Lana Martinez (MDiv’16): Leveraging faith & community organizing beyond the pulpit

…statewide organization advocating for immigrants and working families. Additionally, she partners with Church World Service, doing community organizing and political education. As a community organizer-turned-lobbyist, Martinez has to work quickly to disseminate information as “quite often bills are not put on committee dockets until the night before.” She notes that “the way the Virginia legislature works makes it extremely difficult…

Associate Pastor for Education & Growth–Community of Grace Presbyterian Church–Sandy, UT

…and skill in pastoral care or counseling an ability to communicate creatively across various media skills in digital marketing, social media, graphic design, and/or video editing a commitment to shaping our experience on Earth as it is in Heaven gestures and posture of compassion, justice, and grace. Duties and Responsibilities: In the realm of Christian Education: Connect and build relationships…

2017 Sprunt Lectures

…the first African American female pastor to offer the invocation at the Virginia General Assembly, the first African American to be appointed to the Accomack County Social Service Board, a former board member of the American Baptist Churches USA Ministerial Leadership Commission, a member of the former Governor of VA Commission HIV/AIDS Task Force, and past commissioner of Missions for…

BLACK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER: August 2022

…so. We have come a long way from World War II and the end of the age still has not come. We should listen to the Lord and stop listening to false teachers, We will hear about wars and rumors of wars, but we should not be troubled because all these things must come to pass, and still it will…

BLACK ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER: MAY 2022

…promises. The road to what’s next now opens again, inviting another period of holy rest, reflection, and discernment. I feel much gratitude for my time studying under the red brick towers and for the community within the quad. I wonder where I’ll find the acorn next… You Choose – Proverbs 18:21 BY REV. VERONICA THOMAS MSW Virginia Commonwealth University; MDiv…

Online Workshop: Teaching Social Justice in Comfortable Congregations and a Deeply Divided World

Online Workshop: Teaching Social Justice in Comfortable Congregations and a Deeply Divided World This online workshop is sponsored in partnership with the seminary’s Leadership Institute and the Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR). Dates: Thursdays, November 4 and November 11, 2021, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. EDT (Note: This online workshop is a two-part series). Led by: Dr. Rebecca…

Online Workshop: Email Communication — A Crash Course

…organizations as diverse as high-end retail stores and independent schools develop and implement efficient and impactful communications strategies. Digital Congregations sits at the intersection of her desire to do meaningful work, her belief in the importance of faith communities, and her talents and experience. Christen has a MA in Peace and Conflict Resolution from Norwich University and a BA in…

Class of 2018 profiles: Rosy Robson prepares for what comes next

…conversations with them during the interview process, I saw a community that really loves one another and takes care of each other. I am excited to be a part of that community as we learn, grow, and worship together.” Robson said there is a lot she will miss about Union, especially Wednesdays on campus with worship and community lunch. She…

Alt-right rally: “Not a new fight for me”

…genocide to slavery to Jim Crow to Japanese Internment Camps, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the prison industrial complex, the border wall, Standing Rock. It’s a war that has been raging violently in communities of color but largely invisible to white Americans. The shock and trauma of white Americans comes from our brand-new front row seats. Well, they’re not really new….

Dr. Paula Owens Parker: Computer programmer turned womanist theologian

This is post 2 of 2 in the series “Faculty Spotlight” Tricia Vesely: Finding Union, Handstands, and Hebrew Dr. Paula Owens Parker: Computer programmer turned womanist theologian Faculty Spotlight BY PATRICE OWENS PARKER Womanism encourages black women to push the envelope, be questioning, love each other and their communities, express genuine care for others, and love the arts. It also…

(Online Conference) Called to Justice: Seeking Change within the Classroom, Congregation, and Community

This two-day virtual event is co-sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR) and the Leadership Institute. The Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation (CSJR) is grounded in a scriptural mandate with two goals: to remind seminarians of the significance of social justice work as part of ministry and to bring the activist community into the…

The complexity of the prison industrial complex

Dr. Blount to preach at the Wednesday Community Worship of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA

President and Professor of New Testament in the Walter W. Moore and Charles E.S. Kraemer Presidential Chairs, Dr. Brian K. Blount, will preach and preside at the Wednesday Community Worship of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia on April 26, 2017. Community Worship is at 11:45 a.m. in Watts Chapel….

Dr. Blount speaking at the Wednesday community worship of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virigina

President and Professor of New Testament in the Walter W. Moore and Charles E.S. Kraemer Presidential Chairs, Dr. Brian K. Blount, will share a snippet of his faith story and preside at the Wednesday Community Worship of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia on August 9, 2017. Community Worship is at 11:45 a.m. in Watts Chapel….

Class of 2017 honored at commencement exercises

Charlotte Campus Commencement Richmond Campus Commencement By Mike Frontiero Forty-eight students across Union Presbyterian Seminary’s campuses in Virginia and North Carolina received degrees in the Master of Arts in Christian Education (M.A.C.E.), Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at Commencement Exercises for the 205th Session. Commencement addresses for the class of 2017 were…

Gems for the Journey: Challenge, not Comfort

…hometown, and evil men had come to the throne. Conditions seem only to get worse, at this point Jeremiah, and I believe every honest Christian, had doubt come to his heart. Dark thoughts came into his mind, and he wonders why God permits certain things. Every pastor who has ever stood for the things of God, at times, wondered why…

Will Change Ever Come?

…because we follow a man of color from North Africa named Jesus. It is also ironic, since both the Bible and science agree that we all come from, and carry, the same DNA of a women from North Africa. Change will come. The question is, “Will things get better or worse?” It is hard to change what people believe is…

Pathways Online Courses

…first class meeting date, tuition increases by $25 per course. CEUs: 3.0 per course For: Open to all, including those desiring to become Commissioned Ruling Elders or Commissioned Lay Pastors, as well as church and community members who want to further their education and discipleship In addition, we offer a self-directed New Testament Bible Survey course, which is online with…

Communications

Students join movement to strengthen Richmond community

…engaged is through an organization called RISC (Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities). This nonprofit, which is supported by Richmond-area churches and others, identifies key challenges facing the community and, in the words of the seminary’s RISC organizer Rebecca Heilman, seeks to “hold community leaders accountable” to address those challenges. “In the past few years, RISC has targeted education, jobs,…

Professor Melanie Jones to Preach at MLK Commemoration Service

Professor Melanie Jones will preach at the MLK Commemoration Service at Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, VA, on January 19, 2020. Melanie C. Jones is Instructor of Ethics, Theology and Culture / Director of the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership at Union Presbyterian Seminary….

Dr. McFayden leading East Community Pastor Retreat in Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina

On Sunday and Monday, August 13 and 14, 2017, Dr. Kenneth J. McFayden will be leading the East Community Pastors Retreat for the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina. He will be speaking on Stewardship: Biblical Perspectives and Better Practices. Dr. McFayden is the Academic Dean and Professor of Ministry and Leadership Development at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia….