Written by: United Theological Seminary June 29, 2018

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.

Several students from the course have volunteered to share their responses to films viewed in class, demonstrating how we can watch films “theologically.”

Responding to Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) directed by Scott Hicks.

“What is truth? Fact is not necessarily truth, yet it is the truth we believe that can obscure fact. The deep, thick fog and the raging blizzard in Snow Falling on Cedars are metaphors for the personal or communal truths obscuring the fact that Carl’s death was accidental and that Miyamoto was accused of that death simply because he had been there moments before and that he was Japanese. While it is not an actual fog or raging blizzard, the same effect happens when one group of people allows their belief of the truth to lead to events like the interment at Manzanar, to the murder of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis, and to the use of religion as an excuse for discrimination. It is not only the fact of hate that can be lost in the fog, but love as well. Ishmael taking the steps to expose the facts that freed Miyamoto simultaneously cleared the fog away from the bad memories of the end of his relationship with Hatsue and allowed them both to be free in the memories of their love. Cedar trees are often used to symbolize immortality, protection, and strength. What tools do we need, as faith leaders and spiritual caregivers, in order to embody the symbolism of the Cedar tree as we stand with others in the deep fog or raging blizzard?”

“When we live in a welcoming community, we value the dignity and worth of every person. Snow Falling on Cedars is a painful reminder that even today our nation is attempting to repeat the monstrous act of making people invisible. Director Hicks does an eloquent job of using nature to both reinforce the wrongdoing of oppression while also proclaiming God’s cleansing ability. In the opening scene, the fog obscures Carl’s boat causing him to meet with a tragic end while seemingly sealing the case against Kazuo. A severe storm knocks out the lights of the courthouse as Hatsue admits to withholding evidence in order to avert predestined prejudice against her husband. As the Japanese are driven away from their homes, the snow has downed an ancient cedar resulting in its removal, metaphorically pointing to the abrupt removal of the Japanese themselves.”

Responding to Moonlight (2016) directed by Barry Jenkins

” ‘Notorious G.O.D.’
Little, Chiron, and Black: three different names played by three different actors for the one main character in Moonlight. As Chiron struggled to find his identity, he identified himself by names assigned to him by his community. Throughout human history people have assigned names that prescribe identities to generate cultural “norms” and pathologize difference. The same can be said for the practice of naming g-d. Is it possible to name g-d without inferring superiority? How does one’s individual experience and naming of g-d intersect with collective identification and communal worship? Is naming g-d a way of appropriation? What is the purpose for a universal name for g-d?”

Responding to Departures (Okuribito) (2008), directed by Yôjirô Takita

“In Departures, Daigo’s first assignment as an encoffiner is to act as a corpse for an encoffinment training video: he is stripped, dressed in a diaper, made up, shaved, and handled by both a costumer and by his boss, Sasaki. In a later scene after having encountered his first corpse, Daigo forces his wife Mika to expose her belly and waist. He thrusts his face against her skin, then slowly moves upward on her body, almost breathing her into himself. A scene in which Daigo is objectified as a body is followed by a transference of objectification onto his wife. The forceful –even irresponsible– ways Daigo is handled and the way he handles Mika occur within a film that challenges of a societal prejudice about those who work with the dead. Throughout the film, the encoffiners’ work is depicted as careful, loving, and respectful, ushers the corpse from a thing to a person who is recognized by their family. In placing the life-giving handling of the corpses against exploitative uses of bodies between living people, how is the subject/object relationship between bodies critiqued, renegotiated, or fully transformed? What does this say about God as handler?”

Responding to Billy Elliot (2000), directed by Stephen Daldry

“Being yourself in a world that demands assimilation is a radical act of resilience. Daring to embrace one’s whole self, both as complex being with many intersectional talents and identities and as a beloved child of G-d, demands boldness in vulnerability and a generous leap of faith. Differentiating ourselves from outside forces that have shaped us requires incredible spiritual endurance and emotional stamina, not only because of environmental and familial pressures and expectations but because the process of discerning our wants and needs, ideologies and values, can sometimes take a lifetime to understand. I found the progression of Billy’s differentiation of self to beautiful in its familiarity and wondrous to behold. From his initial interest in ballet, to his undercover rehearsals and research, to the many conflicts with both his family and Miss Wilksinson, to the acceptance of his father through Billy’s hard work, passion, and persistence, to his audition , and finally to his acceptance to the Royal Ballet School and eventual tole in Swan Lake, we see Billy wrestle with what it means to be himself. We see his own doubts and fears, as well as the doubts and fears of those around him__his fear of his own ability and inadequacy, his father and brother struggling to keep their faith in the midst of the strike, their fear of what others will think of Billy if he follows his vocation, and their ow judgments of what it means to be a ballet dancer (sexual orientation, gender, patriarchal ideals of masculinity). It begs the question: what does it mean to be ourselves and to embrace our own identity as a beloved child of G-d; how do we recognize the divinity within us?”

