Art has the tremendous power to restore us in a time when our world seems to make no sense and we need a moment of respite and encouragement from our daily struggles. A single photograph of a flower or a laughing child can buoy our spirit to carry on. (more…)
On August 12, 2025, the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ (MN UCC) and its Search Committee elected Rev. Dr. Tanya Sadagopan (’21) as its new Conference Minister. An adjunct faculty member and alum, Tanya assumes her new role on November 3, and she credits her education at United as having helped prepare her for Conference ministry. While considering enrolling at United, Tanya was facing a spiritual crisis. “I was parched in my work as a minister,” she recalls. “There was a woman in one of my churches who noticed I was holding something back.” The woman offered an encouraging word: “You could be fierce.” Seeking refreshment in her vocation, Tanya enrolled in United’s DMin program. “Once I started at United, I jumped fully in.... It was so worth it.” (more…)
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is delighted to announce that Rev. Stacy Craig (’20) has been selected as the 2025 recipient of our Spirit of United Award. Established in 2023, the Spirit of United award celebrates recent alums who have done “exceptional work that reflects the mission of United in the church, in faith communities, or in society.” Craig—an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister—has also lived into the vocation of an eco-chaplain, dedicating herself to remaining present within the interconnected web of life, as myriad lifeforms struggle to adapt to the changing climate. (more…)
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is proud to announce that Rev. Dr. Stephen C. Hsieh (’70) is the seminary’s 2025 Distinguished Alum. A gifted and experienced multilingual pastor, staunch justice advocate, and dedicated intergenerational mentor and consensus builder, Hsieh is now a retired pastor and teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA and in Taiwan). (more…)
Kim received a Master of Arts degree in theology, worship, and the arts from United in 1995. She is a tenured associate professor at the University of St. Thomas, teaching in the theology department with a focus on the arts. Her classes, which explore the intersection of theology and public health, integrate service learning into coursework. Due to her efforts in developing a service learning program, she was awarded the ‘Outstanding Faculty in Service Learning Award’ in 2006. (more…)
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES, March 6, 2025. United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is thrilled to announce the establishment of the Wilson Yates Chair of Theology and the Arts. This tenure-track, endowed faculty position will be made possible by gifts from a cadre of United friends, alums, and former faculty. (more…)
A key component of United’s community is curiosity. From the classroom to the chapel, students learn to question their beliefs and deconstruct contexts to become more mindful, ethical, and creative in their work as faith leaders. And this community value of curiosity doesn’t stop when students graduate. (more…)
To hear him talk, Damen Jensen-Heitmann has had pastoral aspirations since he was confirmed in the Trinity United Church of Christ in rural Marengo, Iowa in seventh grade. He grew up in a small town nearby (Victor, population about 950), and remembers that his church family helped him to feel cared for and supported. Now, decades later, Damen is the one offering care—both as a pastor and the co-owner of Steeple Brewing Co. in Hastings, Nebraska. (more…)
These days, it’s hard to imagine that United would ever have fielded a football team—flag or full contact. More than 50 years ago, however, it almost made sense. As Ted Meads (’71) and former seminary student Phil Johnson (pictured at right) recall, “When school started in the fall of 1967, a gaggle of seminarians played touch football on campus most afternoons.” There were also other sporting events. It is important to remember that seminarians and faculty in the 1960s were predominantly male. United’s first woman MDiv graduate, Marilyn Creel, didn’t cross the stage until 1972, and the first female faculty member on regular appointment, Patricia Wilson Kastner, wasn’t installed until 1975. So, when Mike Groh* (’69) asked his seminary mates if they wanted to play full-contact football against the Stillwater Prison football team, he was able to assemble a team, albeit a small one. At the time, Mike and Gary Miller* (’68) were ministering at the prison and had learned that the Colts (the prison team) had an opening in their schedule. (more…)