Union Theological Seminary
‘Holy Queer’ author seeks Black church inclusion beyond singing with choir
By Adelle M. Banks — February 27, 2023
(RNS) — ‘I focus on the Black church in my criticism because I love it,’ said the Rev. Karmen Michael Smith, author of ‘Holy Queer.’
Remembering E.P. Sanders, a New Testament scholar who offered a new look at Judaism
By Mark Chancey — December 5, 2022
(RNS) — Sanders forcefully called on fellow New Testament scholars to reject caricatures of Judaism.
Gore says climate crisis like ‘nature hike right through the Book of Revelation’
By Adelle M. Banks — May 18, 2022
(RNS) — ‘The transition to a cleaner future can also be a transition to a more just and equitable future,’ he said at a Black Interfaith Project event.
Buddhist chaplains on the rise in US, offering broad appeal
By Gosia Wozniacka — May 16, 2022
(RNS) — More than 40% of Buddhist chaplains work in health care, a recent report found, while others serve in schools, in prisons or as self-employed counselors.
How COVID-19 has made the lives of aspiring clergy more daunting
By Camille Daniels — December 27, 2021
(RNS) — The increasing stressors of being a pastor in a pandemic are affecting how many seminarians are thinking about their mental health and their careers.
Christian ethicist Donald W. Shriver Jr., who called America to repent of racism, dies
By Yonat Shimron — August 9, 2021
(RNS) — The former president of Union Theological Seminary in New York, Shriver believed public repentance was the only hope for 'a future less evil than our pasts.'
In resignation letter, Cornel West says Harvard constitutes ‘intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy’
By Alejandra Molina — July 13, 2021
(RNS) — Cornel West released the text of a June 30 letter outlining his reasons for leaving Harvard.
Black religious leaders, stand with our LGBTQ family
By Cornel West and Frederick A. Davie — March 30, 2021
(RNS) — Black LGBTQ leaders have labored alongside us so that all Black Americans could experience equality.
Cornel West returns to Union Theological Seminary after Harvard tenure dispute
By Alejandra Molina — March 8, 2021
(RNS) — The move comes after West had threatened to leave Harvard University, which he said denied his request to be considered for tenure.
We need to declare a national emergency on deadly policing
By Kelly Brown Douglas — September 2, 2020
(RNS) — This country’s anti-Black narrative threatens the lives of not only the 13% of this country’s population who are targeted by it; it threatens the survival of the nation itself.
If God created the whole world, why is treating plants as holy so crazy?
By Benjamin Perry — October 2, 2019
(RNS) — The furor over #PlantGate may help explain why it’s so difficult to make progress in responding to climate change.
Growing the religious left by confessing our sins against nature to plants
By Tara Isabella Burton — September 23, 2019
(RNS) — For these progressive Christians, the language of social justice is a way of translating the gospel message of a kingdom of heaven on earth into a contemporary world.
A grim anniversary for Dietrich Bonhoeffer marks what might have been
By A. James Rudin — January 18, 2019
(RNS) — Eighty years ago, the anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer traveled back to Germany. Had he survived World War II, he might have become a global leader in fostering respect between Christians and Jews.
Among M.Div. graduates, a new crop of transgender students
By Jesse James DeConto — May 26, 2016
(RNS) A small, but growing number of transgender students seek out divinity school precisely because it is a place where they can wrestle with questions about their place and purpose in the universe.
Faith communities are dumping their fossil fuel investments
By Lauren Markoe — July 16, 2014
(RNS) Worried about climate change, an increasing number of churches and religious groups are removing fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios.
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