Written by: United Theological Seminary July 14, 2020

A Call for Lament (in the time of a global pandemic)

A while ago, I woke up from a nightmare. In this dream, I knew that my brother was in an upper level of an abandoned skyscraper, unconscious and badly burned, hooked into an IV that I did not know who operated. When I learned about his condition on the phone, I felt and heard a noise escape my throat – one I have only heard once before. The unmistakable, guttural cry of grief: someone is dead or dying. By the time I saw my brother’s body in front of me, in the dream, I woke up. It was dark. My body automatically turned over, bringing me to my knees and I prayed. With gratitude, gratitude that I knew, with almost certainty, that my brother was safe at home. Then grief washed over me again, because just as I knew my brother was fine, I knew that someone else’s brother was experiencing my dream as their reality.

A few days later, I was asked, “how do you respond when you notice the holy in your life?” Immediately my dream came to mind: prayer, gratitude, grief. Prayer: a physical act; embodying, surrendering, being presence. Gratitude: filling up with and casting thank you into my relationships and beyond into the world. Grief: a punch to the gut, a reverberating wave washing over me, moving through me… connecting me to you, to what is greater than all of us.

…Is grief holy?

Theologically and intellectually, I believe that holiness is not only found, but inherent in lament, suffering, death. But during actual moments of despair from personal failures to family dynamics to global pandemics, it’s challenging for me to name the holy when it seems like everything around me is falling apart; it’s challenging for me to name the holy when it hits me, again, that’s it’s not good enough for just me and mine to be safe and well. And yet, exactly in these moments of despair, I fall to my knees in prayer, gratitude and grief; I realize what is most holy.

I, and I assume many of you, have been told again and again to see the blessing in the situation, to find hope in despair. But I ask you now: have you lamented today?

Have you paused long enough to feel what you are feeling? Before moving to comfort others or post a cat picture, have you grieved? Have you allowed yourself to feel a little more (even if you can’t name why or what)? Rather than reacting to the fear of disconnection, have you actually let yourself experience disconnection? Have you let yourself break down and cry? Are you allowed the space to break down and cry?

I had not cried until writing this sermon the fourth time.

I am a lingerer. After gatherings, meetings, classes, I stay, talk and laugh with the other lingerers. But these days, logging off of a Zoom call, I am met with loss and longing. Emptiness and the sudden sense of being alone opens like a chasm in the room. Yet, I have learned that if I scroll online or text people as a distraction from what I’m feeling, it does not make me feel better or more connected. It numbs me. It prolongs the process of facing my experience. I don’t want more depression–the lack of feeling–in this world, or anyone to get stuck in despair. I need us to practice feeling more, feeling honestly, allowing our emotions to move and change.The moments when I finally allow myself to feel what I feel–which sometimes looks like me moving around in physical distress, banging the floor with my hands, curling up to cry; at other times, sitting with my breath and allowing the tears to just fall. These are the moments when I am alive. Even in the deep sadness of loneliness, I am utterly connected to all that’s around me, has come before, and is yet to come. When my tears slow, my breath regulates and I am aware of the floor beneath me, I experience a shift: though broken, I feel whole.

The call for social distancing and quarantine is asking—or rather demanding—most of us give something up…be it work, an income, travel to loved ones, social gatherings, in-person theological discussions, physical contact, comfort in knowing we can shop for our needs.

There are those of us who are on the front lines in hospitals trying to save lives and reduce needless suffering; those of us concerned with laws, the distribution of resources and sanitation; those of us focused on parenting, educating and nourishing our children. We need these people—you—to continue doing this work and to do it in morally responsible ways—but what about the rest of us?

There is tremendous possibility to organize, to get to know our housemates, families and neighbors more deeply—I went for a walk the other day and saw more neighbors that I knew and didn’t know, than I have ever seen on a neighborhood walk before. We stopped and waved, chatted from across the street, noticed one another and kept our physical distance—yet we were all together. There is tremendous possibility to get to know one another in powerful ways and to respond to the many needs and shortcomings being exposed in our society. So, for those of us who have the capacity and opportunity to reflect in this moment, what are we clinging to that is preventing the conditions for the possible transformation we swear we give our lives to?

In the enormity of this disruption, sacrifice and uncertainty, do any of us actually know what this moment is calling for? How many of us are pretending, or trying to pretend that we know?

I have been. I have been pretending. Yet, there is a part of me (which I’ve brushed off as selfish, but might actually be the wise voice I’m ignoring) that keeps calling out for me to pause and retreat, to surrender to this moment of ceasing.

Please hear me, this is not a call for the most vulnerable to bear even more; the most vulnerable among us are always the most impacted, consistently suffer more, find themselves in despairing circumstances, and usually respond with incomprehensible resilience. No, this is a call for those of us who have the privilege of self-quarantining, for those of us who are being given the space to pause and witness as the world as we know it disintegrates around us.

This is not the time to cling to false idols and “apparent security”. This is a time to enter into despair. This is a time to grieve. This is a time to let false hope die and put our faith in the creative possibility of transformation by dedicating our lives to being a part of the organism of community. The role of grieving is not to be taken lightly.

