Music is often called “the universal language” but digging deeper, we can see how music helps us communicate values, deeply felt needs, complex feelings, and core identities. At church, when we sing, sing a certain way, fund and defund singing, or argue about singing, we’re conveying something about who we are or want to be.

In this presentation, Dr. Carolynne Hitter Brown will share her research on ways the Black Church has historically relied on music to navigate challenging waters and changing courses, resist racist forces without and power structures within, and formulate an authentic and Christ-centered community identity. Considering how cultural polarities, diverse social issues, and global struggles effect congregations today, Dr. Hitter Brown will suggest possible ways music in worship can heal and build Christian community.

Dr. Nicholas Rowe, Kenneth and Jean Hansen Associate Professor of Leadership, and Dr. Wes Vander Lugt, Adjunct Professor of Theology and Acting Director of the Leighton Ford Initiative in Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness, will give the response.

The Dean’s Forum discussion is free and is open to the public. RSVP is required for those who are planning to attend in person. NO RSVP NEEDED IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH ONLINE. Lunch will be provided to those who will be attending in person.

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Leadership can be a lonely endeavor in the best of times, but when deep hurt or trauma comes along, the isolation can feel debilitating. In this Mockler Center livestream, How Leaders Heal from Woundedness and Trauma: Christian Practices for Building Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual Resilience, we will explore how Christian leaders draw upon their faith to build the resilience necessary to bring physical, emotional and spiritual healing to themselves and to their organizations and congregations.

Join us online Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. with Jim Longhurst, pastor and senior Mockler Center fellow and Dr. Ken Barnes, professor and Mockler Center director in discussion with Dr. Nicholas Rowe, the Kenneth and Jean Hansen Associate Professor of Leadership at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and author of Healing Leadership Trauma: Finding Emotional Health and Helping Others Flourish (Winner of IVP’s Church Ministry & Leadership Readers’ Choice Awards).

Come join us on Tuesday, March 3, at 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the Hamilton campus for an evening of theological conversation hosted by the Division of Christian Thought. Dr. Glenn Butner will be joined by Dr. Adonis Vidu for a discussion on the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, centered on the meaning of the cross within Christian theology and marking the release of Butner’s new book, Christological Dogmatics.

Together they will explore how substitutionary atonement has been articulated and defended across the Christian tradition, how it has been received and critiqued in modern theology, and how reflection on the cross continues to shape Christian doctrine, worship, and discipleship today. Light refreshments will be available following the conversation.

All seminary students and pastors are familiar with the dreaded phrase “out of context.” We all know that we should interpret each biblical passage in light of its historical and literary context, and a great deal of what we learn in seminary is how to do exactly that. But when we compare our own biblical interpretation with that of the early church, we find that that theirs seems puzzling and maybe even disturbing. Are the church fathers allegorizing the text inappropriately? Are they taking most passages out of context?

In this Dean’s Forum, we’ll examine one of the most important writings from the early church to try to gain insight on this question. Athanasius is one of the most celebrated early Christian writers, and he writes against the most famous heretic of all time, Arius. Furthermore, Athanasius’s main point is that Arius is interpreting all his favorite biblical passages wrong. What is the interpretive principle that enables Athanasius to be so confident? And what can we learn from his interpretation today?

The Dean’s Forum discussion is free and is open to the public. RSVP is required for those who are planning to attend in person. NO RSVP NEEDED IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH ONLINE. Lunch will be provided to those who will be attending in person.