VOICES Archives - Page 2 of 3 - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

June 23, 2025

VOICES

Mary Ann Murray (’76) Treasures the Relationships She Established at United

In 1969, when Mary Ann Murray (’76) enrolled at United, America was embroiled in the Vietnam War, and the seminary, which opposed the war, had spent its first seven years led by and attended by men. It was also a residential school, where faculty and students lived on campus and forged a collegial bond. Along with Rev. Marilyn Creel (’72), Mary Ann was one of the first two women to enroll in the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program. Unlike their colleagues, neither lived on campus. Mary Ann was married, with young children, and Marilyn was not allowed to live on campus as a single woman. (more…)

June 17, 2025

Liberation Theology VOICES

Rev. A. Leon Tredwell, PhD (’06) Publishes Good News in His New Book

Rev. A. Leon Tredwell, PhD (’06) realized his spiritual calling at age 10. “I came up in the church,” he explains, at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia—a Black church wrestling with the “narrative of civility.” At the time, “we were down to one lady (Ms. Walker) who shouted” when she caught the spirit. One Sunday, Lee and his friends were in the back row when someone told the youngsters exactly when Ms. Walker would shout. When the prediction came true, the boys broke into suppressed laughter. That’s when Lee heard the Spirit speaking to him. “Why are you laughing at her?” Lee recalls the voice asking. It continued: “She’s only doing that because I’ve been good to her. And I’ve been good to you, too.” Since Lee’s family setting had changed from abject poverty to suburban middle class, he could only agree. The die was cast. (more…)

June 9, 2025

VOICES

At United, Kateri Boucher Is Inspired to Chase Her Childhood Dreams

Kateri Boucher, who is pursuing an MDiv in Church Leadership, felt a call to ministry very early. “I was three when I told my mom I wanted to be a priest,” she recalls. She adds, “I would preach homilies and make [my mom] write them down.” Raised in Upstate New York, Kateri’s family attended a progressive Catholic church untethered from Roman Catholic strictures. Watching a woman priest serve communion sparked her pronouncement. Years later, after attending a liberal arts college, Kateri jumped at a chance to work on an “urban agriculture” project in Detroit. The community she found through the Catholic Worker and an Episcopal church rekindled her sense of calling, so she moved there. Now, at United, Kateri is making her dreams a reality. (more…)

May 5, 2025

Liberation Theology VOICES

Rossmann Faculty Development Award Launches in 2025

We are thrilled to share that Jack and Marty Rossmann have endowed a fund to support faculty development at United. Jack, a current United board member, is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Macalester College, and Marty is a Professor Emerita of Family Education at the University of Minnesota. The Rossmanns, who prize education by word and deed, have already established faculty development and excellence awards at Macalester and the University of Minnesota. Now they have generously extended faculty support to United. (more…)

April 29, 2025

Faith VOICES

The Living Legacy of Dr. Judith Scoville

“We’ve got to get you a Presidential scholarship,” Dr. Mary Farrell Bednarowski urged the prospective student in an interview. “Does this mean I’ve been admitted?” the interviewee asked. This is how Dr. Judith Scoville (’90) received a gift that would shape her life and, through her reciprocated generosity, reverberate decades later in the lives of new generations of United students. It was, in her words, “the biggest academic honor I’d ever received.” Judith came to United after several years in an Education for Ministry program facilitated by an Episcopal seminary. The Education for Ministry program was predicated on asking, “What are we called to do? What is our ministry?” At the time, Judith was working for “not a very ethical company,” she quipped, but this experience sparked her interest in and passion for ethics. “I was in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church,” Judith recalls, “and for four years... it was a small group of us [that] met every week,” studying Scripture, theology, and church history. Nearing the end of the program, the associate minister remarked, “maybe I should go to United.” For Judith, “Coming to United was part of pursuing that question of ‘what is my ministry?’” (more…)

August 28, 2024

Religion and Theology VOICES

Keith and Mary Farrell Bednarowski Establish the Sophia Chair in Religious and Theological Studies

In February 2024, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities was thrilled to announce the establishment of the Sophia Chair in Religious and Theological Studies. Realized through a generous donation by Dr. Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies (1976–2004), and her husband, Keith Bednarowski (pictured at right), the Sophia Chair makes possible a tenure-track, endowed faculty position. An endowed chair is often named by the donor(s) whose gift establishes it. When considering this responsibility, Mary believed it “appropriate and appealing to name the chair after an ‘idea’ with sufficient depth of meaning, complexity, and connection to United. The name needed to inspire creative and dynamic explorations of religion, theology, and culture, an emphasis deeply embedded in all versions of the curriculum since United opened in 1962.” (more…)

August 1, 2024

Activism VOICES

Amoke Kubat (’17) Transforms Artistry into Activism

In 1987, Amoke Kubat (’17) moved from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. “I wanted to work with Prince,” she explains. Two years later, she began a 25-year career teaching special education in North Minneapolis with Minneapolis Public Schools. Toward the end of that life chapter, Amoke discovered art, and art connected her to United. Connecting to United Chiaki O’Brien, a SAORI weaving artist from Japan, came to United for an artist residency during a summer institute. Amoke, who had already met Chiaki and wanted to learn more about SAORI weaving, came too. “I sat and watched United faculty and students learn to weave,” Amoke recalls. “I was invited to weave.” (more…)

June 27, 2024

Fundraising VOICES

Bob McCrea: Remembering a Steadfast Ambassador for United

In his youth, Robert “Bob” Kyle McCrea* was an acolyte at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, and a founding member of the Edina High School Alpine Ski Team. As an adult, Bob was a founding partner and CEO of Colour Graphics Corporation, a member of St. Martin’s by-the-Lake Episcopal Church, and an active husband and father. He discovered United through his church Priest, Rev. Edwin John Eilertsen, who was a member of United’s Board of Trustees. In 1976, Rev. Eilertsen encouraged Bob to take a course at United. One spring course, “Outlines of Christian Faith,” was all it took for Bob to decide to support United. Though he had to drive in a few evenings a week, Bob’s wife Polly remembers that he really enjoyed being a student, loved the environment at the school, and studying at United helped his faith journey. (more…)

March 20, 2024

Faith VOICES

Bishop Lorna Halaas Imagines the Future of Seminary and the Church

Born on the prairie of western North Dakota, Bishop Lorna Halaas (’08) grew up in a family of storytellers. She was raised in Lutheran churches and recounts that her faith community was central to her life. One special lay leader—Mrs. Kurth—inspired her to consider ministry as a possibility, even before women could be ordained in her denomination. She recalls, “We had women who served on church staff who did faith formation, who did youth ministry, but I particularly remember a woman who served almost as a pastor. She taught Sunday school, confirmation, and oversaw the Christmas program.” As a young woman, Lorna said to herself, “I want to be Mrs. Kurth when I grow up.” (more…)