2026 Sprunt Lectures
Join us May 4-6 in Richmond for the 116th Sprunt Lecture Series
Annual Gathering For Pastors & Christian Leaders
The Sprunt Lectures are UPSem’s signature annual event, and one of the longest-running theological lecture series in the country. Pastors, alumni, scholars, neighbors, and Christian leaders gather in Richmond each year for lectures, worship, storytelling, conversation, and connection.
Dr. Gregory Ellison
Dr. Gregory C. Ellison II is an Associate Professor of Transformative Leadership at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, where he earned tenure after joining the faculty following his graduate studies. A Presidential Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary, Gregory received both the Master of Divinity and Ph.D. in Pastoral Theology. At Emory, he has been recognized with multiple teaching honors, including Faculty Person of the Year and the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, the university’s highest teaching distinction. Gregory is the author of Cut Dead But Still Alive: Caring for African American Young Men and Fearless Dialogues: A New Movement for Justice, and editor of Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet. An ordained Baptist minister, Gregory has served on ministerial staffs in both Methodist and Presbyterian contexts. He is married to Antoinette Greenaway-Ellison and is the father of two children.
Meet Gregory
Rev. Anna George Traynham
Rev. Anna George Traynham, M.Div.’14, is the senior pastor of Shallowford Presbyterian Church, in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has served since the fall of 2019. She is originally from the small town of Fountain Inn, South Carolina, and she studied music and religion at Presbyterian College (’11). She holds an M.Div from Union Presbyterian Seminary (’14) , and an MBA from The Citadel Graduate College (’19). Prior to her role at Shallowford, Anna served as a resident pastor and then an associate pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. She is married to Blake, and they have two young children. Anna has been honored to preach and lead worship for several denominational gatherings, including the Montreat Summer Worship series, Montreat Worship and Music Conference, National Alliance of Presbyterian Clergywomen, and Massanetta Bible and Church Music Conference.
Meet Anna
2026 Distinguished Alumni | Rev. Dr. Nora Tubbs Tisdale, D.Min.'79
The Reverend Dr. Leonora (Nora) Tubbs Tisdale served as the Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics at Yale Divinity School from 2006 until her retirement in 2018. She is the author of twelve books, including Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, Prophetic Preaching: A Pastoral Approach, and, with Yale colleague Thomas Troeger, A Sermon Workbook: Exercises in the Art and Craft of Preaching. Her latest book, How Women Transform Preaching, is based on the Lyman Beecher Lectures she gave at Yale in 2019. She is also the author of a devotional book, The Sun Still Rises: Meditations on Faith at Midlife.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Dr. Tisdale previously taught for five years on the faculty of Union Presbyterian Seminary, and for eight years at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she was a colleague of Union Presidents Brian Blount and Jacqueline Lapsley. She and Brian Blount co-edited the book Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship. Early in her ministry, she served as co-pastor (with her husband Alfred) of four small churches in central Virginia, and represented the Presbyterian Church (USA) on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. Immediately before going to Yale, she served on the pastoral staff of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, where she oversaw a lay theological seminary that offered courses for over 2000 people in the greater NYC area.
Dr. Tisdale is a past president of the Noarth American Academy of Scholars in Homiletics and their Lifetime Achievement Awardee in 2018. She also served on the executive committee of Societas Homiletica. She and her husband Alfred, who is dually ordained in the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches, are the proud parents of two children: Leonora, a nurse practitioner who lives in Durham, and Will, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT. One of her greatest joys in life is being a grandmother to their children: Langston (8), Robeson (5), Maddie (17), and Bryn (15).
2026 Trailblazer | Dr. John W. Kinney
Dr. John Kinney has devoted himself to the pursuit of excellence in theological training and ministerial preparation and has distinguished himself as a systematic theologian, academician and administrator in a career that spans more than 50 years. This includes 27 years of service to Virginia Union University as Dean of the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology and Senior Vice President of the university. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Marshall University and Virginia Union University. He was awarded the Ph.D. from Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary in New York. He has also shared in instruction at Chicago Theology Seminary, Randolph Macon College, Union Theological Seminary (Richmond, Virginia), and the College of William and Mary.
