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.

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.

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.

A Just Peace Approach to Ending the Global War on Women

Susan Thistlethwaite
Professor of Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary

Edwards Lecture
November 13, 2014

This lecture focuses on the roles that spiritual leaders and faith communities from all denominations play to respond to the widespread culture of violence against women.  Listen to the lecture.  (Please note that the speaker occasionally refers to images that we do not have the rights to post.)

The Name of a Happy Ending

Heather Thiessen

Former Coordinator of the Women’s Center at LPTS

February 17, 2012
Job 42:10-17

The elimination of violence against women and girls is completely possible. It is simply asking for what most kindergarten teachers routinely ask for in their classrooms: no hitting, no hurting our neighbors, taking turns and keeping our hands to ourselves. If we can expect it of the average 5-year-old, we can surely expect it of the average person.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

What Shall We Do with the Ark of the God of Israel?

Johanna W. H. Bos
Dora Pierce Professor of Bible and Professor of Old Testament

November 4, 2011
1 Samuel 5:1-12
1 Samuel 6:10-13

Listen to the sermon.

A Prayer to Begin With--Psalm 51

David C. Hester

Dean of the Seminary, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Harrison Ray Anderson Professor of Pastoral Theology

September 9, 2011
Psalm 51:1-19

There are snakes in every Garden of Eden. Things don’t always go well; people don’t always get along; words are not always kind and nurturing; and differences in color, culture, sexual orientation, church traditions, beliefs and world views are not always so warmly embraced by we who don’t always see eye to eye. Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Looking Back

Barbara Wheeler

Former President of Auburn Theological Seminary
Head of the Center for the Study of Theological Education

Presidential Inauguration
April 14, 2011
What does it take to be numbered among the great seminary presidents? Read the address in PDF.

Transforming the Mind in the Service of God: A Case for Theological Education

Michael Jinkins

President of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Presidential Inauguration

April 15, 2011

Romans 12: 2

We are living in an exceptional historical moment, at least for Protestant Christianity, an “axial” moment. Theological schools are right in the middle of this axial moment, because the church is right in the middle of this moment. Most, if not all, of the issues that challenge the church also challenge the seminary. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Christianity and the Ways of Being Religious

Luke Timothy Johnson

Winner of the 2011 Grawemeyer Award in Religion

Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University

Grawemeyer Lecture
April 12, 2011

Ancient Christians had more in common with their Jewish and pagan neighbors than most people realize. Listen to the lecture

The Life of the Mind in the Service of God: Why a Thinking Faith Still Matters

Michael Jinkins

President and Professor of Theology

September 9, 2010

Convocation

Today, perhaps more than at any time since the Protestant Reformation, we need to recover a commitment to an intellectually rigorous faith, a courageous and imaginative faith, a thinking faith so memorably expressed in John Calvin’s phrase, ‘the life of the mind in the service of God. One of the great challenges of theological education and of the life of faith in our time is to make a case for that quality of thinking faith which does not shrink either from scholarship or from acts of compassion, from the adventure of critical thought or from the call to justice. Listen to the address. Read the address in PDF.

Directives, Collectives, and Adaptives in a Changing World

David R. Sawyer
Professor of Ministry
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees

November 13, 2009
Nehemiah 13:15-20
Mark 1:39
Sirach 38 :34b-39:3

Sawyer looks at the present reality of Louisville Seminary in the light of the post-exilic period of the era of Ezra and Nehemiah, finding two different groups, world views, theological positions, and educational models. One group he calls the “Directives,” who hold responsibility and control for the seminary’s life; the second group are the “Collectives” who see the seminary as a free sharing of knowledge and power. He suggests we need to seek a third way, which he calls “Adaptive” which responds to change and loss with experiments, new discoveries and adjustments. He hopes to start a conversation about these differences in the community. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Restless for Righteousness: How to Cleanse Your Life of Idols and Worship God the Right Way

Christopher Elwood
Professor of Historical Theology

2 Kings 22:8-23:23
October 31, 2008

When Hilkiah accidentally turned up a long-lost book of the Law in the temple, Josiah, the king, was so upset to learn how far the nation had departed from what God ordained that he tore his clothes. Then he set about a vigorous campaign of worship reform. This seems a good passage to reflect on as we mark Reformation Day. The Reformation was about many things, but—at least for those who helped build the traditions that would become Reformed Protestantism—“getting our worship right” was always a central task, though always fraught with difficulty. How do we get worship right today, in a time and in places marked by enormous cultural differences? Listen to the sermon.

You Can Help Yourself, but Don’t Take Too Much

Teresa Snorton
Executive Director, National Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc

Nehemiah 5:1-12
March 31, 2008

Practices of oppression when institutionalized by the community call us to action and rage. We must confront the behavior as Nehemiah did. Listen to the sermon.

This sermon held in conjunction with the Katie Geneva Cannon Lecture is sponsored by the Women's Center at LPTS.