Special Course: Healing Haunted Histories
2026-03-09 16:00 - 17:30, 2026-03-16 16:00 - 17:30, 2026-03-23 16:00 - 17:30, 2026-03-30 16:00 - 17:30, 2026-04-06 16:00 - 17:30 (America/New_York)
Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler’s Discipleship of Decolonization
Mondays, January 12 – April 6, 2026
Register and view full schedule at the bottom of this page

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course utilizes social analysis, communal narratives, historical literacy, and biblical reflection to address deep-rooted injustices between settlers and the worlds of Indigenous (and other marginalized communities) in North America. Participants will engage with the Landlines-Bloodlines-Songlines (LBS) model tailored to their context, focusing on practical research and engagement rather than passive learning. Commitment to readings, research, and mutual accountability is essential for fostering Restorative Solidarity and deepening decolonization efforts. Please visit this website for more information about Healing Haunted Histories.
This course will require 3.0-3.5 hours per week for course preparation and attendance, and is 4.0 CEUs.
Meet the Course Facilitators
Rev. Dr. Lynne B. Caldwell, Pastor and Educator

While Lynne Caldwell’s “re-schooling” and personal work with her racism began in college, she only became connected with Healing Haunted Histories a few years ago. She sensed from the beginning that ‘doing the work’ (Audre Lorde) through Elaine Enns’ and Ched Myers’ model for Healing Haunted Histories is one of the best
Born in Asheville, NC, Lynne grew up in Black Mountain, NC. She earned a B.A. in Child Development, Berea College, Berea, KY; an M.Div., Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY; D.Min., Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC and two certificates in leadership from the Divinity School of Duke University. She has served appointments through the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church for more than 35 years, including 10 years “on-loan” to the Virginia Conference. Assignments/appointed positions include Associate Minister, Lead Pastor, Senior Pastor, District Superintendent, faculty member, and administrator of a non-profit.
Among Lynne’s passions is the exploration of the intersection of real faith and real life through meaningful relationships, spiritual practices, and a commitment to learning something new every day. She’s energized by a lifelong curiosity about human development and community. Inspired to sustain learning about how we grow in love for God, self, neighbors, and our enemies, she seeks to pursue integrity between words and behaviors. And, so…she seeks to press on, in the company of others, daily practicing what it might mean to become God’s beloved community, until we’ve practiced our way into becoming embodiments of love, justice, equity, inclusion and forgiveness.
Lynne currently serves as pastor of Danbury Community Church in Stokes County, NC; and is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Religion, Ethics and Philosophy Department of Greensboro College. Lynne makes her home in Winston-Salem, NC.
Home Missioner Steve Taylor, Activist and Educator

Steve Taylor is a Home Missioner in the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, serving as Director of Anti-racist Discipleship and Beloved Community at Spring Forest New Monastic and Missional Community. Steve leads a transformative ministry integrating Christian discipleship with the pursuit of racial equity and justice. His work extends throughout the United Methodist Church, local congregations, and ecumenical partnerships, centering on peacebuilding, healing, and the creation of beloved community.
At Spring Forest, Steve develops and leads trainings and conversations addressing systemic racism—its historical roots, present realities, and spiritual paths toward reconciliation. He organizes community partnerships and advocacy efforts, helps congregations integrate antiracism into prayer and worship, and facilitates the Healing Haunted Histories process created by Dr. Elaine Enns and Ched Myers. Through these practices, Steve helps communities confront the past and embody God’s reconciling love in the present.
Steve’s vision is shaped by the Beloved Community — a vision of justice, equity, and unconditional love reflecting the Kin-dom of God on earth. “In intentional actions of education, advocacy, deep listening, honest and confessional truth-telling, and the work of antiracism as worship,” Steve says, “we build a community where every person is valued. Discipleship—patterning our lives after Jesus—must include the work of antiracism. It is the work of building peace and beloved community.”
Previously, Steve served as Executive Director of Connectional Ministries and Director of Missions for the North Carolina Conference and as a Church and Community Worker in Robeson County. His 35-year ministry has included work in both rural and urban settings and in Slovenian refugee camps during the Balkan wars. Across all contexts, he helps congregations engage deeply with their communities through shared spiritual and social transformation.
Steve is married to Sheryl Taylor, “the portrait of God’s grace,” and they have two children and four grandchildren.
Special Class Sessions with Elaine Enns and Ched Myers, Co-authors of Healing Haunted Histories

