Professor McGuckin’s Retirement is Fast Approaching…
Please Join Us in a Celebration of His Scholarship & Tenure
Monday, May 15th
Book Signing + Wine & Cheese Reception
Launch of Three Volumes of ‘Collected Studies’
(New Testament, Patristic, Mystical Theology)
SVS PRESS
Burke Reading Room
3 – 5 pm
A Service of Thanksgiving & Farewell
James Memorial Chapel
5:15 – 6:30 pm
Food & Festivities
Live Swing Dance Band
Social Hall
6:30 pm …
Bring Your Dancing Shoes!
Reconstructing Counter Theological Narratives from/in the Margin
Date: May 16, 2017
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Venue: Stewart Hall
Join Rev. Dr. Dhyanchand Carr as he discusses the important difference in perspectives and commitment to liberation between Ambedkar and Gandhi. Ambedkar is a Dalit community leader who reimagined a counter theological narrative in the face of structural injustice.
Guest Speaker Bio:
Rev. Dr. Dhyanchand Carr is an ordained pastor of the Church of South India, a Dalit activist, a renowned New Testament scholar and a former member of the faculty at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, India. His main interest is to help people read the Bible from the point of view of the Proclamation of Jesus on the Just Reign of God and that it was Good News to the poor.
Organized by Indian students at Union, in partnership with the President’s Office.
Click here to RSVP
FAITH LEADERS STAND UP FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS
IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Union Theological Seminary cordially invites you to join us for a special DC event as we honor International Day Against Homophobia. The event will take place at the Dirksen Senate Office Building from 11am-12:30 pm on May 17th, and will feature national faith and political voices for a robust policy and advocacy discussion on the current state of LGBTQ rights.
CLICK for the complete press release
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The Class of 2017, the Faculty, and the Trustees of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York invite you to the One Hundred Seventy-ninth Commencement. Commencement Exercises will be held in the Union Quadrangle. Tickets are not required.
A reception immediately follows the Commencement Exercises.
Click to see a full list of the Commencement Exercises and Commissioning Ceremonies.
Please note: in the event of rain, exercises will be held in James Memorial Chapel. Each graduate will receive two tickets of admission for their guests. Doors for the chapel will open at 3:15. Overflow seating and live video feed of the exercises will be available for additional guests.
A Music, Opera and Film Festival
Celebrating People Preserving Our Planet
Union Theological Seminary | James Chapel
3041 Broadway at 121st Street
New York, NY 10027
Music and Cinema come together to celebrate true stories of courageous change-makers from around the world who are preserving our Planet, Oceans, and Wildlife. Dedicated to bridging indigenous cultures, women’s wisdom, and the global environmental movement, each film is paired with vocalists, musicians, and dancers, performing a variety of music from jazz and gospel, to classical, folk, African, Tibetan, Native American, and contemporary opera and chamber music.
Paradigm Shifts 2017 is presented by Encompass New Opera Theatre in partnership with the Center for Earth Ethics (Karenna Gore, Director), Union Forum (Derrick Harkins, Director), and Professor Hyun Kyung Chung at Union Theological Seminary.
Tickets and program details will be available soon.
Learn about the twenty-five years of the Presbyterian Inter-Racial Dialogue (PIRD) in Winston-Salem, N.C. Participants will also experience speaking about racism from the perspective of the five senses and be guided in how to develop their own parables as a vehicle to expand the dialogue and prepare to use a similar technique when they return home. Taught by Union alum Stephen McCutchan, M.Div. ’67.
Join local Union alumni/ae for a breakfast gathering at the home of Emily and John Odom, M.Div. ’90.
Decades before the Civil Rights Movement burst into the news, black Americans had traveled around the world to learn from independence leaders in Asia and Africa. This Worldwide Struggle: Religion and the International Roots of the Civil Rights Movement reveal how Howard Thurman, Benjamin Mays, Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray and many others, became convinced that black Americans needed to organize an independence movement against Jim Crow colonialism.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED
For more information about This Worldwide Struggle or to learn about Dr. Azaransky’s upcoming speaking engagements, please visit her website.
