johns, Elijah Muhammad, and more. We will center experiences found within various African American religious communities that engaged in land and food sovereignty projects as expressions of both their spiritual life and socio-political desires.
This online course will meet Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST and will include group sessions.

Course Leader

Community organizer, social entrepreneur, base builder, and network weaver are all words that describe the work and expertise of Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III, senior pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. For nearly two decades, Brown has been a catalyst for personal transformation and social change. In 2015 he launched the Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN), a multistate alliance of congregations working together to inspire health, wealth, and power in the Black community. The BCFSN accomplishes this by partnering with historically African American churches to establish gardens on church-owned land and cultivates partnerships with African American farmers to create a grassroots, community-led food system.
Brown’s dedication to service has been widely recognized. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Ella Baker Freedom Fighter Award and The Afro American Newspaper’s “25 Under 40 Emerging Black History Leaders” award. In 2011, Urbanite Magazine identified him as one of the “Change Makers of Baltimore City.” In 2013, he received a $10,000 Fellowship Award from The Beatitudes Society, which identified him as one of eight leading young progressive faith leaders in the country. In 2016, Grist.Org named him among innovators, organizers, and visionaries as one of “The 50 People You’ll Be Talking About This Year.” In 2018, Baltimore Magazine named him a Visionary of the City and the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights presented him with their Food Justice Award. In 2019, he received the coveted Emerging Leaders Award from the Claneil Foundation which brought with it a $250,000 investment in the work of the Black Church Food Security Network.
​He earned his BS degree in psychology from Morgan State University, a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Union University, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Tentative Schedule
Monday – Friday 9 am – noon
9 a.m. | Gathering
9:30 a.m. | Main Presentation
10:30 a.m. | Break
10:45 a.m. | Small Group Discussions
11:15 a.m. | Report Backs
11:45 a.m. | Closing Thoughts/Assignments
12 p.m. | Dismissal
Daily Focus
Monday: Introduction to Course
Tuesday: Father Divine and The Peace Movement
Wednesday: Rev. Vernon Johns
Thursday: Rev. Albert Cleage, Jr. and the Black Christian Nationalism
Friday: Current Models/Close

Registration
The fee for the course is $125 per person.
Registration closes on January 4, 2021.
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Virtual Open House: Tips on Applying
2021-01-07 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives.
Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting.
The admissions team looks forward to sharing some tips on applying and responding to any questions that you may have. We look forward to seeing you there.

Virtual Open House: A Conversation with the Hispanic Theological Initiative
2020-12-17 10:00 - 11:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!
This open house session will include representatives from the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI):

Joanne Rodriguez, executive director
Angela Schoepf, assistant director
João Chaves, assistant director for programming
Suzette Aloyo, office coordinator

An important part of HTI’s mission is to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of Latinx PhD students across the nation by uniting and leveraging institutional resources (human, financial, and infrastructural). Join us and find out more about The Hispanic Theological Initiative.

Virtual Open House: A Conversation with the Institute for Youth Ministry
2020-12-10 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!
This open house session will include representatives from the Institute for Youth Ministry:

Abigail Visco Rusert, director
Megan DeWald, associate director
Carmelle Beaugelin, program coordinator for the Log College Project

Virtual Open House: A Conversation with the Association of Black Seminarians
2020-12-03 13:00 - 14:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!
This open house session will include representatives from the Association of Black Seminarians (ABS):

Jalen Baker, moderator of ABS, MDiv senior
Al Curley, ABS Men’s Fellowship co-chair, MDiv senior
Tamesha Mills, vice moderator of ABS, MDiv middler
Kamaria Byrd, treasurer of ABS, MDiv middler
Lenmarie Pascall, ABS Women’s Fellowship co-chair, MDiv first year

Virtual Open House: Tips on Applying for Second Career Students
2020-11-19 18:00 - 19:00
You are invited to attend our virtual open house session to ask questions, learn more about Princeton Theological Seminary’s degree programs, and meet admissions representatives. Open house sessions are held on Thursdays. Register by clicking here to complete a simple registration form. When you submit your registration form, you will receive an email with instructions and a link to join the meeting. See you soon!