Elaine Enns has worked in the field of restorative justice since 1989, first focusing on victim-offender dialogue in the Criminal Justice System, and over the last decade looking at how restorative solidarity applies to historical violations, including issues of intergenerational trauma, healing and decolonization. With a DMin from St. Andrew’s Saskatoon, Elaine trains and teaches throughout North America, and her latest book, co-authored with her partner activist theologian Ched Myers, is Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization (Wipf & Stock, 2021); in 2009 the two-volume Ambassadors of Reconciliation: A New Testament Theology and Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (Orbis Books, 2009); and has published over a dozen articles. An ecumenical Mennonite, Elaine was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and lives in southern California where she co-directs Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries on traditional Chumash land.

A fifth generation Californian, Ched Myers is an activist theologian who has worked in social change and radical discipleship movements for more than 45 years. With a degree in New Testament Studies, he is a popular educator who animates scripture and its relationship to issues of faith-based peace and justice. He has authored over 100 articles and more than a half-dozen books, including Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus; Ambassadors of Reconciliation: A N.T. Theology and Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (with Elaine Enns); Our God is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice (with Matthew Colwell); Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting Bioregional Faith and Practice; Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization (with Elaine Enns, Cascade, 2021); and most recently Healing Affluenza and Resisting Plutocracy: Luke’s Jesus and Sabbath Economics (Fortress, 2024). Ched’s articles and books can be found on the linked sites.

Course Text:
Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler’s Discipleship of Decolonization, (The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice Series), by Elaine Enns and Ched Myers. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipft and Stock Publishers, 2021. ISBN (pbk): 978-1-7252-5535-7. Also available in hardback and as ebook.

Students should have their own copy in format personally preferred as we will utilize the text each session.

Click to order Healing Haunted Histories
Register and purchase a copy of Healing Haunted Histories by December 31, 2025 to receive a 40% discount on the book, use code HHHEV225 at check-out (publisher, Wipf & Stock).

Register by December 15, 2025

This course is offered by the Leadership Institute of Union Presbyterian Seminary in collaboration with Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries and The Church at Spring Forest UMC in Hillsborough, North Carolina

We believe everyone should have access to this learning opportunity. If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “HHH: Financial Aid”.UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free.

If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, you can register here using your UPSem email address.

Schedule

January 12 WELCOME TO HHH! Practical Matters /Introduction to the course
January 19 MLK Day; no class; encourage participants to engage in service in their local communities
January 26 1st class session: Introduction and Chapter 1 of the book, Elaine Enns attending
February 2 Session 2, Chapter 2
February 9 Session 3, Chapter 3
February 16 Session 4, Chapter 4
February 23 Session 5, Theological Interlude, Elaine Enns and Ched Myers attending
March 2 Session 6, Chapter 5
March 9 Session 7, Chapter 6
March 16 Session 8, Chapter 7
March 23 Session 9, Epilogue and Preparation for Making Commitments for Next Steps
April 6 Closing and Session 10: Celebration and Commitment, Elaine Enns attending

Campus Chapel
2026-03-11 11:40 | Union Presbyterian Seminary: Richmond Campus, Lake Chapel, 3401 Brook Rd., Richmond, VA, 23227, United States
Join us for chapel, with Womanist Playground.

25-26 WLI Course: Queer Womanist Preaching
2026-03-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-03-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-03-25 19:00 - 21:00
Course Description:
This course will expose students to the queering of religious concepts such as redemption and salvation that create a decolonized preaching experience that centers the lived experiences of Black, queer women. Bishop Yvette Flunder’s preaching method, the Apocalyptic Method will be taught as an example of a sermonic method of a queer, womanist preacher. Students will learn the fundamental tenets of queer womanist preaching while critically reflecting on their own beliefs, especially their espoused sexual ethics. The course considers theological frameworks that inform queer womanist preaching, such as womanist theology and queer theology while keeping an eye towards Black, queer, women’s lived experiences.
Meet the instructor

The Reverend Dr. Nicole McDonald is a recent graduate of the Ph.D. program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary. She is an adjunct professor who teaches Queer Womanist Preaching at Chicago Theological Seminary and Diversity, Oppression, and Privilege at Ball State University’s Department of Social Work. Currently, Dr. McDonald serves as the Interim Senior Pastor of Central Christian Church in Indianapolis. Prior to entering the pastorate, she served over 14 years as a healthcare chaplain in hospice and level-one trauma centers. Pastor Nicole has a heart for God’s people. As a queer, womanist practitioner-scholar, she strives to build justice-oriented communities of radical inclusivity where all feel welcomed.
Dates: Wednesdays, 7-9pm EST, February 18 – March 25
Offered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary

Registration closes on February 16, 2 business days before the first class meeting.
UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free. If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, you can register here using your UPSem email address. If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “WLIQWP: Financial Aid.