On Tuesday evening, July 18, at 6:30 p.m., the New York Ave Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. will host a free screening of the excellent new documentary, “An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story.”
Refreshments will be available starting at 6:00 p.m. The film, which is an hour in length, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and followed by a short panel discussion and QnA with the filmmaker.
Please see the event flyer or visit the church’s website, for complete details.
Since parking in downtown D.C. in the evening can be a challenge, the church is offering convenient free parking to those attending the event at Green City Parking, located on H Street between 12th and 13th NW in downtown D.C., just one block from the church.
On Monday, August 7, Union’s own Dr. Sarah Azaransky will speak about her groundbreaking new book, This Worldwide Struggle: The International Roots of the Civil Rights Movement (Oxford, June 2017).
Dr. Azaransky, assistant professor of social ethics at Union, will be giving a First Monday lecture at Pendle Hill, the Quaker study, retreat, and conference center welcoming all for Spirit-led learning and community, located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
The August 7 lecture, scheduled from 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the Barn, is free and open to the public, with advance registration requested but not required. Live streaming will be available to registrants. A book signing will follow the lecture.
Dr. Azaransky’s latest book examines a network of black Americans who looked abroad and to other religious traditions for ideas and practices that could transform American democracy.
For additional details or to register, please visit the Pendle Hill website.
Weds. 9/6, 6pm
James Memorial Chapel
Union Theological Seminary will honor Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh ’63, with the Union Medal, the Seminary’s highest award. Thich Nhat Hanh’s powerful teachings and bestselling writings apply ancient Buddhist wisdom and practices to contemporary issues and skillfully bridge Eastern and Western spirituality. Thich Nhat Hanh coined the term Engaged Buddhism and is globally recognized as one of the movement’s most eminent founders. Sister Chan Duc, an emissary from Plum Village, the renowned monastery founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, will accept the Union Medal on his behalf.
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Please Note: New & returning students, faculty, staff and administration are encouraged to attend and do not need to RSVP.
Watch the Livestream
PAST UNION MEDAL RECIPIENTS
Fr. Sergey Trostyanskiy leads a candle-lit prayer service in the Eastern Orthodox tradition on behalf of the Orthodox Chaplaincy of St. Gregory.
All are welcome to attend this weekly meditative recitation of the Jesus Prayer offered throughout the Fall Semester.
Marie Alford-Harkey
Fri. 9/15, 1– 6pm; Sat. 9/16, 9am –5pm
Theorizing and theologizing about sexuality and gender happens in many progressive seminaries, but how do seminarians, recent graduates, and new clergy take these topics into a congregation? How does theology about sexuality and gender move from the seminary to the sanctuary? This course will explore ways of assessing a congregation’s readiness to engage with sexuality and gender. It will provide ideas about how to broach these normally taboo subjects and provide strategies for teaching, preaching, providing pastoral counseling, and creating a congregational culture where complex understandings of gender and sexuality can be discussed and explored. The course will be highly participatory, and students should bring situations and questions from congregational settings. Students will leave with an outline of a sermon, teaching resource, or other educational programs that could be used in a congregation.
Rev. Marie Alford-Harkey is the president and CEO of the Religious Institute, a national multifaith nonprofit dedicated to advocating for sexual health, education, and justice in faith communities and society. Religious Institute programs address reproductive health, rights, and justice; full inclusion of LGBTQ people in faith communities and society; comprehensive sexuality education; and prevention of sexual abuse, harassment, and misconduct in faith communities.
Marie is the lead author of the Religious Institute publication Making the Invisible Visible: Bisexuality in Faith Communities, and speaks regularly on faith and sexuality. She is a pastor with Metropolitan Community Churches and serves as a volunteer assisting clergy at MCC Hartford, CT.
Fr. Sergey Trostyanskiy leads a candle-lit prayer service in the Eastern Orthodox tradition on behalf of the Orthodox Chaplaincy of St. Gregory.
All are welcome to attend this weekly meditative recitation of the Jesus Prayer offered throughout the Fall Semester.