Dr. Kinney has lectured extensively across the breadth of this nation and in Africa. He has been a featured lecturer at numerous universities and colleges, including Yale University, Duke University, Michigan State University, Howard University, Southern Methodist University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Richmond. He has also presented at numerous theological schools, including Iliff School of Theology, Bangor Theological Seminary, Shaw Divinity School, Hood Theological Seminary, The Baptist Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary, and many others. He is recognized for his theological constructions addressing the designed harmony in creation and the subsequent fragmentation and separation with particular attention to racism, sexism, and materialism. His thoughts are included in several publications and crystallized in an article entitled The Theology of Fallenness: The Roots of Racism.
Dr. Kinney’s commitment to the needs of the community at large is apparent by his avid participation in several professional societies and organizations. Dr. Kinney has served as a consultant to the American Baptist Convention, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Baptist General Convention of V.A. and the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy Chaplain Corps. He has been a member of the American Society of Church History, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society for the Study of Black Religion. He has served the larger community of theological educators through multiple leadership roles in the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Kinney chaired the committee on Race and Ethnicity from 1998 to 2000. He served as a member on the Commission on Accrediting from 2000 to 2006 and actively continued as Commission Chair (2004–2006), Vice President (2006-2008), President (2008-2010) and Personnel Committee Chair (2010–2012). His service to academia is complimented by his service to the parish. Dr. Kinney is the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Beaverdam, Virginia, where he has served for more than 40 years. He and his wife, Dr, Quentina, are the proud parents of seven children (Earl, Erika, Erron, Nathan, Press, Dani, and Ricky), in addition to twenty grandchildren and several God-children.
2026 Rising Star Alumni | Rev. Colleen Earp, M.Div.'19
Rev. Colleen Earp serves as the Program Director at Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She previously served on staff at Camp Hanover in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and at Presbyterian camps in New Jersey and Louisiana. She is currently the president of the Campfire Collective, an ecumenical organization of church camps and conference centers in the United States and Canada. Before graduating with an MDiv from Union Presbyterian Seminary in 2019, she earned a BA in Geography from the University of Mary Washington and an MS in Geography from Rutgers University, working in environmental education and conservation. Colleen loves the outdoors and spends much of her free time hiking and exploring nature, stopping to greet every rock and wildflower along the way.
Overview of Events
Explore the day-by-day flow of the Sprunt Lectures below.
Monday
10am-12pm | We Are Union Fair
11am-11:45am | Choir Rehearsal
11:30am-1:30pm | Registration
12pm-1:30pm | BAA Lunch and Trailblazer Award
1:30pm-2:30pm | BAA Annual Meeting
2:30pm-4pm | Lecture 1: Questing with Questions
4pm-6pm | Scripture Happy Hour with Frances Taylor Gench and John Carroll
Followed by Alum-led Dinners
Tuesday
7am-8am | Morning Groups
8am-9am | Late Registration
8am-9am | Breakfast
9am-10am | Opening Worship: Free: Acts 16:16-34
10am-11:30am | Lecture 2: The Working Paper
12pm-1pm | Interpretation Series Press Panel with Westminster John Knox Press
1pm-2pm | Lunch in Partnership with Westminster John Knox Press
2:30pm-4pm | Discussion Time/Activity
3:30pm- 4:30pm | Book Signings
4pm-4:45pm | Choir Rehearsal
Followed by Alum-led Dinners
Wednesday
7am-8am | Morning Groups
8am-9am | Breakfast
9am-10:30am | Lecture 3 and Closing Plenary: Growing in Love
10:30am-11am | Coffee Break
10:30am-11:30am | Creation Meditation/Reflection
11:30am-12:30pm | Closing Worship: Love Overflows: Philippians 1:1-11
12:30pm-2pm | Distinguished Alum and Rising Star Lunch
View the campus map here. While there are a few parking lots on campus, please utilize the available street parking when you can to ensure students, staff, and faculty have spaces to park.
Hotel Information
The Berkley
1200 E Cary Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Beautiful downtown location; Various room options; $40 parking fee
Reserve by April 3 to lock in discounted rates.
Residence Inn by Marriott
5416 Glenside Dr, Richmond, VA 23228
10-15 min drive west of UPSem campus; King Suites with a pullout couch and kitchenette
Reserve by April 12 to lock in discounted rates.