Theological Education in Prisons: The Incarceration Crisis and the Church
2020-11-19 15:00 - 16:15, 2020-11-18 15:00 - 16:15, 2020-11-17 15:00 - 16:15
Despite increasing public attention to our current mass incarceration crisis, roughly 2.3 million individuals are currently incarcerated in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers in the United States. The call for the church to care for those in prison is clear, but discerning the best course of action to fulfill this call is challenging.
Using frameworks of reform or frameworks of abolition, many civic organizations, educational institutions, and religious congregations have pursued varied responses to the crisis. Churches and church members may work to raise awareness, get involved in political organizing, or volunteer to visit or correspond with those in prison. There is also a growing movement in the church and its institutions to offer theological education in prisons as a response to this crisis.
Originally planned as a one-day conference on the seminary campus, Theological Education in Prisons: The Incarceration Crisis and the Church, is now being offered as a series of four online webinars. Presenters were selected through a call for papers process. Together, we will seek to identify and learn from current approaches to theological education in prisons to strengthen the church’s ministry with and pursuit of justice for those in prison.

I. Doing Theology in Prison: Academic Theology as Liberation and Resistance
Monday, November 16, 3–4:15 p.m. ESTPresenter: Jennifer McBride
This presentation examines the role academic theology programs in jails and prisons may play in the work of resisting the carceral system. Certificate and degree programs in theological studies, often sponsored by seminaries and divinity schools, are part of a larger national movement that sees higher education in prison as a vital resource in the work of advocacy and resistance. The presentation will briefly examine the role Christian education has played historically and today to bolster the prison and, in contrast, will outline four characteristics of programs that are in the service of liberation. While doing so, the presentation will lift up the voices of incarcerated students, sharing the theological insights of women matriculating through an academic theology certificate program in Georgia, which served as a model for a similar program created at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

Jennifer McBride is associate dean and assistant professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. McBride previously held the Board of Regents Endowed Chair in Ethics at Wartburg College in Iowa and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Initiative in Religious Practices and Practical Theology at Emory University. At Emory, she served as program director for the Atlanta Theological Association’s Certificate in Theological Studies at Metro State Prison for Women (2009-2011). She founded a similar program through McCormick at Cook County Department of Corrections and serves as the academic representative of McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative. She is a graduate of University of Virginia (PhD) and author of Radical Discipleship: A Liturgical Politics of the Gospel (Fortress Press, 2017). Her most recent essays include “Bonhoeffer’s Critique of Morality: A Theological Resource for Dismantling Mass Incarceration” in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance (2020). In addition to scholarly journals and anthologies, her work has appeared in popular publications like The Christian Century and CNN.com and has been featured in The New York Times.

II. A Model for Institutional Leadership as Servants of Solidarity: Liberative Carceral Education
Tuesday, November 17, 3–4:15 p.m. ESTPresenter: Jia Johnson
The research and praxis presented in this presentation seeks to answer the question: How might seminaries in the service of liberation theologies create programs of carceral education that intentionally mitigate the collateral consequences of incarceration? The presenter will offer a model for institutional leadership as servants of solidarity. This model is grounded in the notion that when seminary institutions in the service of liberatory theological education exercise their institutional agency and deploy their resources and networks beyond their academic institution, and directly serve marginalized communities, they create capacities to become institutions of solidarity-builders and justice-makers. Their institutional character embodies leadership as servants of solidarity.

Jia Johnson currently serves as program director for McCormick Theological Seminary’s Solidarity Building Initiative for Liberative Carceral Education at Cook County Jail. Integrating her corporate, entrepreneurial, and management skills with her commitment to public ministry and liberative pedagogy, Johnson serves as McCormick’s liaison and convener in co-creating learning communities and collaborations that tend to the whole of incarcerated learners and their communities. Johnson is a strategic consultant, collaborating with diverse populations, industries, and networks to identify creative solutions for justice-making and solidarity-building. She currently serves as a board member for Community Renewal Society.
Previously, she developed partnerships with formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs at Sunshine Enterprises and Pathway to Enterprise for Returning Citizens, and served as public ministry engagement coordinator for Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She served on the board for Off the Pews: Faith in Action and later transitioned to become the summer program director. Johnson holds a Master of Arts in public ministry with a concentration in racial justice from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Johnson became involved with McCormick’s program while pursuing her master’s degree. She chose McCormick’s Certificate in Theological Studies Program (the “Program”) at Cook County Department of Corrections (“CCDOC”) as her field site and co-taught the pilot course with Dr. Jenny McBride.

