Written by: United Theological Seminary June 1, 2020

A Letter to My Christian Family Everywhere: From Alum Yolanda Y. Williams

Dear Christians,

I have recently heard members of my Church family question whether civil disobedience is necessary. I even heard one say in so many words this is not what Jesus did. To you, I offer, prayerfully, an education. I offer this because some of you have unfortunately been educated to see Jesus as some kind of somber passive cardboard character. Some of us still think Jesus is best played by a sad-eyed, Jeffrey Hunter-esque actor. This is not the Jesus of the Christian New Testament. Jesus’ entire ministry was one of protest. It is important here to separate out protest and civil disobedience from looting and setting fires.

Jesus walked through Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Crowds gathered, and some began to walk with him from place to place. Matthew describes them as great crowds (Mt. 4:2-25). We’re told in one story 4,000 were fed and in another 5,000 were fed (Mathew, Mark, Luke). These numbers argue scholars do not include women and children, so the numbers might be significantly higher. I can well imagine some would have seen this as disruptive. Jesus did not tell the people to go home and sit in their locked homes. He let the masses grow.

Everyone loves the story of Palm Sunday when Jesus is revealed and praised as King (John 12:12-19). To this triumphal entry, the Pharisees responded, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him” (John 12:19). This act is again disruptive. Jesus enters the seat of Judaism under Roman rule and allows shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blesses is the king of Israel!” Is that not disruptive. Does that action not represent a protest of both the current civil and the religious governments?

Jesus did not mince his words. He did not hide behind words of civility. Twice in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus calls the current religious leadership a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 12:34, Matthew 23:33). He calls judgment down on Scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites and “whitewashed sepulchers” who appear on the outside to be righteous but are actually full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:27-28). I can well imagine these words were shouted, not mumbled. I could also point out the disruptive nature of all prophets, but I will leave that to you to search your Hebrew bibles. I submit this is the same effect of the blue uniform, the badge, the taser, and the gun. While appearing on the outside to represent justice, these items are being used to perpetrate acts of terror.

Do you want to talk about civil disobedience? Religious disobedience and civil disobedience are the same thing here because Jesus disrupts Jewish law. Jesus sat next to and had a conversation with a woman who was also a Samaritan and a prostitute. Jesus let a woman of ill-repute touch him. Jesus invited himself into the home of a tax collector. Jesus accepted invitations into the homes of Romans. Jesus’ disciples picked corn on a Sabbath. The list goes on. Do your research and look up the scriptures.

Jesus got away with protesting openly for a while. Jesus got away with being disruptive, using not only his words but his actions and his mass-appeal, for a while. Jesus got away with practicing civil disobedience for a while. Then he was arrested on trumped-up charges, tortured, and crucified. Jesus, of course, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

The end of the story, for others, it is not so glorious. The same people who are fond of hiding behind “What Would Jesus Do” scenarios also like to publicly tote around their support of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King, marched, gained a crowd, was civilly disobedient walking where he shouldn’t go with too many people. He spoke the truth, prophetically outing an unjust society. Some of us watched on television as this pacifism was met with attack dogs, tear gas, and lethal responses from both the police, the government, and citizens. King’s non-violence was rewarded with violence and jail. King’s family’s reward for a non-violent approach was growing up in a single, female head of home without a father and becoming a young widow.

This reward of death is the same whether Black protest uses the non-violent approach of King or the aggressive approaches of Malcolm X or the Black Panthers.

When I review Jesus’ life, it is clear that his statements concerning peacemaking do not exclude acts of civil disobedience, being a disruptive force, shining a light on evil deeds, or condemning systems that support those evil acts. If you think Jesus was not political, I advise you to read your bible without a movie idol Jesus’ in your head. If you believe Jesus did not protest, the same advice.

