students

ADVENTure TIME: Theology and the Arts Students Write Litany for the UCC Board of Pensions

This summer, Dr. Cindi Beth Johnson, Director of The Intersection, Wilson Yates Center for Theology and the Arts, was asked to work with a group of students in the Theology and the Arts concentration to write a litany for the United Church of Christ’s National Board of Pensions. The request was to gather a group of students to study the lectionary texts and write a liturgy that would be available to all of the churches of the UCC as part of a bulletin insert during the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas. Here is an excerpt for the first week of advent: (more…)

United at the Parliament of the World’s Religions: Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive.

Early this November, Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde (Director of Interreligious Chaplaincy and Assistant Professor of Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counseling), Jessi LeClear Vachta (Associate Director of Admissions) and a group of current students attended the 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions in Toronto, Ontario. There, they held a panel "Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive." We will be publishing content from this presentation as a series over the next few weeks. This first post is from Dr. Yetunde's opening remarks about United's commitment to interreligious chaplaincy education. (more…)

Queer, Christian, and Ready to Serve: Putting the Pieces Together

Nikole Mitchell is a first year student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, where she is pursuing an M.Div. with a concentration in Social Transformation: "My whole life I’ve had to choose between social justice and my faith," she explains. "I never had a place where those two came together. So, when a friend of a friend suggested I check out United, I went on the school's website and saw they had a  Social Transformation program. Plus, was interfaith and affirming. It was everything I’d been looking for!" (more…)

Introducing Social Transformation at United: Videos from Students.  

At United, a key question is what makes an ethical leader. According Steve Newcom, Director of the Social Transformation Program, "there are injustices in the world" and for many of our students "their faith calls them to do something about that." In the following videos students discuss what calls them to study Social Transformation at United. (more…)

Creating Culture Together

When I agreed to take the position as Director of Student Experience and Culture at United Theological Seminary, I struggled initially to describe what I would be doing to my friends. Before I could form a coherent presentation of my coming duties, they began to fill in the blanks because of the word culture. “So are you the school anthropologist?” “Oh I get it, you are like the cruise director on a boat.” “I see so you make sure the students have a good experience while they are being cultured by the great ideas and thoughts of theologians”. (more…)

United Theological Seminary Call for Public Comments

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is seeking comments from the public about the seminary in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. United will host a visit December 4–5, 2017, with a team representing the Higher Learning Commission. United has been accredited by HLC since 1977. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation. (more…)

Showcasing Student Work: Theology in Contemporary Film

In Spring 2018, students had the opportunity to enroll in United's course TR650: Theology in Contemporary Film taught by Dr. Jann Cather Weaver. Dr. Weaver selected a number of films from the last 18 years, and each week, students were assigned to view a film outside of class. After watching the assigned movie twice and doing class readings, each student wrote a paragraph on the religious and ethical themes in the film and posed a theological question to be discussed in class. Focusing on films that are not explicitly religious, the course teaches students how to see theologically, and explore implicit theologies in art.   (more…)