As the course nears its conclusion, students have the opportunity to choose from a number of exciting final projects, including: create your own film and theology curriculum, write a sermon using a film, and make a short movie with theological themes. TR650: Theology in Contemporary Film can be taken as a general theology elective and as an elective for the Theology and the Arts concentration.

Interested in Theology and the Arts at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities?

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October 9, 2026

Alums Homecoming News Releases

Rev. Dr. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell (’06) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is excited to announce that Rev. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell, PhD—who earned his MA in Theology and Biblical Interpretation from United in 2006—has been selected as a 2026 Distinguished Alum. An accomplished preacher, teacher, and published author, Dr. Tredwell has championed biblical narratives that affirm the divinity of all people, regardless of their race, creed, color, class, gender, or sexuality. Adopted at age four, Lee was raised in the Baptist faith and felt called to ministry as a child. Even so, after earning a degree in Political Science and Sociology at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, he spent the first ten years of his professional life as a grain trader for Cargill. After connecting with Drs. Ralph and Alika Galloway, Lee found United, and his call was reignited. He remembers Rev. Dr. Carolyn Pressler (Professor Emerita of Biblical Interpretation, 1990–2020) and Dean Richard Weis* with great affection. Both teachers, he observes, “taught us to wrestle with the biblical text until it opened up and spoke.” They also introduced Lee to Black and post-colonial hermeneutics, and Rev. Dr. Weis led him to passages in Jeremiah 38 (Hebrew Bible) that sparked his interest in learning more about a Black character named Ebed-Melech. Lee also cites the influence of Rev. Dr. Christine Smith’s (Professor Emerita of Preaching 1992–2013) preaching courses on his life. In Colorado, at the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Lee completed a joint PhD program with a concentration in Religion and Social Change in 2017. Ronald Smith, a former United student who nominated Lee for this award, notes, “Dr. Tredwell has demonstrated that he is an innovator and compassionate leader who has served both inside the academy as a professor of African American Preaching at Iliff School of Theology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and in the larger community; he has served as [a] pastor, civil rights and human rights activist, and [a] chief executive officer in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, and Texas.” Lee’s new book—Black, Queer and Blessed: My Story and the Biblical Story Churches Don’t Teach—was published in June 2025. As the description reads, “For all who believe God-Yahweh is angry, mad, disgusted, and against LGBTQIA+ folx, regrettably, you been had, misled, took, hood-winked and bamboozled! Black, Queer and Blessed, through lived experience and the excavation of the subjugated biblical narrative of Ebed-Melech, demolishes society’s antiquated mores.” The book is part memoir and part theological reflection on the Ebed-Melech revelation. In addition to his roles as teacher, preacher, and author, Lee has specifically worked to promote adoption of Black children from foster care and create affordable housing. These days, he serves as the pastor of Theology and Community Engagement at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. As Ronald Smith asserts, “Dr. Tredwell is the embodiment and an exemplar of United Theological Seminary’s mission, vision, and values.” * of blessed memory 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, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.