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July 2, 2026

Alums Church Community Relationships Faith Formation Legacy UCC

St. Mark’s UCC Gifts an Endowed Scholarship to United

United graduates have an impact on United in countless ways. President Molly T. Marshall notes that they are, in fact, our letters of recommendation. They embody the educational experience they had at United in the work they pursue, in how they live out their faith traditions, and in the impact they have in the world. We see this in myriad ways. There is the alum who is a recurring donor and the alum who creates a legacy gift to support future students. There is the alum who introduces President Marshall to a new donor. And there is the alum who sees another person’s interest in theological education and encourages them to pursue a degree at United. Recently, we have seen up close the impact of the work of Rev. Jennifer Jaimez (’98). Jennifer’s first call was to St. Mark’s UCC in Bloomington, Minnesota, which was founded in 1954. Jennifer served at St. Mark’s for 28 years and, like other pastors, she had a significant influence on members and the broader community. St. Mark’s also had an impact on United. During Jennifer’s ministry, eight students from United completed nine-month internships at St. Mark’s. As interns, these students were part of a learning community that helped them hone skills in teaching, preaching, counseling, and administration. The congregation, along with Jennifer, mentored and encouraged them. They have all gone on to do a multitude of things: serving in nonprofits, rural churches, city churches, and more. St. Mark’s investment in United students had a significant impact. As for many congregations, the pandemic was difficult for St. Mark’s. Three years ago, they made the painful decision to complete their ministry and intentionally repurpose their assets while it was still their choice. In addition to supporting the Minnesota Conference UCC and the Bloomington Housing and Redevelopment Authority, they made a significant gift to United. A relationship that began with mentoring interns grew into a newly endowed UCC scholarship. The St. Mark’s endowed scholarship will provide financial support for UCC students who wish to attend seminary. This gift creates an enduring legacy for St. Mark’s and will provide support for future students. As the gift was announced, their moderator, Cindy Russell, said, “This gift will defray the cost of seminary education. Support for future leaders of the church remains important as the church continues to evolve into new ways of being the church.” This spring, we have been blessed to establish several new endowed scholarships in addition to the one from St. Mark’s. Estate gifts from Joanne* (’82) and Thomas* Rohrict, and Elden* (Yankon, ’55) and Norma* Zuern have created a lasting legacy and investment in United. A recent gift from George (Mission House, ’55) and Joyce Schowalter will allow them to see, while they are living, the impact of scholarship support. Currently, 57 percent of scholarships are covered by generous gifts and endowed scholarships. The other 43 percent is paid out of United’s annual budget. Each scholarship gift, each new endowed scholarship, or gift to an already endowed scholarship, helps us expand offerings to our students. We don’t want financial limitations to become a barrier for students who feel called to attend United. Your scholarship gifts supported Jennifer while she was a student. Her experience at United, along with the skills she has learned along the way, helped her shepherd St. Mark’s for more than two decades and through the difficult decision to complete their ministry. Your gifts to United continue to make this happen. We give thanks for the lasting legacies created by these and many other faithful donors. __________________________ * Deceased

Alum Rev. Todd Lippert (’03): Living a Public Ministry

As Rev. Todd Lippert was growing up, his life was dominated by two constants: music and church. Both of his parents were music teachers. His dad was the high school choir director, and his mom was the elementary school music teacher. Though his family had been Baptist for generations, they ended up attending a United Church of Christ (UCC) church where his mom was hired to play the organ. It was also much closer to home than the nearest Baptist church. “I always took Christian faith very seriously,” Todd asserts. “The church was a sacred and holy place to me.” In seventh grade, Todd remembers talking to his father. “I was at the bottom of the stairs talking to my dad at the top of the stairs. And that was when I said for the first time, ‘I wonder if I might want to be a pastor someday.’” But, Todd adds, “the idea was really terrifying to me,” so he put it out of his mind. At the University of Iowa, he pursued a music degree. During a philosophy class toward the end of college, a professed atheist professor began asking some of the same questions about faith that Todd was confronting. “I was wrestling with whether I was a Christian or not.” Deciding on Seminary The turning point came one Sunday morning after graduation when Todd and his wife were at church. At the time, he was selling Yellow Pages ads and contemplating an MBA. “I hated it,” Todd confesses. “I was miserable.” Watching the preacher at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City, he thought, “Maybe I could do that, and maybe I need to pay attention to this call to ministry that keeps bubbling up.” United was the first UCC seminary that came up on the computer, and when Todd visited, “it felt like home for me as soon as I arrived.” Since his wife was doing graduate work at the University of Minnesota, they moved to the Twin Cities. “At United,” Todd recalls, “I had the space to figure out how Christianity was meaningful and how this faith fit together for me.” Professors who welcomed and encouraged his questions were key to his faith formation, and the “liberation theology that moved through the curriculum, with its focus on justice, was extremely appealing to me.” Todd was also inspired by his classmates. “I saw the student body deeply engaged in the political and social questions of the day.” At United from 2000 to 2003, Todd experienced the Bush v. Gore lawsuit, 9/11 terror attacks, Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone’s tragic death, and the Iraq war launch as he was earning his MDiv. Public Theology Justice-seeking activism, Todd asserts, “really cemented my understanding that the body of Christ is about bringing the realm of God into being wherever it is. And that was something that would have to make my life better and make my community better.” Since graduating, Todd has worked as a UCC pastor, a Minnesota state legislator (2018–2022), a community organizer with ISAIAH, and a community minister with Creekside Church. The clergy organizing work during Operation Metro Surge was especially impactful and reconnected him with United. Todd went through “nonviolent direct action training with Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, one of the authors I read.” He also worked with Rev. Dr. Carolyn Pressler, his former Hebrew scripture professor. United, notes Todd, equipped him “to be able to understand what is going on in our world, and in our communities, and I had the tools to get better and better at that, reading the present through a biblical and theological lens.” He is extraordinarily proud of the way the church showed up in Minnesota and grateful for United. “I really want,” Todd concludes, “the love-your-neighbor values of the church to be a force in our public life, not an afterthought. I want it to be a force in our political life.”

Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman Promoted to Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, supported by the McVay Endowment

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, June 24, 2026 —United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is delighted to announce that, effective July 1, 2026, Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman will become the Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, supported by the McVay Endowment, and Director for Formation. This promotion to an endowed chair follows Rev. Dr. Justin Sabis-Tanis’ appointment as the inaugural Wilson Yates Chair in Theology and the Arts. Announced during Commencement in April, the McVay chairship reflects the esteem with which United’s board and faculty members regard Professor Packman. In February, Dean Kyle Roberts proudly reported that Dr. Packman was being promoted from assistant to associate professor and transitioning from a three-year contract into a tenure-track position. Dr. Packman joined United in July 2021 as a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics and Practical Theology. At the Spring 2022 Convocation to welcome and bless our new faculty member, Dr. Packman—who holds an MDiv and PhD from the University of Chicago—presented on “The Atmospherics of Theological Education.” By December 2022, Dr. Packman’s “teaching, mentoring, and other stellar capabilities” prompted United to offer him a contract to continue teaching past the terms of his Louisville Fellowship. Since then, he has co-authored an article in The Oxford Handbook of Friedrich Schleiermacher, had a paper (“The Consolation of Studying Theology”) published in the Christian Century, and presented at the September 2025 Schleiermacher Kongress in Kiel, Germany. Spiritual and personal formation is a vital component of Packman’s work with students, and he will continue in his role as the director for Formation. In May of 2025, he began a new initiative, the Formation Pilot Program, to gauge the foundational axis points of students’ formation at United. “This is a remarkable moment in theological education,” Dr. Packman explained this spring, “where what it means to be a theological learning community is being reimagined in real time. This pilot program is designed to interrogate this question from across the life of the seminary, and to build up our community in the process.” “Dr. Packman’s doctoral studies,” observed Dean Roberts in his April announcement, “focused on Christian theology and ethics, and his current research explores questions about racism, intransigent evil, and Friedrich Schleiermacher’s philosophical and theological ethics. Combined with his MDiv studies in pastoral formation, these make Dr. Packman well-suited to occupy this chair while he continues…serving as the Director for Formation.” President Molly T. Marshall reflects, “Dr. Packman brings academic excellence and pastoral sensitivity to his teaching, collegial relationships, and community involvement. His theological depth suffuses his courses in ethics and formation, seeking to form good human beings as transformative agents for a world in travail. I am delighted by this appointment.” As Dr. Packman shared when he was offered a chance to continue teaching at United past his Louisville Fellowship, “It’s such an immense gift to get to do this work, and it’s an honor to get to do it with folks like you. I’m so eager to see what we build together!” Now, as a new chapter begins with his elevation to the McVay Chair, we are overjoyed that such a prodigiously talented scholar and teacher can continue to journey with our dedicated and curious students. About United Founded by the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a welcoming, ecumenical school that embraces all denominations and faith traditions, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities has been on the creative edge of progressive theological thought and leadership since it was established in 1962. Today, United continues to educate leaders who, through the eyes of faith, engage in the dismantling of systems of oppression, exploring multi-faith spirituality, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Contact Nathanial Green (he/him) Director of Marketing and Communications press@unitedseminary.edu • 651.255.6138 Admissions and Enrollment admissions@unitedseminary.edu