Campus Cafe
2026-03-12 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-03-19 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-03-26 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-04-02 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-04-09 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-04-16 11:30 - 13:00, 2026-04-23 11:30 - 13:00 | Campus Cafe at Richmond Hall, 1007 Melrose Avenue, Richmond, VA, 23227, United States
Grab some lunch and stop by our campus swag store in Richmond Hall! We’ll have sandwiches (grilled cheese and chicken salad), soups, and cookies.

Special Course: Sacraments and Grace in Wesleyan Theology
2026-03-12 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-03-19 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-03-26 18:30 - 20:30
Course Description:
The keynote of Wesleyan theology is grace, understood experientially by the followers of Jesus in at least three modes of grace: prevenient, justifying, sanctifying. This course will explore the modes of grace within Wesleyan Theology, specifically related to the Sacraments.
Meet the Instructor

Rev. Alan Combs is an ordained elder in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, serving as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Salem, VA. With over 15 years of experience, he is dedicated to Wesleyan theology, spiritual formation, and ecumenical dialogue. He has also been involved with the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.
Dates: Thursdays, February 19 – March 26, 2026 | 6:30-8:30pm EST via Zoom
Click here to register!

Offered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary
We believe everyone should have access to this learning opportunity. If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “SCWT: Financial Aid”.
UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free. If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, please contact Deborah for a promo code.

25-26 Pathways: Worship & Sacraments
2026-03-12 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-03-19 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-03-26 19:00 - 21:00
Course Description:
This course will examine the history, theology, and practice of worship and sacraments. While rooted in the reformed tradition, the goal is to deepen appreciation for a variety of worship services and liturgical practices. Through reflections on readings and discussions of observed liturgical rituals, the course will seek to cultivate enlivened worship leadership practices and their theological impact within the particular ecclesial context for each person. At the end of the course, participants will be equipped and inspired to craft and lead worship that is lifegiving for them and their worshiping congregation.
Meet the Instructors

Dr. Donna Giver-Johnston is an ordained minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Over her twenty years in ministry, she has served churches in New Jersey and Ohio, and most recently as Pastor of Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Currently, she is a member of the faculty and the Director of the Doctor of Ministry degree program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She has earned degrees from Vanderbilt University (PhD and MA), Princeton Seminary (MDiv), and Westminster College (BA). Her published books include Claiming the Call to Preach: Four Female Pioneers of Preaching in Nineteenth-Century America (Oxford, 2021); Writing for the Ear, Preaching from the Heart (Fortress, 2021); For Every Matter Under Heaven: Preaching for Special Occasions (Fortress Press, 2022).

Rev. Dr. Diane Walton Hendricks has served as pastor of Clifton Presbyterian Church in Clifton, VA, since September of 2020. She is passionate about nurturing a community that is growing in relationship with one another, with God, with the community, and with God’s ongoing work in the world. Before coming to CPC, Pastor Diane served churches in Arlington and Falls Church. In addition, she serves the greater church as a spiritual director (trained in the contemplative tradition), and has also served on staff at Wesley Theological Seminary and in the Pathways program of Union Presbyterian Seminary. She also served National Capital Presbytery as its immediate past moderator and is presently chair of the Leadership Council. She received her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and her Doctor of Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Dates: Thursdays, 7-9pm EST, February 19 – March 26, 2025
Registration closes 2 days before the first class meeting on February 17, 2025.
Offered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary

If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “PWWS : Financial Aid”.
UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free. If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, you can register here using your UPSem email address.

2026 African American Social Justice Preaching Series: Worship
2026-03-22 10:30 - 12:00 | Greenville Memorial AME Zion Church, 6116 Montieth Drive, Greenville, NC, United States
Join the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR) for our 2026 African American Social Justice Preaching Series, March 22-23, 2026!

We welcome the Reverend Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Homiletics and Hebrew Bible at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and the founder of WomanPreach!, Inc. to Charlotte.