Have you lamented today?

Theologian Henry N. Wieman writes:

Despair…despair is the state of mind ensuing when the good to which one clings as source and sustainer of all other good has been taken away. When that to which one clings is not truly the source and sustainer, its removal and the consequent despair open the way for the real source to enter… creative power (has the possibility to) dominate over all else as it could not before and could penetrate beneath every obstruction raised against it… but this… radical transformation cannot occur without despair if by despair (we mean) the removal of every other good to which one clings as ultimate source and sustainer.

Otherwise known as idolatry.

Perhaps, for many of us, what we are clinging to is not only the “apparent security and stability” of meeting our material needs, but also the false notion that when others suffer, we do not. But deep down, we know, there are no other people’s brothers. There are no other people’s children or grandparents. We live in a world filled with our siblings, some we have yet to meet and others we will never get the chance to.

Have you lamented today?

I’ve asked this three times now, and I’m wondering: Does it land? Do you feel called to lament? Where… what part of your body do you feel grief stirring? If you’re willing and able, put your hand right there. What does your grief feel like? Who is your grief connected to? Perhaps, you can even hear it’s message…

We do not create transformation… as local community healer and leader Susan Raffo says: We do not create transformation, we create the conditions for transformation to be possible.

What spiritual practices are you being called to in this moment? What spiritual practices move you into and through despair, allowing Source to enter?

Yes, may we—may we lament, personally and collectively. May we fall to our knees in prayer gratitude and grief. May we surrender to this ceasing, not in order to tolerate suffering, but precisely the opposite: to not allow this ripe opportunity for creating the conditions of radical transformation that we know this society needs to pass us by. May we surrender to the one true source with many names: Creativity, God, Mystery, Love.

Amen.

This Blog Post was originally written as a sermon for the course UU Theologies taught by Demian Wheeler in Spring 2020.

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October 9, 2026

Alums Homecoming News Releases

Rev. Dr. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell (’06) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is excited to announce that Rev. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell, PhD—who earned his MA in Theology and Biblical Interpretation from United in 2006—has been selected as a 2026 Distinguished Alum. An accomplished preacher, teacher, and published author, Dr. Tredwell has championed biblical narratives that affirm the divinity of all people, regardless of their race, creed, color, class, gender, or sexuality. Adopted at age four, Lee was raised in the Baptist faith and felt called to ministry as a child. Even so, after earning a degree in Political Science and Sociology at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, he spent the first ten years of his professional life as a grain trader for Cargill. After connecting with Drs. Ralph and Alika Galloway, Lee found United, and his call was reignited. He remembers Rev. Dr. Carolyn Pressler (Professor Emerita of Biblical Interpretation, 1990–2020) and Dean Richard Weis* with great affection. Both teachers, he observes, “taught us to wrestle with the biblical text until it opened up and spoke.” They also introduced Lee to Black and post-colonial hermeneutics, and Rev. Dr. Weis led him to passages in Jeremiah 38 (Hebrew Bible) that sparked his interest in learning more about a Black character named Ebed-Melech. Lee also cites the influence of Rev. Dr. Christine Smith’s (Professor Emerita of Preaching 1992–2013) preaching courses on his life. In Colorado, at the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Lee completed a joint PhD program with a concentration in Religion and Social Change in 2017. Ronald Smith, a former United student who nominated Lee for this award, notes, “Dr. Tredwell has demonstrated that he is an innovator and compassionate leader who has served both inside the academy as a professor of African American Preaching at Iliff School of Theology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and in the larger community; he has served as [a] pastor, civil rights and human rights activist, and [a] chief executive officer in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, and Texas.” Lee’s new book—Black, Queer and Blessed: My Story and the Biblical Story Churches Don’t Teach—was published in June 2025. As the description reads, “For all who believe God-Yahweh is angry, mad, disgusted, and against LGBTQIA+ folx, regrettably, you been had, misled, took, hood-winked and bamboozled! Black, Queer and Blessed, through lived experience and the excavation of the subjugated biblical narrative of Ebed-Melech, demolishes society’s antiquated mores.” The book is part memoir and part theological reflection on the Ebed-Melech revelation. In addition to his roles as teacher, preacher, and author, Lee has specifically worked to promote adoption of Black children from foster care and create affordable housing. These days, he serves as the pastor of Theology and Community Engagement at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. As Ronald Smith asserts, “Dr. Tredwell is the embodiment and an exemplar of United Theological Seminary’s mission, vision, and values.” * of blessed memory 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, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.

