Written by: United Theological Seminary March 30, 2021

Stations of the Cross 2021: Online Exhibit

The Stations of the Cross is a Catholic devotion that commemorates fourteen images or stations from the last day of Jesus’ life. Participants meditate on each station and may recite specific prayers. As a processional liturgy—whether contained within a church or displayed in yards in a neighborhood—the Stations of the Cross is a kind of miniature pilgrimage in which the faithful engage in embodied meditation on the Passion of Jesus.

This online gallery and video are inspired by the Stations of the Cross and are curated by Dr. Jennifer Awes-Freeman, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Arts and Theology at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. The original artworks were submitted by United students and alumni of many religious traditions. These artworks form a kind of virtual pilgrimage for the viewer/listener to engage with at their own time and place, as art exhibition, liturgy, or a combination of both.

Some pieces may speak more to you than others. Individual pieces may stand out or you might draw the most meaning from the whole as a collection. Some pieces might challenge you, others surprise you, still others might resonate on a deeply familiar level. As you “move” through the pieces be guided by your heart, communing with others across time and place, thirsting for the sacred.

Video of the Stations with Liturgy

The Artworks

Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death

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Samantha Carwyn

Station 2: Jesus carries his cross

2-Cara Hochhalter

Cara Hochhalter

Artist Statement

Artist’s questions for the viewer: What do you see here? What does the significance of Jesus’ heart mean to you? How did his love impact his attitude at this very time? What about the way Jesus is dressed? What do the charcoal expressions surrounding the image say to you? Jesus’ outstretched leg seems to become one with the cross; what do you think about the cross being a symbol for Jesus? The Gospel of John is the only one that says Jesus carried his cross. The other gospels have someone else carry the cross for him. What does all this mean to you? Do you notice a lily-like flower in the image and what does this say to you? Do the rocks have any significance for you in this story?

Station 3: Jesus falls for the first time

3-IMG-2613-1 Elizabeth O’Sullivan

Station 4: Jesus meets his mother, Mary.

Jesus Meets His Mother

For days
the sky has darkened
to the color of baked bread
with the dust of many feet.
The pigeons
hide their heads
in the eaves

in shame

I have removed my bracelets
my rings
so there is nothing
between me
and my god

my god
how you fell
from his mouth
rearranging the space
bringing it alive
like the singing
on the edge of a sword
charges the air

if I could sever my own liver
in two
wring the blood
as sacrifice
instead

I would. I would.

For days the sky has changed
into the color of dark bread
all dust

and rumbling

we wait

the earth flattens

into cacophony

Yet when I fall
into your twitching shoulder
your straining neck
it is in a bubble of silence
profound

that I will never escape
all the long days

Monique Wentzel

Station 5: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.

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Suzanne Cole Sullivan

Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

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Artist Statement

They’ve got a line around the corner. Guys are buying two, three pies apiece
– Revenge of the Nerds,
directed by Jeff Kanew, (1984; Los Angeles, CA: Interscope Communications, 20th Century Fox, 2007), DVD.

I’ve cut off Heather Chandler’s head and Heather Duke’s head has sprouted in its place like some mythological thing my eighth grade boyfriend would know about
– Heathers,
directed by Michael Lehmann, (1989; Atlanta, GA: New World Pictures, Image Entertainment, 2011), DVD.

Medusa Crucified
Perseus forced my chin, split me
from body, sampled an unsimple thing,
sapped me with tricks… Give head to heroes, huh,
become a trophy. . .
Unless I am a talisman,
A guard from gorgon, not only used but useful,
shield for cocksure boys as serpents in the sea
and all her grottos (birthing, dark antitheses)
are strangled in their thighs.
Am I talisman or trophy,
O Suns, o Heroes, o Sires of Kingdom Come?

Veronica Emboldened
To grasp a man in woman’s fabric…
powerless and empowering, bodiless but bleeding.
Love him. Diminish him.
Scrunch the face, wet it, wring it, quench headaches
from beggar to emperor.
Rome, will yield the greatest profit.

Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus ’20

Station 7: Jesus falls for the second time

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Karl Bjornerud

Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

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weep07

weep05

weep03

weep06

weep02
weep04 Micah Murray

Station 9: Jesus falls for the third time

9 Stations_of_the_Cross_09_Elizabeth_J

Elizabeth Jacobson

Station 10: Jesus is stripped of his clothes

10-Stripped

Angelique Russell-Sawyer

Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the cross

11-Carly

Carly Gaeth

Station 12: Canticle of the crucifixion

12-Maroni

Christine Moroni

Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the cross

13-Mellisa

Melissa Miller ’20

Station 14: Jesus is placed in the tomb

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Artist Statement

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace Peace’ they say, when there is no peace. Jeremiah 6:14

This altarpiece is a response to an invitation offered after the killings in Atlanta: “Your grief is mine. My grief is now yours as well, if you can embrace it.” Creating this piece was my own particular way of touching and making with the grief I feel in my own particular body, but also this grief that lives through my relationship to other bodies.

In my attempt to embrace this interconnected groundwater of grief in a world where our physical bodies are still separated by the pandemic, I turned to the images–and the lives, ideas, and dreams they hold–born from the wound made and exposed by this moment. In a time when the unprocessed and complicated grief feels too big and yet the urgency to relate to this grief differently cannot be ignored, what structures and symbols might we recover from our religious and cultural lineages that help us connect to and feel the flood of grief and move from this place towards transformation and healing?

In bringing together images of public grieving, memorial, and activism across time and place, such as the supposed site of Jesus’ tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, George Floyd Square, projects such as https://sayevery.name/, and the sites of the recent shootings in Atlanta, I found an overwhelming and overlapping collage of the ordinary and ornate: open lament and quiet presence, protest signs and prayer candles, piles of bouquets of flowers–wilting, fresh, and fake all mixed together, stuffed animals and portraits of saints, singing and food-sharing, and of course, the faces of those who have been killed by the violence of white supremacy and misogyny. This triptych altarpiece emerged from allowing these images and their stories to spillover through me and into each other, while still holding on to their own particular meaning. In mingling personal devotional object with the communal and political, as well as particular wounds with collective trauma, I hope to uncover possibilities for a more connected and creative grief practice for ongoing movements of healing and justice.

Here is a link to the names of those pictured. This is nowhere near complete. Many of the images came from https://sayevery.name/ as well as recent news coverage. I encourage you to read their stories, and visit the links and resources included in CARJ’s statement in response to the Atlanta shootings.

Stephani Pescitalli

Arts Lunch, March 30

Stations of the Cross 2021 Online Exhibit:

Meet the Artists

Tues. Mar. 30, 12pm-1pm CST

Zoom Event.

As part of our weekly Arts Lunch series, on Tuesday March 30 at 12pm central, we will be having a special “meet the artists” session with a number of the artists who participated in Stations of the Cross 2021. For zoom information, contact Dr. Jennifer Awes-Freeman at jawes-freeman@unitedseminary.edu

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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.