Consortium marks 50th anniversary with renewed commitment to strengthen theological education

…and women who are called and committed to Christian ministry. Learn more at www.btsr.edu. Since 1812, Union Presbyterian Seminary (formerly Union Theological Seminary of Virginia) has been dedicated to the vision of forming leaders for the church in the world. Serving a diversified student body, the seminary has two campuses located in Richmond, VA, and Charlotte, NC. Learn more at …

Noted Scholar Dr. Leela Prasad Addresses “Religion That Underlies All Religions” on March 15

Richmond, VA—Have you ever been curious about Gandhi’s influence 75 years after his death? Join multi-lingual author and religious scholar, Dr. Leela Prasad, to learn more in her upcoming Dawe Lecture on Wed. March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Lake Chapel at Union Presbyterian Seminary. She’ll help attendees understand what Gandhi meant by the “a religion that underlies all religions” …

Leggett Foundation Supports United Methodist Students at Union Presbyterian Seminary

…Union can only take their Methodist coursework at Wesley Theological Seminary or Pfeiffer University. This grant will not only cover coursework expenses, but also books and other expenses associated with meeting the United Methodist partnership agreement. For example, The Rev. Stan Hargraves, Union’s United Methodist Student Advisor, offers twice monthly discussion groups to help students with their understanding of the …

Gems for The Journey: Memorializing African American Inventors by Rev. Veronica Thomas (M.Div.’07)

…1923, he invented the first traffic signal. This safety device eliminates traffic jams and accidents on our busy city streets. The General Electric Corporation purchased the rights to Morgan’s traffic signal for $40,000. Morgan also invented the gas mask which is worn by fire persons to breathe freely when they enter a smoke-filled building. The gas mask helps the firepersons …

“Race”: The Basis of Social Injustice

…was conceived and empowered by people in an earlier era to foster the oppression/control of other human beings (especially following the attenuation of the slave trade as a large-scale industry in America). Human beings have the power and the responsibility to eradicate race and its demonic younger—and mostly American—sibling, racism. We must eradicate race and racism because it is the …

Resident Congregational Care job description

Endurance: Matt. 24:9-14 NRSV

…believe. In biblical days, as well as today, we see that with false teaching and loose morals comes a particularly destructive disease – the loss of true love for God and others. Sin cools our love for God and others by turning our focus on ourselves. We cannot truly love if we only think of ourselves. The word “endurance” means …

Reformation Tour: Appreciating Luther’s convictions

…to what one believes to be true at the moment of one’s life) needs to be in the heart of all responsible leaders who believe in their God’s giving mission if they want to accomplish anything worthwhile and lasting for the Lord. I could understand more fully why Luther wrote “A mighty fortress is Our God.“ He believed it, he …

India travel seminar: Observing faith formation practices

…practices in other religious traditions similar to the way Christian formation happens? How do the practices compare in varying cultural contexts? We have been able to observe and learn about some faith formation practices as we visit religious monuments and places of worship. This morning we explored and experienced the Birla Mandir, a local Hindu Temple. While taking in the …

God is our refuge

…is our strength” as a call/response to read Psalm 46. Below is a model of that refrain, while drawing on some of the themes learned at APCE. Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the …

Experience the Joy of Giving!

…her generosity, she smiled and said the wealth was not really hers. ‘I am merely the agent and I receive such joy from giving.’” After the donor died, her estate provided funds to retire the mortgage of the same Presbyterian center. The donor about whom this aforementioned story was told is an excellent model of generosity. The amounts of her …

Experience the Joy of Giving

…said the wealth was not really hers. ‘I am merely the agent and I receive such joy from giving.’” After the donor died, her estate provided funds to retire the mortgage of the same Presbyterian center. The donor about whom this aforementioned story was told is an excellent model of generosity. The amounts of her gifts is not the significant …

Central America Travel Seminar: Stories of exile and oppression

…the presence of such a courageous witness to the Guatemalan people. We ended the day with a visit to the National Cathedral where Monsenior Gerardi is buried. Gerardi was assassinated by the Guatemalan government because of his work to uncover the human rights abuses perpetrated mostly by the Guatemalan military over a 36-year civil war. This was a powerful moment …

Ghana Travel Seminar: Learning at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute

…Ghana Travel Seminar: Singing without words Ghana Travel Seminar: Handcrafts with personality and stories Ghana Travel Seminar: Touching the lives of children and teenagers Ghana Travel Seminar: Hospitality and kindness Ghana Travel Seminar: Love and anger are the key BY DON MOSES Today we find ourselves at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute (ACI) of Theology, Mission and Culture in Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana. ACI …

Union Forum: Caste and Race: Solidarity Across the Oceans

…our organizing silos into a larger shared intersectional work that explores multiple modes of oppression? Join a cross-cultural conversation on the common histories of oppression among African Americans and Dalits, the larger global movement to lift the importance of the lives of marginalized peoples, and how we can begin to work together to more effectively struggle for mutual liberation and …

2019 Sprunt Lectures

…Eugene Simmons (M.A.’84) and Rev. Dr. Dean K. Thompson (B.D.’69; Th.M.’70; Ph.D.’74) will be honored at the Trailblazer/Distinguished Alumni Award Reception in Lake Chapel at 10:15 a.m. on May 7. Speaking at the Alumni Luncheon is Dr. Lewis Galloway (D.Min. ’77; Th.M. ’79). His topic: “In Such a Time as This.”   Sprunt schedule Register for Sprunt today!     …

APCE 2018: Christian Education as a ministry of deep and wide hospitality

BY ARCHANA SAMUEL This is my first time at APCE. The theme of APCE 2018 is Deep and Wide Hospitality. I have learned one significant model of Christian Education: as a Christian educator, be a facilitator and a channel who lights the light of transformation in the lives of a faith community. Irrespective of ages and abilities, Christian education is …

International peacemaker to discuss Syrian refugee crisis at Union Seminary

RICHMOND, Va. (September 17, 2018) – Dr. Mary Mikhael, a native of Syria, will visit Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond October 3, 2018, to address the growing humanitarian crisis and the challenges that religious groups face as they seek to bring hope, peace, and reconciliation to this war-torn region. More than 350,000 people have died and 11 million have been …

Former trustee Anne E. Treichler remembered

…Woman, presbytery, seminary, and PCUSA Pension Board. Mrs. Treichler, 92, was a life-long member of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. Her love of theology prompted her to establish the Anne Treichler Award for Church History at the seminary. Up until a year ago, she would read the winning entry presented by seminary students. More information will be forthcoming as we learn more. …

Yale theology, Africana studies professor explores race, place and hope of the church at Sprunt lectures

…to ask isn’t where should we be in the world, but how should we be in the places where we live,” M.Div. student Scott Honaker recalled Jennings saying. “By carrying on each other’s stories, we ‘remember together’ and ‘move toward the future in different ways.’ The point, he says, is the joining.” “Like ‘the geographic wound,’ ‘the racial wound’ is …

Emeritus Professor Lamar Williamson Jr. dies

RICHMOND, VA (July 11, 2020) – Rev. Dr. Lamar Williamson Jr, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary, died peacefully today at Highland Farms in Black Mountain, North Carolina, according to a statement from the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. He was 93. Revelation 14:13 (NRSV) And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are …