CRCDS Fall and Spring Lecture Series
A key component of the CRCDS education and experience are the annual Fall and Spring Lectures. The Lectures connect nationally and internationally known scholars and leaders to CRCDS for a critical and engaging conversation on a range of topics related to the Black Church, women in ministry, LGBTQ+ issues, preaching, pastoral ministry, family ministry, children and adolescent health and spirituality, ethics, ecumenism, inter-faith studies, and Veterans’ issues. Each week of lectures includes worship services and opportunities to reflect on God’s call, both as individuals and as a community.
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Monday, March 6, 2023
5:30 pm, Eastern: Helen Barrett Montgomery Lecture
"Queer Intimacies and Art as the Necessary Work of the Soul"
Lecturers:
- Dr. Su Yon Pak, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean and Associate Professor of Integrative and Field-Based Education at Union Theological Seminary
- Rev. Alicia Forde, International Office Director at the Unitarian Universalist Association
Lecture Overview:
Katie Cannon famously declared “Do the work your soul must have.” This talk will explore art as the work that our souls must have. Drawing on our shared and singular social locations of interstitial reality (Rita Nakashima Brock) and the practice of cultivating playful vulnerability and queer intimacy through art, this talk identifies the relational, communal, embodied, experiential and dialogical as markers of the artistic process. We will explore the following as feminist praxis: art as pilgrimage, art as relationship, art as communal radical praxis and art as political warfare (Audre Lorde/Sara Ahmed).
Lecture Description:
Originally designed as an Institute on Women in Church and Society, the first institute was in November 1995 and brought leaders of national and international renown to lead in a dialogue around the theme "Women Re-imagining a Violent World". Helen Barrett Montgomery who died in 1934, was a prominent Rochesterian, church leader, and tireless worker for the advancement of women in education and society. With Susan B. Anthony and Mary Gannett, she formed the Women's Educational and Industrial Union and was its first president. She chaired the committee to raise funds to force the University of Rochester to accept women as students. She was the first woman to be elected to public office in the community, and as president of Northern Baptist Convention now ABC USA, first woman to head a major Protestant denomination. Her husband was a trustee of CRDS and was a strong supporter of the school.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
11:15 am, Eastern: Gene E. Bartlett Chapel Service
Preacher:
- Rev. Dr. Irie Lynne Session, CRCDS '12, Co-Pastor of The Gathering, A Womanist Church of the Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ) in Dallas, Texas; and CEO of DreamBIG Coaching & Consulting
Sermon Title: "God Did"
REGISTER HERE
Chapel Description:
The Rev. Dr. Gene E. Bartlett, president emeritus of Colgate Rochester Divinity School, died in 1989 at the age of 79. Dr. Bartlett was president of CRCDS from 1960 to 1970. After his tenure as CRDS President, he became the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Newton Centre, Mass. Following his retirement from the church, CRCDS President Greenfield appointed Rev. Bartlett as a Pastor in Residence for the divinity school and initiated the Bartlett Preaching Conference in 1985. Dr. Bartlett authored several books and had a radio ministry from 1935 to 1960. He was a former president of the Massachusetts Council of Churches and the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. Following Dr. Bartlett's death, donations from his family and friends funded the continuation of the three-day biennial preaching conference to be led by an outstanding leader in the field of homiletics. Mrs. Jean Bartlett, who passed away in 2015, served as an advisor and on the planning committee. The legacy of Dr. Bartlett in this Chapel service named in his honor.
5:30 pm, Eastern: Christian Faith and LGBTQ+ Experience Lecture "We Have Always Been Healers: On Building a Genderqueer Ministry"
Lecturer:
- Rev. Lane-Mairead Campbell (they/them), Settled Minister at First Universalist Church of Rochester, in Rochester, NY
Respondent:
- Mr. Brittan Hardgers, President and founder of NGMT (Next Generation Men of Transition)
Partner congregations include: Lake Avenue Baptist Church, Downtown Presbyterian Church, Third Presbyterian Church
Lecture Description:
This lecture has been regularly delivered twice a year since 1998, which means this is a tradition entering its 24th year. Its purpose is, first, to present a Christian word in a safe space to the LGBTQ+ community that represents Good News instead of condemnation, exclusion, and spiritual violence. Second, to educate students and the wider community about authentic LGBTQ+ perspectives on sacred texts, theology, pastoral care, and Christian faith. At CRCDS, the Christian Faith and LGBTQ+ Experience lecture is housed in the GSRJ program: Gender, Sexual, and Racial Justice. Formerly titled The Program for the Study of Women and Gender in Church and Society, the Gender, Sexual, and Racial Justice program grows out of the Divinity School’s decades-long history of officially recognizing women and gender studies as essential for a strong theological curriculum. The new title of the program puts two of the program’s longstanding commitments front and center. First: A commitment to the belief that paying quality attention to women and gender in theological education requires paying quality attention to sexuality and race. One cannot be done well without the others. Second: A commitment to providing the kind of education that equips students to intervene in contexts of social harm and develop strategies for building and strengthening community-based justice in gendered, sexual, and racial terms. The Christian Faith and LGBTQ+ Experience lecture is a vitally important part of the program.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
5:30 pm, Eastern: Stanley I. Stuber Lecture – Doctor of Ministry Student Panel
Lecture Description:
The Stuber Lectureship was inaugurated in 1984 by the children of Dr. Stanley I. Stuber, in honor of his 80th birthday. Dr. Stuber was an alumnus of Rochester Theological Seminary, Class of 1928 (B.D., M.Th..) who became a leading Baptist pastor, writer, and editor. Stanley. Dr. Stuber earned an international reputation as an advocate of peace, human rights, and goodwill. He was an ecumenist of note. The list of service organizations to which he contributed is exhausting. He was an official observer at various sessions of the United Nations, edited the daily bulletin of the World Council of Church in Amsterdam, attended the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965, served as executive secretary for the World Relief Committee during World War II, was actively involved in the formation of the National Council of Churches in 1950, chaired the Commission on Religious Liberty of the Baptist World Alliance for 15 years, and served as the executive director for Association Press of the YMCA from 1964 – 1969. He saw himself as an ecumenical Baptist who “got along with people of all faiths.” Dr. Stuber was best known for his interdenominational and international leadership. His spirit of humanitarianism, civil rights, world peace, and justice for all people is remembered in the lectureship named in his honor. Dr. Stuber died in 1987 and his wife, Mrs. Helen Stuber, in 1994.
Thursday, March 9, 2023
5:30 pm, Eastern: African American Legacy Lecture
Dr. Kishundra D. King, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of the Black Religious Thought and Life Program at CRCDS, will host a conversation panel on Black Religious Thought & Life with special guests:
- Rev. Dr. Jamie F. Eaddy-Chism, CRCDS '20, Womanist Theology, Loss Navigation Specialist, and Death Doula;
- Dr. Joi R. Orr, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Interdenominational Theological Center
- Rev. Dr. Shazetta Thompson-Hill, Director, Doctor of Ministry program at CRCDS.
Lecture Description: The African American Legacy Lectureship honors the life and legacy of Mordecai Wyatt Johnson (1890-1976), who graduated from Rochester Theological Seminary in 1916; Howard Thurman (1900-1981), who graduated from Rochester Theological Seminary in 1926; and Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), graduated Crozer Theological Seminary; and their contributions to the traditions and history of Black Church in society and the world. In 2012 the leadership of CRCDS chose to commensurate these three named lectures into a Spring and Fall Lectureship to acclaim our notable alums.