Lena K. Gardner (’15) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

[caption id="attachment_11955" align="alignnone" width="1920"] photo by Bethany Birnie[/caption] United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is thrilled to announce that Lena K. Gardner—who graduated with an MA in Justice and Peace Studies in 2015—has been selected as one of our three 2026 Distinguished Alums. A highly respected social justice activist and community leader, Lena is the co-founder and executive director of Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), a nonprofit founded in 2015 that creates life-giving and life-saving opportunities for spiritual community and Black-centered organizing. According to Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel (’13), Lena has “been a force in the Twin Cities’ religiously rooted justice ecosystem for the last 15 years.” Dr. Voelkel, Lena’s nominator, traces Lena’s justice-organizing acumen back to 2011, when she served on the Faith Organizing Roundtable—a body that coordinated religious communities’ opposition to the anti-marriage amendment. Lena went on to champion marriage equality in the 2012–2013 legislative session. After a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, Jr., an unarmed 18-year-old Black teen, in 2014, Lena played a key role in transforming the Faith Organizing Roundtable into the Multifaith Anti-Racism, Change & Healing or MARCH. “In that same period,” Voelkel notes, “Lena was a core team organizer of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and served on its steering committee.” Lena was deeply involved, quoted in many national and local articles, and interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio after former police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in 2020. In April 2021, after a Brooklyn Center police officer killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, Lena co-wrote an article in the Sahan Journal demanding that Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecute the case, and that the Hennepin County attorney be removed. More recently, Lena embarked on another ambitious project. In May 2024, through the BLUU Cooperative Housing Initiative, she co-hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for an affordable housing complex for single parents in North Minneapolis. In a MinnPost article about the groundbreaking, Lena explained, “It’s really about trying to give back to one of the communities that made me…. We really see providing stable housing in a cooperative framework as one of the many paths to collective liberation and Black liberation. Ultimately, it’s about self-determination.” When Operation Metro Surge arrived in the Twin Cities in late 2025, Lena took action again. As Voelkel observes, she “returned to the MARCH steering committee…. When MARCH organized a clergy call (in five days) to which 700 clergy came, the ability to create and host such an amazing event owes part of its success to Lena’s relationships with communications specialists, graphic designers, and organizers.” Lena was also a driving force behind Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), a mutual aid group she and Anna Stamborski founded in late 2025 to connect vulnerable ICE-targeted families with congregational networks whose members could provide shopping and transportation services. Through all of Lena’s indefatigable contributions to working for justice, Voelkel asserts, she “has focused on Black excellence, Black power, Black spiritual wholeness, Black beauty, and how non-Black folks can act in solidarity and followership of Black folks, particularly Black queer women. She has done so skillfully through building relationships across differences in ways that facilitate and deepen genuine relationships.”

Cori Berg (’98) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is elated to announce that Cori Berg (’98)—advocate, artist, and educator—is a 2026 Distinguished Alum. Cori earned her Master of Arts (MA) in Theology and the Arts in 1998, and for more than 27 years, she has integrated creativity, art, and spirituality into her field. Cori arrived at United in the 1990s, having majored in theater and minored in studio art during her undergraduate studies. “I knew I had an artistic voice,” she recalls, “but it didn’t make sense in any of the traditional contexts.” After seeing an advertisement for United’s Theology and the Arts program, Cori drove from Dallas to the Twin Cities to visit as a prospective student. A campus art exhibit by Merle Janis was all she needed to see—“this school had something I needed: strength, boldness, vulnerability.” For Cori, “life is liturgy.” She credits United with introducing her to “the freedom in a progressive faith.” At United, Cori learned to expand her creativity, which became a launching pad for a vibrant career. “United gave me a safe, nurturing space to explore, dream, and execute big things,” she writes. “I’ve continued that through the rest of my career as an artist, an educator, an administrator, and a speaker.” Art is central to Cori’s work and features prominently in her curriculum development for children. Her art was featured in the 2012 opening parade for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, TX, a project that involved “seniors, children, and adults in all aspects” from a local Methodist community program. Ministry with Children and Spirituality, courses taught by Rev. Dr. Barbara Anne Keely (Professor Emerita, 1991–2015), were particularly formative for Cori’s future in education. “I remember she taught us to get on the floor and view the church nursery from a baby’s point of view,” Cori reflects. “I use this today over and over as I teach early childhood educators…. She introduced the idea of seeing oneself not as a separate body, mind, or spirit, but when one part of my being is suffering, to use the other parts to help lift that part.” More recently, Cori has been an active community member at Dallas Meditation Center, where she is known for her moving dharma talks that weave Buddhist themes into contemporary storytelling. In public schools and congregational settings, Cori has applied what she learned as a United student to the field of early childhood education, for which—nominator Rev. Jim Peck (’99) points out—she has become “one of the nation’s leading advocates.” When facing challenges in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cori leveraged her ingenuity and creative vision to support educators with online training resources. As a teacher and an administrator in spaces where lack of institutional funding and support are commonplace, Jim observes, “she uses her [United] education to work for justice and equity,” to “nurture relationships in the early childhood settings where she has served, with an expertise in working in settings in crisis to encourage recovery, healing, and new paths for serving the future.” In May 2026, Cori completed her MEd in Curriculum and Instruction at American College of Education, where she immediately enrolled to begin her EdD in Early Childhood Education. She serves as an executive director at the University of Kansas (KU) and anticipates returning to Dallas to live near her family at the end of the year while awaiting her next opportunity. We are delighted to celebrate Cori and her decades of faithful, innovative leadership in the field of early childhood education and art. 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, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.