(LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY COMMUNICATIONS.) – On Tuesday, February 27, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will host its annual Black Church Studies Consultation. The event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will take place on the seminary’s campus (1044 Alta Vista Road, Louisville, Ky. 40205). Cost is $15 to attend, and the registration deadline is Friday, February 16.
Pastoral Care as Soul Care and Social Activism is the theme for this year’s consultation. Workshops and discussions will explore the ways that effective pastoral care empowers people to move beyond fear and a sense of helplessness or hopelessness, to participate in bold acts of discipleship such as welcoming the stranger and working for justice. Participants will leave with tools to help them engage in the relational work of tending to the human soul within their church context as well as to help meet the needs of the larger community.
Highlights for the consultation include a workshop, “Looking for the Love Below: Exploring the Inner Life through Fearless Dialogue,” lead by the Rev. Dr. Gregory C. Ellison II, associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at the Candler School of Theology (Emory). Ellison will address the four fundamental fears that inform generational divides and acts of exclusion. Participants will learn strategies to see every member of our communities of faith as whole persons.
Dr. Ashley Hicks White, Louisville Seminary assistant professor of marriage and family therapy, will present “Caring for Black Lives: Inside and Outside of the Church.” Discussion will focus on the particular needs of Black souls that emerge as a consequence of living in a society founded on anti-blackness. Participants will learn practical ways to provide soul care for all Black lives that goes beyond our local communities of faith and extends into the larger communities we are also called to serve.
This year’s Black Church Studies Consultation preacher is Dr. M. Brandon McCormack, assistant professor of pan-African studies at the University of Louisville. His sermon, “Black Joy in the Mo(u)rning,” will draw on Psalm 30:5b.
Funding for Louisville Seminary’s Black Church Studies Consultation is provided in part by a generous grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. For more information and to register for the event, log into www.lpts.edu.
by Chris Wooten, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary communications
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