Throughout our series, God Pierces the Darkness, Dr. Bridgeman will preach and teach us about trusting God in the midst of trauma. We hope you will join us for worship and a reception on Sunday, March 22nd and a luncheon on Monday, March 23rd. Lunch registration here: https://qrco.de/2026AASJPS

2026 African American Social Justice Preaching Series: Luncheon
2026-03-23 11:30 - 13:00 | Union Presbyterian Seminary: Charlotte Campus, 5141 Sharon Rd., Charlotte, NC, 28210, United States

Campus Chapel
2026-03-25 11:40 | Watts Chapel, 3401 Brook Road, Richmond, VA, 23227, United States
Join us for chapel, with Dr. Megan Strollo.

25-26 WLI Course: Womanist Pastoral Theology
2026-04-09 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-04-16 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-04-23 19:00 - 21:00
Course Description:
This course explores pastoral care through a Womanist lens, centering the lived experiences, wisdom, and spiritual practices of Black women. Students will engage theological, psychological, and cultural frameworks that affirm Black women’s dignity, resilience, and holistic healing. Drawing on Womanist theology, African-centered psychology, and Black feminist thought, the course equips pastoral caregivers to practice care that is liberative, justice-oriented, and culturally relevant.
Meet the Instructor

Rev. Dr. Danielle “Danie” J. Buhuro is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also Executive Director and lead CPE Supervisor at Sankofa CPE Center which offers innovative online Clinical Pastoral Education programming along with unique social justice-oriented clinical work settings and prepares clergy chaplains for board certification. Dr. Buhuro is passionate about issues of race, gender and sexuality. She is author of “Spiritual Care In An Age of #BlackLivesMatter: Examining the Spiritual and Prophetic Needs of African Americans Living In A Violent America.”
Dr. Buhuro attended Chicago Theological Seminary, where she earned the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Theology, Ethics and Human Sciences with a focus on Pastoral Theology. Dr. Buhuro also holds a Doctor of Ministry and Master of Divinity degrees respectively and has served on the national board of directors for ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education. She facilitates numerous workshops nation-wide on African American Pastoral Care and African-centered psychology.
Rev. Dr. Buhuro is committed to excellence and community partnership. Her philosophy of education embraces a pedagogy of helping students enhance their pastoral identity and pastoral competence while improving their pastoral reflection.
Dates: Thursdays, 7-9pm EST, April 9 – May 14, 2026
Registration closes on April 7, 2026, 2 business days before the first class meeting.
Offered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary
Use this link to register for the course

If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “WLIWPT: Financial Aid”.
UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free. If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, you can register here using your UPSem email address.

25-26 Pathways: Church History
2026-04-14 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-04-21 19:00 - 21:00
Pathways Online Course instructed by Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis: Church History
Course Description
This course is designed to provide an overview of and an appreciation for the history of Christian traditions, the broader contexts in which they are developed, and their continued significance for the life of the church. Participants will study select crucial historical moments (e.g., early Christian movements, church councils, Reformation, Christianity in America).
Meet the Instructor

Dr. Christine Luckritz Marquis is Associate Professor of Church History, having been at Union Presbyterian Seminary since Fall 2013. Previously, she taught at Duke University, Lehigh University, and Moravian Theological Seminary. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship from 2010-2012.
Her teaching and research explore early Christian communities and their practices, especially those founded in Egypt, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula. Her first book is “Death of the Desert: Monastic Memory and the Loss of Egypt’s Golden Age” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022). The book explores how memory and spatial practices were transformed by acts of violence among Egyptian ascetics. She has also co-edited and translated The History of the Great Deeds of Bishop Paul of Quentos and Priest John of Edessa: Texts from Christian Late Antiquity volume 29 (Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2010). She contributed to Melania: Early Christianity Through the Life of One Family (University of California Press, 2016). Her translation work is found in the first two volumes of More New Testament Apocrypha and on the Coptic Scriptorium webpage.
Dates: Tuesdays, 7-9pm EST, April 14 – May 19, 2026
Offered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary

Registration closes on April 10, 2026, 2 business days before the first class meeting.
UPSem faculty, staff, and students can register for this class for free. If you are a UPSem faculty, staff, or student, you can register here using your UPSem email address. If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee, please contact Deborah Keyes, subject line “PWCH: Financial Aid.
