Presbyterian Mission Agency vanderbilt divinity school Archives

Getting organized without getting partisan

Posted July 11th, 2024

Are there elements of community organizing that churches can learn from? That was among the questions the hosts of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” had for the Rev. Dr. Aaron Stauffer, Director of Online and Lifelong Learning and the Associate Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at the Vanderbilt Divinity School during an episode that launched last month.

PC(USA) podcast ‘A Matter of Faith’ gives clergy and other allies resources to help the families and friends of intersex people

Posted October 25th, 2022

The psalmist’s assurance, “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” and the Acts account of Phillip baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch were among the Scriptures held up during the most recent edition of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.”

The Rev. Laura M. Cheifetz discusses PC(USA) connectivity and accountability on Everyday God-Talk

Posted October 6th, 2022

In the latest edition of Everyday God-talk, the Rev. Laura M. Cheifetz, social media influencer and Assistant Dean of Admission, Vocation and Stewardship at Vanderbilt Divinity School, discusses what she loves about Presbyterian theology.

‘Let me stop there. I’m getting ready to start preaching’

Posted March 28th, 2022

Anytime two deans and a seminary president are gathered for conversation around “Womanist Herstory, Womanist Hope,” those privileged to listen in can count on a thoughtful and thought-provoking hour. Listen to their conversation, recorded last week, by clicking here.

Making real the promises of democracy

Posted January 26th, 2022

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said during his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, capping the March on Washington. Almost six decades later it’s well past time. But two leaders engaged mightily in the struggle said during Monday’s online forum “God and Division” hosted by the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership at Union Presbyterian Seminary said religion has a significant place in the battle.

Breaking free from purity culture

Posted May 5th, 2021

The second Linda Kay Klein heard that the gunman in the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta spas considered his victims “stumbling blocks,” she knew he had been raised in purity culture.

‘Keep a sense of wonder’

Posted April 23rd, 2021

With each of his guests on the podcast Leading Theologically, the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty opens with the same question: what is making you come alive? On Wednesday, the Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz, a PC(USA) pastor and the assistant dean of Admissions, Vocation and Stewardship at the Vanderbilt University School of Divinity, had a ready answer.

Gelling too soon

Posted June 18th, 2020

In Gail Godwin’s book “The Finishing School,” which features an older woman and a 14-year-old girl, the woman tells the girl she can tell by looking whether a person has congealed. That person will have no more surprises, the woman tells her young friend, and to avoid the trap she must constantly be on guard against gelling too soon. It’s a valued vignette in one of the Rev. Dr. Lib Caldwell’s favorite books.

‘Anti-racist effort is not optional for us as Christians’

Posted May 20th, 2020

The Rev. Laura Cheifetz was halfway through her presentation in Monday’s “COVID at the Margins” discussion of anti-Asian racism when she advised that sensitive viewers might want to hit the “mute” button.

‘Everyday God-Talk’ guest asks, ‘Can the church catch the visions of young people?’

Posted May 6th, 2020

In the latest edition of Everyday God-Talk, So Jung Kim, associate for Theology in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Theology & Worship, visits with Jaco Hamman, a PC(USA) ordained pastor who’s a professor at the Vanderbilt Divinity School.