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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T110000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20250414T184536Z
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SUMMARY:Leadership Institute Author Event: Kerra Becker English
DESCRIPTION:Join us on June 10 at 10am in-person or online to speak with author Kerra Becker English about her book True Awakening: The Highs\, Lows\, and Mess of Spiritual Transformation available July 25! \n \nWith signature raw honesty\, Kerra English identifies the numerous ways inner spiritual awakening happens: through curiosity\, rituals\, faith practices\, deconstruction\, even psychonaut adventures. English explores classic themes―the hero(ine)’s journey\, the dark night\, and what it means to answer a call―and reveals the challenges we face as we respond to the terrifying breaking-open of awakening\, an invitation that changes everything. \nPre-order the book HERE. \nMeet the Author: Kerra Becker English\n \nFrom almost her very first words\, Kerra has been fascinated with the question\, “why.” Why is the basic question of the curious. Kerra likes exploring this question both in nature and in her practice of listening to firsthand accounts of wonder as a Spiritual Companion. Her deep fascination with spirituality led her to participate in the Johns Hopkins research that recruited religious leaders of various traditions to explore the mysteries of the psychedelic realm through psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and report on their experience. Writing about the highs\, the lows and the mess of spiritual transformation in her upcoming book\, she explores multiple pathways from her own journey into awakening\, and as a trusted spiritual friend\, she will help you discern if your own path feels “true.”\nAs a 1996 M.Div. graduate from Union Presbyterian Seminary and ordained PCUSA pastor\, she has served Presbyterian congregations in Richmond and Ashland\, Virginia; Oak Ridge\, Tennessee\, and Altoona\, Pennsylvania. Her spiritual direction website can be found at www.kerraenglish.com \nRSVP to attend in-person HERE or register to watch the event live online HERE
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/li-author-event-kerra-becker-english/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:Leadership Institute
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.upsem.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Kerra-English-flyer-11-x-8.5-in-e1744656153180.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T140000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20240906T175742Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250204T210438Z
UID:10000432-1749553200-1749564000@www.upsem.edu
SUMMARY:Religious Education Theory and Practice
DESCRIPTION:Christian Education Certification Course instructed by Dr. Rebecca Davis: Religious Education Theory and Practice\nCourse Description: \nReligious Education Theory and Practice provides Presbyterian Christian Educators an opportunity to think theologically about the teaching ministry of the church. It exposes educators to a variety of educational theories that informs pedagogical practices. Writing publishable\, quality lesson plans\, as well as choosing and evaluating curriculum are essential components of this course. \n \nMeet the instructor \nRebecca L. Davis is a Minister of the Word and Sacrament and a Certified Christian Educator in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before being appointed to the faculty of Union Presbyterian Seminary on the Charlotte Campus she served as Associate Professor of Religion and the Director of the Christian Education Program at Presbyterian College in Clinton\, SC. \nDr. Davis brings 25 years of congregational experience to her academic teaching. She has been both ordained and non-ordained ministry staff in small\, medium and large congregations across the south. She was Director of Christian Education at Enslow Park Presbyterian in Huntington\, WV\, Associate Pastor at Central Presbyterian in Mobile\, AL\, Pastor of First Presbyterian in Monahans\, TX and Executive Director of its child development center\, Associate General Presbyter in Peace River Presbytery in FL and Associate Pastor at Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. \nDates: May 13-June 17\, 2025\, with synchronous zoom meetings from 11am-2pm on 5/20\, 5/27\, 6/03\, and 6/10 \nOffered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary \n\n \n\n \nRegistration closes on May 8. Late registration ends on May 16. \nIf you are UPSem faculty or staff or are in financial need of a discounted registration fee\, please contact Deborah Keyes 
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/religious-education-theory-and-practice/2025-06-10/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:Leadership Institute
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20241212T184226Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250331T154907Z
UID:10000564-1749582000-1749589200@www.upsem.edu
SUMMARY:Book Club: Up Against a Crooked Gospel by Melanie Jones Quarles
DESCRIPTION:Up Against a Crooked Gospel: Black Women’s Bodies and the Politics of Redemption by Melanie Jones Quarles \n \nOnline meetings 7-9pm EST; June 3\, 10\, 17\, 24\nAn essential text for students and scholars of womanist thought\, ethics\, biblical studies\, and Black religion. \nDrawing upon her grandmother’s personal struggles with physical “bendedness” and the narrative of the bent woman in Luke 13:10-17\, Melanie Jones Quarles engages Black religious thought and cultural criticism to expose how the Black Church paradoxically nurtures Black women while also sustaining their oppression. Quarles mines the prophetic imaginations of influential womanist thinkers\, crafting a liberating vision that resists serving as surrogate “saviors” in society and religion. \nWith insights into politics\, Christology\, and biblical interpretation\, this book boldly calls Black women to unbend their bodies and reclaim their moral agency in the face of crooked systems that attempt to constrain their freedom. \nLed by the Author\, Rev. Dr. Melanie Jones Quarles \n\n \nRegistration is free for UPSem Faculty and Students. Contact Deborah Keyes to register if you are a student\, faculty member\, or registering ater 5/27/2025.
