Mission Yearbook: New center at Columbia Theological Seminary aims to equip faith leaders for divided public square

In the midst of fractured and polarized debates in the United States, a timely new initiative, the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, has been created to help church leaders understand changing public spaces and then enter them and speak with clarity and confidence.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Theological Seminary

The Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary will be an innovative hub for research and conversation to help equip communities of faith to speak wisely and faithfully in contested spaces, empower individuals with deeper theological insight and foster dialogue where division reigns.

“Surely one of the most unsurprising trends in the U.S. over the past few decades has been the increased presence of religious voices in public spaces,” said center director Dr. Mark Douglas, Columbia’s J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics and lead professor for the seminary’s ThM degree. “Whether for good (the Moral Mondays movement) or ill (White Christian Nationalism), religious language simply shows up more often and in more different ways than it once did.”

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Dr. Mark Douglas

“But what has driven this trend? And how have a range of significant forces — demographic shifts, the advent of social media, the rise of the ‘nones,’ etc. — shaped such language? The Center for Theology and Contested Publics dives headlong into those questions, hoping that addressing such questions not only can give insight into this trend but can shape better religious voices for public spaces,” Douglas said.

The center will utilize a national board to chart its direction in these conversations. That board includes Columbia professors and administrators Dr. Jackson Adamah, assistant professor of World Christianities; the Rev. Dr. Rafael Reyes, senior advisor for Flourishing and Belonging; Dr. Nicole Symmonds, assistant professor of Christian Ethics; the Rev. Dr. Charles Wiley, senior director for Leadership Support; and the Rev. Dr. Christine Roy Yoder, senior vice president and dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs; along with the Rev. Jennifer Butler (Faith in Democracy), Dr. Grace Kao (Claremont School of Theology), Dr. Vincent Lloyd (Villanova University), the Rev. Dr. Mary Nickel (University of South Carolina) and the Rev. Dr. Wonchul Shin (Villanova University).

“The launch of the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary is a bold and unique step toward understanding and shaping the religious voices that increasingly define our public life,” said the Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo Jr., Columbia’s president. “By engaging the complex forces of social change, technology, and shifting identities, the center offers a deeply relevant platform for fostering thoughtful and constructive dialogue, research, and contributions to today’s contested publics.”

For more about the Center for Theology and Contested Publics at Columbia Theological Seminary, go here.

Columbia Theological Seminary exists to educate and nurture faithful, imaginative, and effective leaders for the sake of the Church and the world. As a diverse, graduate educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Columbia Theological Seminary is a community of theological inquiry, leadership development and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Columbia offers six graduate degree programs and dozens of courses and events along with resources for church professionals and lay people. For more information, go here.

Columbia Theological Seminary, Special to Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Amantha Barbee, Major Gift Officer, Stewardship and Major Gifts, Administrative Services Group (A Corporation)
Rebecca Barnes, Manager, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency  

Let us pray:

God of wisdom and truth, may leaders be guided by love rather than fear, by truth rather than distortion and by hope rather than despair. Form us into people who speak with grace, listen with compassion and work for the flourishing of all. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Columbia Theological Seminary awarded Climate Science in Theological Education grant

The grant by the American Association for the Advancement of Science will help the seminary further integrate science into its theological education

May 13, 2024

Photo by Beth Jnr via Unsplash

Columbia Theological Seminary has been awarded a Climate Science in Theological Education (CSTE) grant by the American Association for the Advancement of Science through its Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion program.

The CSTE project provides grants to seminaries to engage climate science and climate change in the context of theological education and ministry. Integrating science into seminary education and events will encourage interest within seminaries and surrounding communities about the relevance of science to theological education and will produce a growing number of religious leaders equipped to help their congregants find answers to science-related questions.

Columbia Theological Seminary Professor Dr. Mark Douglas, co-leader in administering the $15,000 grant with colleague Dr. Martha Moore-Keish, said Columbia is the perfect place for such a program with the success of initiatives such as last year’s Just Creation: Shalom for Our Common Home conference on climate justice. Read more about the conference here, here, here and here.

Dr. Mark Douglas

“I felt like they’d designed it for us,” Douglas said. “Not only does Columbia Theological Seminary have an established track record of including attention to science in our curricula (including through a grant we received from AAAS about a decade ago), and not only does Columbia have an established commitment of pursuing environmental sustainability (one that is visible in our two LEED Gold-certified buildings), but our blossoming focus on environmental justice is growing, increasingly, towards the concerns of climate justice.

“As with all grants, we were fortunate to receive this one,” he said. “It also, though, feels like getting it was an expression of providence. It moves us forward institutionally in the very ways we most want and need to go as the contemporary climate crises deepen and as CTS attempts to follow the will of God in response to those crises.”

Over the next two years, Columbia will engage constituents on and off campus with a variety of workshops and forums, culminating in a spring 2025 evening activity with the local community, co-hosted by local partnering organizations, focusing on the impact of climate change in the immediate area and the importance of pursing local climate justice initiatives.

Dr. Martha Moore-Keish

Four overlapping components will guide the work:

• Complicity — measuring Columbia’s current carbon footprint, and then inviting a scholar working at the intersection of the sciences and environmental justice to speak on campus.
• Communications — working with campus officials and alumni to promote and publicize climate justice in churches and nonprofits served by Columbia graduates.
• Curriculum — offering a workshop for Columbia faculty focused on climate justice and pedagogies and inserting the concerns of climate justice into syllabi.
• Community — ensuring that these efforts work in conjunction with Columbia’s local partners in climate justice.

“We are grateful to receive this generous grant from the AAAS,” said Dr. Christine Roy Yoder, Columbia’s Senior Vice President and Dean of Faculty. “Under the excellent leadership of Drs. Douglas and Moore-Keish, this project is an important and timely next step in Columbia’s commitments to be and educate stewards and repairers of creation.”

About the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.  The nonprofit is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. Building upon its mission, AAAS established the Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (DoSER) program in 1995 to facilitate communication between scientific and religious communities. For the latest information and news about AAAS DoSER and the Climate Science in Theological Education project, go here, here and here.

About Columbia Theological Seminary

Columbia Theological Seminary exists to educate and nurture faithful, imaginative, and effective leaders for the sake of the Church and the world. As an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Columbia Seminary is a community of theological inquiry, leadership development, and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ. Columbia Seminary offers six graduate degree programs and dozens of courses and events as a resource for church professionals and lay people through The Center for Lifelong Learning. For more information, go here.

Columbia Theological Seminary,  Special to Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Columbia Theological Seminary awarded Climate Science in Theological Education grant

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Sara Hayden, Associate, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency  
Janet Hayes, Mission Specialist, Christian Formation, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us pray

Gracious God, we give you thanks for opportunities to serve and care for those in need. Help us see the fertile ground all around us that you call us to tend and thus help bring forth fruit that meets the needs of our neighbors who you love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.