Written by: United Theological Seminary February 23, 2019

Awaiting the Results: A United Student Reflects on the General Conference

“The special called 2019 General Conference [of the United Methodist Church], set for Feb. 23–26 in St. Louis, will focus on moving the denomination past its decades-long struggle with issues around homosexuality. Proposed plans offer ways to stay together and ways to split.

The One Church Plan, Traditionalist Plan and Connectional Conference Plan and several other pieces of legislation related to homosexuality will be considered by 864 delegates from around the globe.

Katie Matson-Daley is a United student (class of 2019) and a United Methodist candidate for ministry, below are her reflections before General Conference this weekend:

Saint Louis, Missouri, is one of my holy places. For two summers in college, I experienced a dynamic multi-racial ministry that took the charge to take care of orphans, widows and immigrants. Saint Louis is a place where I experienced the life-changing love of being accepted as God’s beloved daughter. In my geography of faith Saint Louis, Missouri, on the edge of the Mississippi River, is a place where I would, like Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan, stack stones together and say, “Look at what God did here.” My call to ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church, and my call to United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is deeply rooted in what God did in my life seventeen years ago as a college student in Saint Louis.

My beloved church is heading to my beloved city this weekend. While I am in the Twin Cities, a part of my heart will be in Saint Louis this week.

When I interned in an educational enrichment and immigrant/refugee resettlement in Saint Louis with an evangelical church nearly two decades ago, my understanding of scripture was rooted in literalism.

Some of that literalism was life-giving and electrifying. The words of the prophets were clear that we should care for orphans, widows and immigrants. We spent days playing with preschoolers who lost parents in the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. Other interns did yard work for low-income widows in the Saint Louis summer heat. The words of Paul were clear: you have been adopted as a full son or daughter of God through Christ, you are worthy because of who God is, nothing you do can make you more or less worthy of love or belonging.

Other aspects of taking the scriptures literally were less liberating, but I accepted them. Paul was clear that he did not permit a woman to preach, so while I felt alive in the church office, and loved studying scripture and had a gift for communication, it was clear that I was NOT called to the ministry of the pastor. I had known amazing gay and lesbian people, but scripture was clear that we were to love the sinner but hate the sin. So LGBTQ+ people were outside of God’s kingdom.

Feeling a strong call to ministry, but certain that God would not call someone like me (a woman) to pastoral ministry, I enrolled in the Community Ministry Leaders program at Bethel seminary in 2008. When I graduated in 2011, I had recognized two things and started to question a third.

First, there is no pure reading or interpretation of scripture. We all have a hermeneutic, we all have biases. As one professor put it, knowing God fully and interpreting God’s will perfectly is “beyond my epistemological ceiling.”

Second, my first journey to seminary, while carefully designed not to prepare me to be a pastor, revealed that I was called to pastoral ministry. I love preaching, offering pastoral care and leading congregations.

Besides these realizations, I also started to question what I had previously believed about LGBTQ+ people. I made a commitment to pray for wisdom, study and discern whether my theology needed to shift. As my understanding grew I was drawn to United to complete my MDiv and pursue ordination as an Elder in the United Methodist Church.

As Methodist Christians, we believe, like other Christians that, “The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation” (Methodist Articles of Religion, Article V), but unlike other Protestant denominations, we are not a “sola scriptura,” tradition. We read the scriptures through what twentieth-century scholar Albert Outler calls the Wesleyan Quadrilateral: scripture forms the base of our understanding, but we interpret scripture through reason, tradition and experience.

Reason and scripture influenced my transformation on LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion, but it was experience and tradition that convinced me. Jesus says, “They will know you are my disciples by your love,” and “a tree is known by its fruit.” Over the years, I have seen faithful gay and lesbian Christians whose lives are marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. These folks love Jesus and have chosen to stay in the body of Christ in the face of lots of hurt. I also experienced the pain as beloved friends and students found my beloved church too traumatizing for them as trans, gay and bisexual people.

Our tradition has a history of splitting, often because of racial segregation and slavery. The parallels between the mistreatment of people in black bodies, and the mistreatment of people in queer bodies are too eerily similar. Our tradition’s sin of excluding people ought not be repeated, not on the basis of race, nor on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. An elderly African American woman, who remembers the racial segregation of the United Methodist Central jurisdiction (from 1939 to 1968), recently told me, “God doesn’t make junk. It was wrong to keep Black people out of the larger body then, and it is wrong to keep gay people out now.” I had to say, “Amen.”

As Methodist Christians, we are called to the spiritual practice of the General Rules. The first of these rules, is “first, do no harm.” Exclusion, hurtful language and forcing clergy to live closeted and semi-closeted lives are doing great harm.

