God has a Dream

Alton B. Pollard III

President
Professor of Religion and Culture

September 6, 2018
Fall Convocation
Psalm 126
1 Peter 3:15

Will you accept the challenge to plan your vocation and live your life in God’s grace with the unique gifts you bring to the table of ministry, justice and service?

Listen to the sermon.

Exodus 17.4-14

Patrick O'Connor
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica
(Queens, NY)
Louisville Seminary Trustee

April 27, 2018
Exodus 17.4-14

What can we do best and how can we allow God's work and will to be done?  How can we work together in this time and place to further God's plan?
Listen to the sermon.

The Cross, The Lynching Tree, and the Crosshairs: Racial Violence and American Christianity

Rev. Dr. Joanne Marie Terrell
Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and the Arts
Chicago Theological Seminary

April 10, 2018
Grawemeyer Award in Religion

(Dr. James Cone's book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, won the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.  Dr. Cone was unable to present a lecture due to personal reasons.  Dr. Terrell, a former graduate student of Dr. Cone's, spoke in his place.)

Dr. Cone's book contrasts the Christian tradition regarding the Cross of Jesus with the Christian response to lynching.  White Christians murdered over 5000 black men, women, and children during the lynching era, and did not see the parallels between the persecution and murder of Jesus on the cross and the death by lynching on the tree.  Anger over this, and the continuing mistreatment of black and brown peoples, is the only reasonable response for a Christian.  The key is to use the anger to move beyond guilt to doing the work of justice and love.  Listen to the lecture.

Black Joy in the Mo(u)rning

Brandon McCormack
Assistant Professor, Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville

March 26, 2018
Black Church Studies Consultation
Psalm 30:5b

The psalmist tells a mourning story as do African Americans who carry the psychic cost of existing in America while black.  The psalmist also reminds us that while mourning is necessary, there will also be a morning when, with God's help, we can reclaim our joy.  Listen to the sermon.

Setting the Captives Free

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 23, 2018
Luke 4:14-21

The plight of prisoners once returned to society is the topic of Williamson's sermon.  How to we understand the moral worth and human dignity of all.  Listen to the sermon.

Calling on the Name: Psalm-Singing and Spiritual Formation

Marcus A. Hong

Director of Field Education
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology

February 1, 2018
Spring Convocation
Psalm 116

Singing the Psalms lets us experience God with our whole body and being.  Using Psalm 116 as an example, Hong shows how both a personal and theological understanding of the body  and mind can help interpret the Psalms.  Listen to the Convocation talk.

God is Gathering, All are Welcome

Amy Plantinga Pauw

Henry P. Mobley Jr. Professor of Doctrinal Theology

December 1, 2017
World AIDS Day
Isaiah 56:1-8

The pain and burden of stigma is an old and enduring problem.  Like Isaish we can rejoice in a God who welcomes the outcast.  God's house can be a place of healing and freedom for all people.  Listen to the sermon.

The Necessity for Lament in a Changing World

Soong-Chan Rah

Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism,  North Park Theological Seminary

November 9, 2017
Edwards-Presler Lectures on Peace, Justice and Mission

What does it mean that lament is missing from the world?  We know that God does answer prayer, but sometimes we don't want to hear the answer.  Listen to the lecture.

The Gospel as Improv

Mary Gene Boteler

Trustee, Louisville Seminary

October 27, 2017
Mark 10:17-30

Life is not measured by the past, but what we do next.  This is true for nations as well as for individuals.  What will our children and grandchildren say about the worth of our lives?
Listen to the sermon.

A Healthy Ministry

James Blankenbeker

MDiv '13

October 5, 2017
Theological Libraries Month
2 Timothy 4:1-5

Listen to a sermon honoring libraries and librarians as bringers of truth.  Given as part of a celebration of Theological Libraries Month.

A Different World is Possible

Clifton Kirkpatrick

Professor of World Christianity and Ecumenical Studies,
William A. Benfield Jr. Professor of Evangelism and Global Missions

September 15, 2017
Luke 4:14-21

We are living through a series of disasters that seem to be a dress rehearsal of the end times.  The human-made ones are tearing apart our human fabric.  We are living in a time of great evil.  What can we do to change?

Toward a Relational Approach to Social Justice

Ashley Hicks White

Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

Fall Convocation
September 7, 2017
Mark 12:28-34


If we do justice without love are we doing justice to God?  Listen to the address.

Breaking White Supremacy: The Black Social Gospel as New Abolitionism

Gary Dorrien

Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary
Professor of Religion at Columbia University

April 18, 2017
Grawemeyer Lecture

Dorrien discusses how the Black Social Gospel became an important tradition of religious thought and resistance, helping to create an alternative public sphere of excluded voices, and providing the intellectual underpinnings of the civil rights movement.  Listen to the lecture.

Redeeming the Culture for Christ

David Snardon
Pastor, Joshua Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church

Festival of Theology and Reunion
March 28, 2017
Mark 2:23-27; 3:1-6

Where does the church stand on ministering to the student athlete?  Here is hope that the church chooses to fall into the trap of doing good and not staying silent.  Listen to the sermon.

Who is Afraid of Sports? Play, Bodies, and Formation (Part Two)

Dr. John B. White
Assistant Professor and holder of the Harold and Dottie Riley Professorship in Practical Theology and Director of the Sport Chaplaincy/Ministry Program at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University

Festival of Theology and Reunion
Greenhoe Lecture
March 28, 2017

Greenhoe Lecturer John White offers more insights to pastoral guidance for those involved in major college sports.  Listen to the lecture.

Lifting the Veil on Big-Time Sports

Marcia Mount ShoopPastor/Head of Staff, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

Festival of Theology and Reunion
Caldwell Lecture
March 28, 2017

Caldwell Lecturer Marcia Mount Shoop will discuss some of the impacts that our culture's obsession with sports and sports entertainment has on our spirituality.  Listen to the lecture.

Who is Afraid of Sports? Play, Bodies, and Formation (Part One)

Dr. John B. White

Assistant Professor and holder of the Harold and Dottie Riley Professorship in Practical Theology and Director of the Sport Chaplaincy/Ministry Program at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University

Festival of Theology and Reunion
Greenhoe Lecture
March 27, 2017

Dr. White shares his perspective in sports chaplain ministry and the spiritual, personal, and professional challenges that athletes (and fans alike) face in the midst of major sports.  Listen to the lecture.

Touchdowns for Jesus and Other Signs of Apocalypse

Marcia Mount Shoop
Pastor/Head of Staff, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

Festival of Theology and Reunion
Caldwell Lecture
March 27, 2017

Caldwell Lecturer Marcia Mount Shoop is the fourth generation in her family ordained to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church. Her husband, John, coached in the National Football League and Division I college football for twenty-six years.  Shoop's lecture addresses some of the current and pressing issues in college sports and how they impact our culture.  Listen to the lecture.

More Than Just a Game

David SnardonPastor, Joshua Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church

Festival of Theology and Reunion
March 27, 2017
Acts 17: 16-23


For many poor kids sports becomes the God that can give them everything they want for themselves and their families.  How are we sacrificing our young people and ourselves on this alter to a false god? Listen to the sermon.

Stay Woke

Debra J. Mumford

Frank H. Caldwell Professor of Homiletics

March 3, 2017
Mark 14:32-41a

The disciples just didn’t seem to get Jesus’ message. Aren’t we just like the disciples? Listen to the sermon.