Presbyterian Mission Agency dr. brian k. blount Archives

A quartet of PC(USA) scholars and preachers offers up a how-to on preaching hope this Easter

Posted February 21st, 2024

Presbyterian Publishing Corporation gathered four gifted scholars and preachers — all of them with books published by Westminster John Knox Press — for a Tuesday webinar called “Leading with Good News in Difficult Times: Preaching and Teaching at Easter.”

Union Presbyterian Seminary panel looks at biblical texts that can make antiracism work difficult

Posted May 15th, 2023

A panel of New Testament scholars convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary late last month took on the uncomfortable reality that “contrary to popular opinion, the Bible has not always been an ally in the struggle for antiracist work. Though replete with Scriptures that convey God’s vision for a world of equality and justice where every human being is created in the common image of God and viewed as equally valuable, the Bible has also been used for more nefarious ends,” including, as a webinar promotion put it, “theologically justified supremacist thought.”

Could a culture of public forgiveness break our modern outrage cycle?

Posted April 28th, 2022

An article published last month by Vox entitled “Everyone wants forgiveness, but no one is being forgiven” captured our attention. “Modern outrage is a cycle,” the subhead reads. “Could a culture of public forgiveness ever break it?”

Union Presbyterian Seminary awarded $1 million grant to help faith leaders address the nation’s cultural divide

Posted January 11th, 2022

Union Presbyterian Seminary will use a nearly $1 million grant to help churches respond theologically and not reactively to racism, the pandemic, climate change, and other issues of public concern affecting congregations and their communities.

Union Presbyterian Seminary to use $4.5M grant to address religion in families

Posted September 15th, 2020

Union Presbyterian Seminary has received a $4.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to create a research and innovation hub that will broaden ways of being religious in families and make church more meaningful in their lives.

Our church needs more rocks

Posted April 29th, 2020

“This is our stone-cold moment to be like Jesus, our rock and our redeemer,” Dr. Brian K. Blount told the recent NEXT Church national gathering at the close of a sermon. The president and professor of New Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary called on worshipers to “stand on God’s promise … and rock out our world.”

‘Our church needs more rocks’

Posted March 6th, 2020

“This is our stone-cold moment to be like Jesus, our rock and our redeemer,” Dr. Brian K. Blount told the NEXT Church national gathering Wednesday at the close of a sermon as rousing as it was theologically well-built. The president and professor of New Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary called on worshipers to “stand on God’s promise … and rock out our world.”