I have compassion for those in favor of a traditional understanding of marriage and ordination. I’ve been in that space and understand how a more progressive understanding seems to offend God’s holiness. It is no longer a belief that I hold, but I have compassion for those who believe differently than me. I also have compassion for clergy and lay people around the world who live in countries were homosexuality is against the law, and the challenge of contextualizing decisions made in the United States to their ministries. I understand that we will not all think alike, but like John Wesley, I wonder if we could not love alike. My prayer for the coming week is that we will remove the harmful language from the Book of Discipline, and that if we split or if we remain the United Methodists, we would continue to love one another. But I cannot ask that our unity be built on the oppression and exclusion of LGBT+ people any longer. I have compassion for people with traditional beliefs, but I do not have patience for the Traditionalist Plan. We may read scripture differently, but we ought not punish one another or push each other out based on our reading.

My invitation to the larger United body is that you would be in prayer for my United Methodist Church this week. That you would offer extra compassion to both the LGBTQ+ people in your life and the Methodists you know (many of us are both). My invitation to the UMC is that we would make sure that there is a place for everyone at the table.

Katie Matson Daley is one of several students pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church at United as part of Methodist Studies program.

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June 25, 2026

Activism Alums immigration justice Liberation Theology

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

Rev. Dr. Tim McGregor (’26) Finds Hope for Healing in Exploratory Theology

Rev. Dr. Tim McGregor (’26) has been a chaplain, pastor, and church planter for years. How did he find this well-trodden path? Tim says his mother introduced him to Christ. “She was very devout,” he explains. Unfortunately, she was also very sick, so Tim spent more time in hospitals than in church as a child. Still, he recalls one incident during communion when he was 11. Tim shares that he “had a very out-of-body experience with the divine while I was in church, and it touched my soul.” Tim grew up and pursued a BA at Tuskegee University. While there, he experienced another out-of-body experience when he was robbed at gunpoint and stabbed. “At that point,” he reflects, “I decided to rethink some of my living and some of my decisions. It reignited my spiritual walk.” As he changed the way he lived, Tim felt a spiritual nudge. Others observed that they “saw the calling” on his life. And dreams about preaching began to recur. “Before I ever preached a sermon, I dreamed I was preaching…in the same church where I ended up preaching later on.” Christian Theological Seminary Though Tim identified as National Baptist, he decided to attend Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indiana—a progressive school aligned with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It helped that Dr. Edward Wheeler, an ordained Baptist minister whom Tim knew when Wheeler worked at Tuskegee, was CTS’s president. During a United chapel service this March, Tim described his experience at CTS as “quite grueling,” but also that he “learned a lot.” As he clarified more recently, he had to “let go of a very fundamentalist perspective,” and that sort of deconstruction was difficult. “It was a crucible situation,” Tim asserts. Chaplaining and Church Planting After earning his MDiv in 2003, Tim spent years in Mississippi and Texas planting churches and working as a hospital chaplain. Since returning to Minnesota, he’s been a chaplain at Regions Hospital, Abbott Northwestern, and the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, and pastored at Family Bible Church. He suspects that the time he spent with his mother in hospitals likely inclined him toward hospital chaplaincy. When he decided to pursue a DMin, Tim reviewed his options. Only United, he found, had the interreligious chaplaincy program and liberal ethos that made his MDiv work transformational. Plus, he could attend onsite or online as his schedule allowed. “It was a great benefit,” Tim attests, “to do both.” United and Nat Turner Tim credits Dr. Jessica Chapman Lape, former director of the Interreligious Chaplaincy program, with positively shaping his education. Her theological knowledge and emphasis on her African American heritage impressed him. Dr. Munjed Murad’s Comparative Theology course elevated Tim’s intercultural acuity. Munjed is an assistant professor of World Religions and Intercultural Studies, supported by the Johnson-Fry Endowment. Tim describes his dissertation, “The Exploratory Theology of Nat Turner and Its Effects on African and African American PTSD,” as “a labor of love.” Why Nat Turner? “I appreciate his passion and his desire to live and fight for the rights of his people,” Tim explains, “and his willingness to do so in the name of his religious beliefs.” In addition, “I’m always interested in people that…have been misunderstood or written off as villains.” Shepherded with vital support from Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman (assistant professor of Theological Ethics and Formation), Tim’s dissertation studies Nat Turner, his traumatic experiences as a slave, and his burgeoning theology. It also traces links to the moral injury, trauma, and PTSD endemic to military service, especially for African American veterans. Tim wants to “understand more about…how to be an asset to my community.” He feels that “United was a really good place for that” and is a rich resource for “clergy…and spiritual caregivers” who are going to help us “keep pressing toward better understandings.” Tim is grateful for United’s role in honing his academic and spiritual voice.