III. Where You Feel Like Yourself Again: Transformative Theological Education in Prison
Wednesday, November 18, 3–4:15 p.m. ESTPresenters: Elizabeth Bounds, Sarah Farmer, and Rachelle Renee Green
How does theological education in prison feel? Reflecting on the ten years of the Certificate in Theological Studies program at a women’s prison in Georgia, we explore the theological dimensions of the generative space experienced by both teachers and students. Each of us will use biblical stories as the lens through which to name ways theological education in prison challenges not only assumptions about “prisoners,” but also assumptions about the nature and purposes of theological work. Jesus’ action to raise both Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter from the dead points to the radical creativity and possibility within death-dealing spaces. Jesus’ healing of the blind man through spit is a lens to explore the new/renewed visions of student-teachers, who often start blinded by their own assumptions. Finally, the parable of the works in the vineyard points to the subversion of values, of students and teachers, in the creation of learning spaces where all matter. Ultimately, in sharing stories, we come to understand that theological education in prison is where students incarcerated can “feel like yourself again.”

Dr. Elizabeth M. Bounds is associate professor of Christian ethics at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University. The core of her work is focused on the complexity of moral and theological responses to violence and exclusion, whether in the U.S. prison system, ordinary congregational life, or post-conflict situations. Her current research studies theo-moral understandings of the good life among incarcerated women. She is co-founder/administrator of the Certificate in Theological Studies at the Arrendale State Prison for Women.

Sarah Farmer is assistant professor of practical theology and community development in the School of Theology and Ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University. As a practical theologian, she not only teaches community development courses, but also teaches in the areas faith formation, youth ministry, and transformative pedagogy.
Before coming to Indiana Wesleyan University in the Fall of 2018, Farmer served as an associate research scholar and lecturer at Yale Divinity School and helped direct the Adolescent Faith and Flourishing Program at Yale Center for Faith and Culture. Farmer received her MDiv and PhD from Emory University, where she taught as an adjunct faculty and co-directed a Certificate in Theological Studies Program at a Women’s Prison.
Farmer co-founded the Youth Arts and Peace Camp in Chester, Pennsylvania, and worked with the Youth Hope-Builders Academy at Interdenominational Theological Center. She is co-author with Anne E. Streaty Wimberly of Raising Hope: 4 Paths to Courageous Living for Black Youth, which explores the ways adults can become agents of hope in the lives of young people who might be in the midst of circumstances that seem hopeless.

Rachelle Renee Green is assistant professor of practical theology and education at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. Her interdisciplinary scholarship brings together liberationist theologies, social ethics, and critical pedagogies to explore theologies and philosophies of education for populations on the margins of academic discourse. Her current research focuses on vocation, redemption, and the life-affirming purposes of theological education among incarcerated women.
Green is a former director of the Certificate in Theological Studies Program at Lee Arrendale Prison for Women in Georgia. She comes to theological scholarship after a career in business management and strategic marketing where she focused intently on the needs of women and families of color. Green is a licensed minster in the National Baptist Convention, USA. She is an alum of Emory University (PhD 2019) and Emory’s Candler School of Theology (MDiv 2014).

IV. Freeing the Imprisoned and Those Who Imprison Them
Thursday, November 19, 3–4:15 p.m. ESTPresenters: Andrew Skotnicki
The robust literature pointed toward the demonstrative failures of the criminal justice system by both secular and religious critics needs to be augmented by a metaethical component. The root problem, not unlike our political impasses, is that those on each side of the issue are speaking different languages. The ethical presuppositions of the major religions concerning an ontological orientation to care for creature and creation have been at best misinterpreted and at worst dismissed by a prevailing national discourse of binary divisions, none more destructive than that which separates the lawless from the lawful and the imprisoned from the free. Teaching theology in jail/prison is a small step in reorienting the incarcerated students, and those who oversee them, to expand the horizon of care to include everything and everyone. This goal is addressed by a pedagogical focus utilizing the concepts of conversion and prophecy.

