As incoming students get ready to embark on their seminary journey this fall, faculty members took a moment to consider books they read at the beginning of their journey, or books they wish they’d read at the beginning. While you will soon have plenty of reading once the semester starts, here are a few books to whet your appetite between now and September! (more…)
On Friday April 16, United students and professor Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis attended a virtual call with a staff member from Rep. Betty McCullom's office, coordinated by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light. The meeting included more than 60 faith leaders from St. Paul calling for strong federal action on the environment and climate justice. Student Stephani Pescitelli read a statement that the students wrote. Video below: (more…)
If you’ve had class with me anytime in the last six months, you may remember my asking you to remember the “Sanaa 6”in your prayers. These were a group of six Bahá’ís in prison in Houthi-held Sanaa, one with a death penalty hanging over his head just for being a member of the Bahá’í Faith. But this is one story that ultimately had a happy ending, as Ghaderi has recently been reunited with his family. --Karen Webb (more…)
Claude Monet, Three Paintings from Rouen Cathedral Series, 1892-1894. (more…)
In response to the violent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, MN, students in Professor Eleazar Fernandez's Public Theology for Social Transformation class worked together to write this statement. We share it as a reminder that the work of theology is always grounded in lived human experience and that calls for justice remain fundamental for people of all faiths. (more…)
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." The following is a reflection by Kimi Graff, who is working on an MDiv in Interreligious Chaplaincy. (more…)
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…)
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…)