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  • Faculties’ Convocations

    Faculty convocations are regular events at which WTC Faculty can engage with one another on a topic of ecumenical or social significance. Below are some recent examples of faculty convocations. For information on upcoming Faculty Convocations, check our events page for updates.

    View previous years’ information or videos (where available) by clicking the year: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012


    2024: “Reclaiming Nicaea for a Post-Christendom Church”

    Sponsored by our member, the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh

    Trinitarian theology, liturgy, ethics, and practice remain vital and flourishing throughout the Churches–East and West. The faculty panelists at this year’s virtual Convocation, held on October 7, addressed the renewal of Nicene theology and its legacy in ways that free it from an imperial past and align it with church renewal, witness, and reform in a changing and diverse world. They addressed various disciplines, from biblical and theological to liturgical and ethical. 

    Panelists include:

    • Dr. Robin Darling Young, Ordinary Professor of Church History, Catholic University of America School of Theology and Religious Studies on the topic “Early Christian Synods as a Forum for Heated Dialogue”
    • Fr. Christiaan Kappes, Academic Dean, Professor of Liturgical and Dogmatic Theology, Byzantine Catholic Seminary of St. Cyril and Methodius, on the topic of “Nicene Dogma about Jesus’s Nature, Liturgical Change, and Liturgy Today
    • Dr. Kyle Lambelet, Associate Professor of Ethics, Virginia Theological Seminary, on the topic “The Resurrection of the Dead as a Challenge to Contemporary Politics”
    • Dr. Natalia Marandiuc, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, United Lutheran Seminary, on the topic “Love, Justice, and Human Thriving: Soteriological Significations after Nicaea”

    2023: “Theological Formation and Leadership”

    Theological formation includes the cultivation of healthy personalities and a disposition to serve others. Leadership in the pulpit, at the table, and in community work involves multiple dimensions:  strong theological foundations, the ability to work alongside others, emotional maturity, and a heart of self-giving without self-exhaustion. Whether in the classroom, at the common table, or in the field, theological faculties face the question, “how does holistic human formation cultivate effective leadership?”

    For our 51st Annual Faculties’ Convocation in October 2023, a faculty panel from multiple disciplines (historical theology, philosophy, religious education, and practical theology) addressed multiple aspects of formation for leadership, including:

    • The formation and exercise of theological virtues–Aquinas and others
    • The art of accompaniment as clergy and laity work together
    • The formation and exercise of emotional intelligence
    • Leadership as a form of self-sacrifice that is life-giving

    Panelists:

    Dr. John Lee, Academic Dean, John Leland Center (Moderator).
    Dr. Guy Erwin, President, Historical Theology, United Lutheran Seminary. 
    Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., Patristics, PFIC at the Dominican House of Studies.
    Dr. Andrey Shirin, Director of Transformational Leadership, John Leland Center.
    Dr. Susan Timoney, Associate Dean, Ministerial Degrees and Practical Theology, Catholic University of America.
    Dr. Nathaniel West, Christian Education, Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology.

    Lectures

     

    Panel Discussion


    2022: “Religious Liberty: Which Religion, Whose Liberty?”

    Panelists:

    Atty. Holly Hollman, General Counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty
    Dr. William Barbieri, Professor of Ethics and of Religion and Culture, The Catholic University of America
    Dr. Teresa Smallwood, Associate Professor of Public Theology, United Lutheran Seminary
    Dr. Rick Elgendy, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology, Wesley Theological Seminary


    2021: “Theological Education as Justice Formation”

    Dr. Willie Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School

    Introduction by Dr. Cheryl Sanders, Howard University School of Divinity

    Response by Dr. David Cloutier, The Catholic University of America


    2020: “Toward Anti-Racist Theology and Practice: Transforming our Teaching”

    Dr. Eric Lewis Williams, Curator of Religion, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

    Respondent: Dr. Denise Janssen, Associate Professor of Christian Education, Virginia Union University


    2018:Inside Our Awakening Universe: Spiritual Life and the New Cosmic Story

    Dr. John Haught, Distinguished Research Professor, Georgetown University

    Responses from

    • Dr. Connie Bertka, Wesley Theological Seminary
    • Dr. David Cloutier, The Catholic University of America

    2017:No Longer Strangers and Foreigners: The Intersection of Christian Identity, Mission and the Ethics of Immigration

    New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.
    Presenter: Dr. Peter Phan

    Panel Discussion:


    2016:Theology and Reconciliation in a Polarized Society

    Wesley Theological Seminary

    September 29, 2016

    Panel of Faculty Representatives:

    Moderator:  Dr. Elizabeth Kimball, Virginia Theological Seminary
    Fr. James Brent, OP, PhD, PFIC at the Dominican House
    Dr. Dean Trulear, Howard University School of Divinity
    Dr. Rick Elgendy, Wesley Theological Seminary

    Convocation 2016 Panel Bios


    2015: Marriage, Family, and Sexuality: Theological, Moral, and Pastoral Implications

    Virginia Theological Seminary

    September 28, 2015

    Panel of Faculty Representatives:

    Moderator: Kristin Johnston-Largen, Gettysburg Seminary
    Dr. Alton B. Pollard III, Howard University School of Divinity
    Dr. John Grabowski, Catholic University of America
    Dr. Sondra Wheeler, Wesley Theological Seminary
    Dr. Timothy Sedgwick, Virginia Theological Seminary
    Dr. Jeffrey Willetts, John Leland Center for Theological Studies
    Kimberly Eskridge, John Leland graduate

    Faculty Panel Bios


    2014: Reframing Theological Anthropology for an Ecological Age

    Catholic University of America

    September 29, 2014
    Faculty Discussing

    Presentation by Dr. Jame Schaefer, Marquette University

    Synopsis of Schaefer Address


    2013: Reframing the Civil War:  Religion, Race and Culture

    with Gettysburg and Howard Faculty at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg and new Seminary Ridge Museum

    Saturday, September 21, 2013

    faculty audience 1 crop
    Faculties Convocation 2013 Photos


    2012: Theology in the Public Sphere

    The John Leland Center,  September 2012

    Drs. Garry Dorrien and Shaun Casey