Andrew Skotnicki teaches theological and criminological ethics at Manhattan College in New York City. He is the author of numerous articles on the theological and ethical implications of criminal justice. He has also written four books, the latest of which, Conversion and the Rehabilitation of the Penal System, has received the 2019 Aldersgate Prize that honors the book that best exemplifies Christian engagement with the social order. He is founder and director of the E3MC program (Engaging, Educating, Empowering Means Change), an educational partnership between Manhattan College and jails on Rikers Island and Westchester County.

Registration

There is no cost but registration is required.
Register for one, two, three, or all four sessions.
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Electoral Aftermath: Can We Still Begin Again?
2020-11-16 16:30 - 17:45
A conversation with Professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, moderated by Keri Day, associate professor of constructive theology and African American religion.

About the Speaker
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is an intellectual who speaks to the complex dynamics of the American experience. His most well-known books, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, and In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, take a wide look at Black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States, and the challenges our democracy faces. He is an American critic in the tradition of James Baldwin and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his writings, the country’s complexities, vulnerabilities, and the opportunities for hope come into full view. Hope that is, in one of his favorite quotes from W.E.B Du Bois, “not hopeless, but a bit unhopeful.”
He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies, a program he first became involved with shaping as a doctoral candidate in religion, at Princeton University. He is the former president of the American Academy of Religion. His books on religion and philosophy include An Uncommon Faith: A Pragmatic Approach to the Study of African American Religion; African American Religion: A Very Short Introduction; and Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America, which was awarded the Modern Language Association’s William Sanders Scarborough Book Prize. Glaude is also the author of two edited volumes, and many influential articles about religion for academic journals. He has also written for the likes of The New York Times and Time Magazine.
Known to be a convener of conversations and debates, Glaude takes care to engage fellow citizens of all ages and backgrounds — from young activists, to fellow academics, journalists and commentators, and followers on Twitter in dialogue about the direction of the nation. His scholarship and his sense of himself as a public intellectual are driven by a commitment to think carefully with others in public.
Glaude’s most recent book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, was released on June 30, 2020. Of Baldwin, Glaude writes, “Baldwin’s writing does not bear witness to the glory of America. It reveals the country’s sins, and the illusion of innocence that blinds us to the reality of others. Baldwin’s vision requires a confrontation with our history (with slavery, Jim Crow segregation, with whiteness) to overcome its hold on us. Not to posit the greatness of America, but to establish the ground upon which to imagine the country anew.”
Some like to describe Glaude as the quintessential Morehouse man, having left his home in Moss Point, Mississippi at age 16 to begin studies at the HBCU. He holds a master’s degree in African American studies from Temple University, and a PhD in religion from Princeton University. He began his teaching career at Bowdoin College. In 2011 he delivered Harvard’s Du Bois lectures. In 2015 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Colgate University, delivering commencement remarks titled “Turning Our Backs,” which was recognized by The New York Times as one of the best commencement speeches of the year. He is a columnist for Time Magazine and a MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe, and Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays. Glaude hosts the podcast AAS 21, recorded at Princeton University in Stanhope Hall, the African American Studies department’s home.

About the Moderator
Keri Day is associate professor of constructive theology and African American religion at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. Day earned her PhD in religion from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned an MA in religion and ethics from Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Science from Tennessee State University in Nashville. Her teaching and research interests are in womanist/feminist theologies, social critical theory, cultural studies, economics, and Afro-Pentecostalism. Her first academic book, Unfinished Business: Black Women, The Black Church, and the Struggle to Thrive in America, was published in November of 2012. Her second book, Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism: Womanist and Black Feminist Perspectives, was published in December of 2015. In 2017, she was recognized by ABC News as one of six black women at the center of gravity in theological education in America.

Registration
All are welcome but registration is required.
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If you encounter any technical difficulties during the event, please be in touch with media.help@ptsem.edu and include the name of this event, your own name, and a brief description of your issue.
Sponsored by the Religion and Society Program and Office of Multicultural Relations.
