Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Festival of Theology and Reunion 2011

Festival/Reunion 2012

Festival of Theology & Reunion | May 1-4, 2011

LPTS Alums, friends of LPTS, leaders in black churches throughout the region and nation, and lifelong learners were present for an historic and dynamic learning experience that addressed the needs of all churches in the twenty-teens through conversation with the emerging black church witness.

Louisville Seminary has always been a ‘bridge” institution in many ways. This year we celebrate a century-long commitment to bridging the stream of America’s racial realities. The Black Church Studies Program is unique to seminaries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and its existence in a predominantly white theological school makes a strong statement about this institution’s commitments and vision for the church. The Louisville Seminary Black Church Studies program is a jewel that is slowly garnering attention from other institutions. Thus, this Festival of Theology and Reunion provided an opportunity to endorse this commitment, stand in solidarity with Christians from different traditions, and demonstrate that a program like this can be integrated into the life of the whole community in an authentic way.

Lectures & Sermons:

Brad R. Braxton
Professor, McCormick Theological Seminary

Dope Dealers or Pulpit Prophets: A Closer Look at Contemporary Black Preachers
Lecture, May 2. 8 p.m.

The Danger of Incomplete Transformation
(Luke 11:24-26)
Sermon, May 3. 11:30 a.m.

Brad Braxton, Ph.D., a Baptist preacher and New Testament scholar who brings his pastoral and academic accomplishments, including teaching at Wake Forest University Divinity School and Vanderbilt University Divinity School and serving as senior pastor at Riverside Church in New York City, to his role as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Among his publications are No Longer Slaves: Galatians and African American Experience and Preaching Paul.

Teresa Fry Brown
Director, Black Church Studies Program, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

On-the-Job Courage
(2 Samuel 23:20-23)
Sermon, May 2. 11:30 a.m.

21st Century Black Churches: Deferred Dreams or Prophetic Possibilities
Lecture, May 3. 2 p.m.

Teresa L. Fry Brown, Ph.D., an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Associate Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Black Church Studies Program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, author of Can a Sistah Get a Little Help?

Lewis Brogdon
Director of Black Church Studies, Associate Director of Recruitment and Admissions, LPTS

When God Makes Things Worse: The Challenge of Faith in Tough Times
(Exodus 5:1-5; 20-31)
Sermon, May 1. 7:30 p.m.

Lewis Brogdon, Ph.D., earned degrees at Regent University (PhD); Louisville Seminary (MDiv ’05); and Bluefield College in Virginia (BA). An experienced pastor and teacher with a call to help people overcome the unique challenges of the 21st century, he has written for African American Lectionary (2009) and has also published reviews and essays on the Word of Faith Movement, the prosperity movement, and racism in American Protestantism.

Angela Cowser
Associate Pastor of Multi-Cultural Ministries, Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee

Want Renewal? Recognize, Reorganize, Reform!
(Nehemiah 1:10-11)
Alum Sermon, May 4. 11:30 a.m.

Angela Cowser holds degrees from Brown University (BA, political science), University of Chicago (MA international relations), and Louisville Seminary (MDiv ’06). An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she also is a PhD candidate, completing her dissertation in ethics, homiletics, and practical theology at Vanderbilt University.

Cynthia Bolbach
Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Bridge-building
Moderator's Address
May 3. 6 p.m.

Cynthia Bolbach, Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary of BNA, Inc., and ruling elder in First Presbyterian Church, Arlington, Va., was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian denomination in July 2010.

Festival Save the Date 2010

Save the Date: Festival of Theology and Reunion 2012
April 29 - May 2
Focusing on Pastoral Care and Counseling, and featuring:
Dr. Alice M. Graham, Director of the Mississippi Interfaith Disasters Taskforce, and Dr. Emmanuel Y. Lartey, Professor of Pastoral Theology and Care, Candler School of Theology. The Festival Preacher is The Rev. Dr. Teresa Snorton (MDiv '82), Presiding Bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, and Executive Director of the National Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Inc.