Leading Theologically

Elizabeth "Lib" Caldwell has a long legacy of educating in the PC(USA). She served on faculty at McCormick Theological Seminary for 30 years, teaching generations of pastors and theological leaders how education can shape lives and communities. During her Facebook Live discussion with Lee Hinson-Hasty, she discussed how to handle tough question from children and discussed her life in ministry. She was joined at the end of the Facebook Live with well-wishers who congratulated her on receiving the Excellence in Theological Education Award, which was set to be presented to her at General Assembly 224. GA 224 (in 2020) was set for Baltimore but was turned into a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is part two of the Facebook Live; this portion provided an opportunity for Lib to talk to friends, former students and colleagues.

Rev. Dr. Darrell L. Guder is receiving the Excellence in Theological Education Award this year from the Committee on Theological Education. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, General Assembly is now a virtual event, and Rev. Dr. Guder will not have the opportunity to receive this award in person. We invited him to this Facebook Live to talk about missional theology and teaching, and to celebrate his legacy.

Rev. Dr. Darrell L. Guder is the Henry Winters Luce Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology Emeritus and one of the founders of the Center for Church Planting and Revitalization at Princeton Theological Seminary. He received the Excellence in Theological Education Award this year from the Committee on Theological Education. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, General Assembly is now a virtual event, and Rev. Dr. Guder will not have the opportunity to receive this award in person. We invited him to this Facebook Live to talk about missional theology and teaching, and to celebrate his legacy.

Our early June 2020 Facebook Live discussion was with Rodney S. Sadler, Jr. He discussed the push for racial justice that has become a major force in the U.S. Sadler uses the name “uprising” to describe the protests from the people participating. “It’s people finding a way up, finding their voice, trying to start a larger movement of justice for all people." George Floyd’s death, while “the straw the broke the camel’s back,” has also “given people the opportunity to move beyond fear, to say we need to claim back our police departments, our humanity and our human dignity.”

“And it’s not just black people,” he said. “It’s black, white, Latinx, Asian, indigenous people, rich and poor, old and young saying ‘this is too much.’”

The Facebook Live discussion was hosted by Lee Hinson-Hasty of the Theological Education Fund. Sadler serves as Associate Professor of Bible and Director, Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte.

Rev. Dr. José Irizarry joined us for a Facebook Live discussion about virtual learning and education in the midst of a pandemic. He discussed his own perspective on virtual education and how it has changed over the years, and what he expects for the future. His discussion with Lee Hinson-Hasty covered both home life and education, and how the two have merged. "“As minister of household, we are institutional beings,” Irizarry said. “All the institutions we belong to have collapsed into one place we call home. Home is now church, workplace and school."

José is a well-respected Presbyterian educator who has served the church in multiple ways. He is the Board of Pension's Vice President for Education, and in that role, he is responsible for developing and implementing an educational strategy that is faithful to the Board's Theology of Benefits and responsive to the needs of the changing Church. He also is responsible for creating a consistent thematic vision for all Board University offerings, from conferences to seminars, e-learning to webinars. José has more than 20 years' experience in higher education as a professor and chief academic and executive administrator, in the United States and Puerto Rico. Before joining the Board of Pensions, he was Associate Professor of Theological and Religious Education at Villanova University, in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

Ted Wardlaw and Eric Wall from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary joined Lee Hinson-Hasty for a discussion on worship and community.

What do the most innovative organizations have in common today? Superior solutions with lower risks and cost of change and high participant buy-in are being found in multiple sectors using the process and questions that Design Thinking raises. How can ministry incorporate what Stanford and Harvard innovators have found works for non-profit, NGO’s, Educational institutions and more?

Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty invited Rev. Emily McGinley to discuss Design Thinking in Ministry on Facebook Live on May 13, 2020. Rev. Emily McGinley serves as the executive pastor Urban Village Church, Chicago, with a visual design and theological education as well as a pastoral study project grant from the Louisville Institute on this theme.

Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn, Executive Director of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, shared his thoughts on grief during this pandemic time. Lee Hinson-Hasty guided the conversation.

Trace discussed the nature of grief and how it may be hitting people differently during this pandemic. He also gave recommendations on how to live a more present and appreciative life in a beautiful charge and benediction. “In ways that you can savor Nature,” he said, “in ways that you can be grateful for these bodies that we have,” and “in ways you can find one another in a loving spirit that crosses all these boundaries and divides that just seem ridiculous in the face of a virus that doesn’t care about any of these things, may we be to one another the kind of gracious loving presence that the Universe has always longed for, and that we’re just far too good at mucking up.”

This conversation is part of a weekly Facebook Live series with church leaders on current topics.

Lee Hinson-Hasty and Jeff Bullock, President of the University of Dubuque, had a lively and engaging discussion on Leadership in a Pandemic.

Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, co-moderators of the 223rd General Assembly, discussed spirituality in a pandemic with host Lee Hinson-Hasty.