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/book-club-up-against-a-crooked-gospel-by-melanie-jones-quarles/2025-06-10/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:KGCCWL,Leadership Institute
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20250129T190009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250217T171910Z
UID:10000584-1749582000-1749589200@www.upsem.edu
SUMMARY:Special Course: Stranger No More
DESCRIPTION:A Special Course instructed by Dr. Safwat Marzouk: Stranger No More\nDates: June 3 – July 8\, Tuesdays from 7-9pm via Zoom. \n \nDr. Safwat Marzouk  is an associate professor of Old Testament. As a Christian Egyptian and migrant to the U.S.\, he interprets the Bible in ways that are interreligiously and interculturally sensitive seeking God’s shalom and justice for the vulnerable and the marginalized. Dr. Marzouk is author of Egypt as a Monster in the Book of Ezekiel and Intercultural Church: A Biblical Vision in an Age of Migration. \nCourse Description: \nThe experience of forced migration\, being on the move\, seeking refuge or asylum\, displacement\, and living in diaspora is a fundamental part of the human story. Throughout history and in many parts of the world\, humans\, individuals\, or communities\, because of wars\, natural disasters\, economic crises\, have crossed domestic or national boundaries seeking safety and a better life. Given the recent waves of forced migration and internal displacement\, and given the intensification of xenophobia in political discourse\, the church\, and communities of faith\, are confronted with vital questions about their witness in these critical times. In this course\, students will study closely diverse texts from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that have been shaped by the realities of migration\, exodus\, conquest\, exile\, and diaspora. As they engage these texts in their historical and literary contexts\, students will reflect on how these texts wrestled with welcoming the stranger and how host and migrant communities negotiated cross-cultural relations. As future faith leaders in a polarized world\, students will reflect on how to discern a faithful response to the issue of migration in light of the diverse biblical perspectives on the issue. Students will articulate a theological perspective that takes seriously the culture of fear of the other\, that nurtures empathy towards the stranger\, and that leads the church and the society to move beyond the politics of assimilation and segregation so that migrant and host communities experience God’s shalom. \nOffered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary \n\n \n\n \nRegistration closes on May 29\, 2025. Late registration ends on June 6\, 2025. \nIf you are UPSem faculty or staff or are in financial need of a discounted registration fee\, please contact Deborah Keyes.
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/special-course-stranger-no-more/2025-06-10/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:Leadership Institute
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250610T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20250207T174708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T134755Z
UID:10000600-1749582000-1749589200@www.upsem.edu
SUMMARY:Special Course: The Black Teaching Tradition and the Legacy of Proclamation in the Black Church
DESCRIPTION:Special Course instructed by Rev. Dr. Akosua Lesesne: The Black Teaching Tradition and the Legacy of Proclamation in the Black Church\nDates: May 6 – June 10\, 2025 // Tuesdays\, 7-9pm via Zoom \nCourse Description:  \nIn this course\, we will explore the relationship between the transformative legacy of Black teaching excellence and the powerful tradition of Black preaching. Participants will come away from this course with a new or renewed understanding of how the practices of proclamation in the Black Church and pedagogical genius in Black schoolhouses are aligned. The primary aim of this course of study is to reclaim and (re)member the liberatory power of Black teaching and Black preaching for greater impact in the pulpit and traditional learning settings alike. Study will be taken up through the lens of Sankofa: an African word from the Akan peoples in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the Sankofa symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” \n \nMeet the instructor \nRev. Dr. Akosua Lesesne is an educational design leader and creator of the Black Teaching Tradition (BTT)®: Teacher Development Framework for Pedagogical Genius. She is the founder of The Lesesne Collective Corp (Lesesne Collective) dba Sisters in Education Circle (SIEC) and Lesesne Legacy Learning Village (Lesesne Learning). Prior to founding Lesesne Collective dba SIEC\, Akosua’s commitment to upholding historic legacies of Black teaching excellence for justice and liberation defined fifteen years of work as a teacher then district leader in the sixth\, fourth\, and eight-largest school districts in the nation respectively and design consultant serving a wide array of educational organizations and initiatives across the United States–from preschool through higher education\, including theological education. Akosua was licensed and ordained by the late and legendary Rev. Dr. Mack King Carter at New Mount Olive Baptist Church\, Fort Lauderdale\, FL and served under Dr. Carter as Interim Minister of Education. She is also an ordained elder\, Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA). Akosua earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University\, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University\, and a Doctorate in Educational and Organizational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. \nOffered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary \n\n \nRegistration closes on May 2\, 2025\, at 8am. Late registration ends on May 9\, 2025. \nIf you are UPSem faculty or staff you can register for free HERE. If you are in financial need of a discounted registration fee\, please contact Deborah Keyes.
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/scbtt/2025-06-10/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:Leadership Institute
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250612T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250612T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T033045
CREATED:20250228T140532Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T153639Z
UID:10000609-1749754800-1749762000@www.upsem.edu
SUMMARY:Special Telugu Course: Creeds and Confessions
DESCRIPTION:Course Description:  \nThis course surveys and examines the historical and contemporary creeds and confessions of the Christian faith as the core theological compass and lenses to help understand\, evaluate\, and evolve current interpretations of the Christian faith. \n \nInstructed by Rev. Dr. James Taneti \nJames is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in the USA and currently teaches World Christianity at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond\, Virginia. He directs the seminary’s Synghman Rhee Global Mission Center. Having completed his theological education at the United Theological College in India\, he earned master’s degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary\, Western Theological Seminary\, and Virginia Commonwealth University\, and a doctorate from Union Presbyterian Seminary. He has authored three books on Christianity in South Asia\, along with numerous essays and book reviews. \nDates: June 5 – July 10\, 2025 / Thursdays from 7-9pm via Zoom \nOffered by the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary \n \n\nIf you are UPSem faculty or staff or are in financial need of a discounted registration fee\, please contact Deborah Keyes.
URL:https://www.upsem.edu/event/lisc-telugu-creeds-and-confessions/2025-06-12/
LOCATION:NC
CATEGORIES:Leadership Institute
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.upsem.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/telugu-course-event-page-featured-image.png
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