Lena K. Gardner (’15) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

[caption id="attachment_11955" align="alignnone" width="1920"] photo by Bethany Birnie[/caption] United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is thrilled to announce that Lena K. Gardner—who graduated with an MA in Justice and Peace Studies in 2015—has been selected as one of our three 2026 Distinguished Alums. A highly respected social justice activist and community leader, Lena is the co-founder and executive director of Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), a nonprofit founded in 2015 that creates life-giving and life-saving opportunities for spiritual community and Black-centered organizing. According to Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel (’13), Lena has “been a force in the Twin Cities’ religiously rooted justice ecosystem for the last 15 years.” Dr. Voelkel, Lena’s nominator, traces Lena’s justice-organizing acumen back to 2011, when she served on the Faith Organizing Roundtable—a body that coordinated religious communities’ opposition to the anti-marriage amendment. Lena went on to champion marriage equality in the 2012–2013 legislative session. After a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, Jr., an unarmed 18-year-old Black teen, in 2014, Lena played a key role in transforming the Faith Organizing Roundtable into the Multifaith Anti-Racism, Change & Healing or MARCH. “In that same period,” Voelkel notes, “Lena was a core team organizer of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and served on its steering committee.” Lena was deeply involved, quoted in many national and local articles, and interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio after former police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in 2020. In April 2021, after a Brooklyn Center police officer killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, Lena co-wrote an article in the Sahan Journal demanding that Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecute the case, and that the Hennepin County attorney be removed. More recently, Lena embarked on another ambitious project. In May 2024, through the BLUU Cooperative Housing Initiative, she co-hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for an affordable housing complex for single parents in North Minneapolis. In a MinnPost article about the groundbreaking, Lena explained, “It’s really about trying to give back to one of the communities that made me…. We really see providing stable housing in a cooperative framework as one of the many paths to collective liberation and Black liberation. Ultimately, it’s about self-determination.” When Operation Metro Surge arrived in the Twin Cities in late 2025, Lena took action again. As Voelkel observes, she “returned to the MARCH steering committee…. When MARCH organized a clergy call (in five days) to which 700 clergy came, the ability to create and host such an amazing event owes part of its success to Lena’s relationships with communications specialists, graphic designers, and organizers.” Lena was also a driving force behind Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), a mutual aid group she and Anna Stamborski founded in late 2025 to connect vulnerable ICE-targeted families with congregational networks whose members could provide shopping and transportation services. Through all of Lena’s indefatigable contributions to working for justice, Voelkel asserts, she “has focused on Black excellence, Black power, Black spiritual wholeness, Black beauty, and how non-Black folks can act in solidarity and followership of Black folks, particularly Black queer women. She has done so skillfully through building relationships across differences in ways that facilitate and deepen genuine relationships.”

Cori Berg (’98) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is elated to announce that Cori Berg (’98)—advocate, artist, and educator—is a 2026 Distinguished Alum. Cori earned her Master of Arts (MA) in Theology and the Arts in 1998, and for more than 27 years, she has integrated creativity, art, and spirituality into her field. Cori arrived at United in the 1990s, having majored in theater and minored in studio art during her undergraduate studies. “I knew I had an artistic voice,” she recalls, “but it didn’t make sense in any of the traditional contexts.” After seeing an advertisement for United’s Theology and the Arts program, Cori drove from Dallas to the Twin Cities to visit as a prospective student. A campus art exhibit by Merle Janis was all she needed to see—“this school had something I needed: strength, boldness, vulnerability.” For Cori, “life is liturgy.” She credits United with introducing her to “the freedom in a progressive faith.” At United, Cori learned to expand her creativity, which became a launching pad for a vibrant career. “United gave me a safe, nurturing space to explore, dream, and execute big things,” she writes. “I’ve continued that through the rest of my career as an artist, an educator, an administrator, and a speaker.” Art is central to Cori’s work and features prominently in her curriculum development for children. Her art was featured in the 2012 opening parade for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, TX, a project that involved “seniors, children, and adults in all aspects” from a local Methodist community program. Ministry with Children and Spirituality, courses taught by Rev. Dr. Barbara Anne Keely (Professor Emerita, 1991–2015), were particularly formative for Cori’s future in education. “I remember she taught us to get on the floor and view the church nursery from a baby’s point of view,” Cori reflects. “I use this today over and over as I teach early childhood educators…. She introduced the idea of seeing oneself not as a separate body, mind, or spirit, but when one part of my being is suffering, to use the other parts to help lift that part.” More recently, Cori has been an active community member at Dallas Meditation Center, where she is known for her moving dharma talks that weave Buddhist themes into contemporary storytelling. In public schools and congregational settings, Cori has applied what she learned as a United student to the field of early childhood education, for which—nominator Rev. Jim Peck (’99) points out—she has become “one of the nation’s leading advocates.” When facing challenges in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cori leveraged her ingenuity and creative vision to support educators with online training resources. As a teacher and an administrator in spaces where lack of institutional funding and support are commonplace, Jim observes, “she uses her [United] education to work for justice and equity,” to “nurture relationships in the early childhood settings where she has served, with an expertise in working in settings in crisis to encourage recovery, healing, and new paths for serving the future.” In May 2026, Cori completed her MEd in Curriculum and Instruction at American College of Education, where she immediately enrolled to begin her EdD in Early Childhood Education. She serves as an executive director at the University of Kansas (KU) and anticipates returning to Dallas to live near her family at the end of the year while awaiting her next opportunity. We are delighted to celebrate Cori and her decades of faithful, innovative leadership in the field of early childhood education and art. 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, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.