Lectures & Events

Dr. Rebecca Wright presented for "What to do with Body Parts in Biblical Hebrew." Like most languages, Biblical Hebrew uses body parts metaphorically. However, a passage can be seriously misunderstood if we put our English definition onto the Hebrew idiom. A billboard example of this is in the “first great commandment” Jesus teaches. Hebrew simply does not use the word “heart” the same way English does. So what did Jesus mean? What are the greatest and second-greatest commandments? View the recording of this Lunch & Learn with Dr. Wright to find out!

The School of Theology community will gather on Saturday, Nov. 2 to watch the Investiture of Presiding Bishop-elect the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe. The viewing will take place in the Samuel T. Lloyd Forum in Hamilton Hall beginning at 8:30 a.m (CT). All are welcome and encouraged to join us!

Hurricane Helene has changed how many people think about the effects of climate change. In this webinar, the panelists will discuss the damage the storm caused in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, the shifting calculus of climate resilience, and what churches and communities can do to respond.

Join us on Wednesday, October 16  at 6:30 CDT when the Rev. Senator Kim Jackson will deliver the Rev. Melissa Kean, T'19, Memorial Lecture entitled "Faith and the Fight for Justice." In her lecture Senator Jackson will speak about the intertwining of her faith life, her call to ministry in the Church, and her call to action at the Georgia State Capitol. What does it mean to live out your call to ministry both inside the walls of the church and inside the walls of the State Capitol? What does fighting for justice look like as a Senator, and how can faith inform that work? Find out on the evening of October 16.

Join us on Tuesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. (CDT) for a lecture by the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite entitled "The Poetry of Music and the Music of Poetry: Some Reflections on John Donne, George Herbert and Others." Ayodeji Malcolm Guite is a poet and priest in the Church of England. The author of many books of both poetry and theology. Guite has also collected multiple anthologies of poetry, has his own YouTube channel, and frequently collaborates with musicians. 

Join the School of Theology community beginning Saturday Sept. 28 at 3p.m. (CDT) as we celebrate the gift of The Saint John’s Bible, Heritage Edition. The livestream MIQRA will last 72 hours ending at 3p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1. 

Join us Wednesday, Oct. 2 for this three-lecture series. The Rev. Pauli Murray was a path-breaking poet, activist, attorney, professor, and Episcopal priest whose legacy of human rights work continues to reverberate. Dr. McCray will use the example of Murray to explore the role of risk-taking in Christian spirituality. After highlighting some of the virtues, friendships, and four-legged companions that helped Murray risk well and rest well, we will consider some implications for spiritual life today.

The School of Theology is the grateful recipient of a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible. This gift will be formally received and dedicated this evening Tuesday, Oct 1 during a Choral Evensong service, which begins at 5:10 p.m. (CDT). The service will be livestreamed beginning at 5:10 p.m. Please join us in the Chapel of the Apostles or online.

Associate Professor of Church History Hannah Matis, lectured June 12, 2024 in Convocation Hall.  Matis  lectured on the beguines, a diverse group of religious women in the high and late Middle Ages who included some of the innovative and radical vernacular theologians of their day and influenced other theologians and forms of religious life on the eve of the Reformation. 

On April 3 Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre delivered a lecture entitled "The Sacredness of Water," which explored the global indigenous worldviews of water, specifically how water has its own 'spirit' and its own agency. This indigenous worldview was then compared with a eurocentric worldview based on the commodification of water. The lecture concluded by exploring how a theoretical approach seeking decoloniality might lead toward liberative praxis.

Join us April 2-4 for "Transforming Climates: Preaching Environmental Justice," a conference hosted by the School of Theology in Sewanee, TN.  Intended for clergy and lay leaders but open to all, sessions will explore how preaching changes in the face of the catastrophic failures of colonialist and exploitative systems. In lectures, workshops, and discussion groups, participants will develop tools for an embodied, attentive, and place-based approach to preaching that invites transformation of racial and environmental injustices. 

Join us Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. on campus or online for “Faith, Race & the Lost Cause: Confessions of the Confederate Church.” Chris Graham is a member of famed St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia and Curator of Exhibitions at the American Civil War Museum. In his lecture, Graham will reflect on his congregation's review of their Confederate history and share both expected and unexpected findings—about the ways that memorials and ideologies carry different meanings over time, turn into actions that people take, and perhaps even fade into the background for new generations.

For most people, Whoopi Goldberg's performance as Sister Mary Clarence in the Sister Act film franchise is the dominant interpretation of an African American nun and the desegregation of white Catholic sisterhood in the United States. In this presentation, Dr. Shannen Dee Williams will explore the story of America's real sister act: the story of how generations of Black women and girls called to the sacred vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience fought against racism, sexism, and exclusion to become and minister as consecrated women of God in the Roman Catholic Church. Join us on campus in Convocation Hall or online Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.

On December 8, 2023 Dr. Andrew Root and the Rt. Rev. Dr. Jacob Owensby delivered “Pastoring in the Secular Age." These church leaders and scholars discussed how the secular age affects the identity and practices of pastors today in a webinar format. Scheduled at the start of Advent, this webinar was intended to help preachers consider how the message of Jesus' incarnation can be preached in ways that resonate in a society that increasingly understands itself as having no need of God. 

David Livingstone called upon the British Church to help end slavery and the slave trade in Central and East Africa, but left open the question of what would become of freed slaves. In response, freedom villages were established and provided a missionary springboard. The stories of Mbweni, Freretown, and Rabai give us a glimpse into that missiological paradigm, offering a compelling example of the Church's witness.

Has the Anglican Church of Desmond Tutu lost her prophetic voice? Join us Monday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. in Convocation Hall or online.  As South Africa looks forward to celebrating 30 years since its first democratic elections, the Anglican Church of South Africa must also reflect on how it has been silent and complicit about the very things for which the “rainbow nation” fought.

On Sept. 27 the Rev. Canon Dr. Lizette Larson-Miller delivered a three-lecture series. Entitled “Essential Baptism,” the lecture series explored fundamental questions surrounding baptism, sacramental initiation, and eschatological belonging.

Wrongly accused and incarcerated as a young man, Termaine Hicks spent 19 years fighting for justice. Along the way he found invincible faith and, finally, freedom. Hick delivered a moving and inspirational address at the School of Theology on June 21, 2023.

Join us April 25 at 9:00 a.m. CDT for “Churches on the Front Lines of Climate Change,” a webinar led by Dr. Andrew Thompson, professor of theological ethics and the Rev. Simion Kinono, T’21, who serves in the Anglican Diocese of Buye in Burundi. The webinar examines the effects of climate change and how churches can respond. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

On Thursday March 30, the School of Theology of the University of the South welcomed the Rev. Katherine Sonderegger, Professor of Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. Dr. Sonderegger delivered a lecture entitled, “Strongly unique? How Christ’s humanity is like and unlike our own.” 

On March 1, the School of Theology hosted the Rev. Melissa Kean, T'19, Memorial Lecture which was held by the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton. As a Shackan member of the First Nation, Taber-Hamilton represents the Episcopal Church on the board of the Anglican Indigenous Network and is the Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Everett, WA.  A recording of her lecture entitled “ The Barbie & Pocahontas Dialogues: Healing the Cultural Divide Between Indigenous Episcopalians and the Church,” is available for viewing.

On Wed., Feb. 8 the School of Theology at the University of the South welcomed guest lecturer the Rev. Canon Professor Mark Chapman of Oxford University. His lecture entitled “Liturgies of War and Peace,” was held at 7 p.m. CST in Convocation Hall on the campus of the University of the South. A recording of the lecture is now available.

Dr. Anathea Portier-Young returns to the Advanced Degrees Program for the 2022 summer session and held a public lecture in Hargrove Auditorium on Wednesday evening, June 15 at 7:00. Entitled Miriam's Dance as Embodied Prophecy, Portier-Young examines the prophetic qualities of Miriam’s dance in Exodus 15:20-21. Click the Read More button below in order to view the recording of this Dr. Portier-Young's dynamic lecture.