Dr. Handy’s Alumni/ae Fireside Chat
Save the date for a special opportunity to hear from Dr. Handy as she shares her vision for the year and beyond. This will be a virtual event for alumni.
More details coming soon.
Installation of Rev. Dr. Handy
The Board of Trustees warmly invites you to be part of a significant moment as we celebrate the installation of Rev. Dr. Maisha I. Handy as the 12th president of McCormick Theological Seminary.
More details coming soon.
2024 HIV/AIDS Clergy & Lay Leadership Summit
Initiated in 2004 by Sylvia Jo Oglesby and McCormick Theological Seminary, the HIV/AIDS Clery & Lay Leadership Summit aims to reduce HIV/AIDS infections and related behaviors. We equip local church ministries and faith-based outreach workers with up-to-date education and best practices to help their communities.
Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church
"Bishop Richard Allen House"
4448 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60653
Free event with limited seating (first come, first served.)
2024 Callie House Lecture
Join us for the 2024 Callie House Lecture — The Call of Reparatory Justice: Who Do You Say I Am For Such a Time as This? Our featured speaker is Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith, Regional President at the World Council of Churches, North America. Hosted by McCormick's Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation, and Remediation, the event takes place at McCormick, LSTC Chapel, 4th Floor. Parking is available. Admission is free but an RSVP is requested.
Sixth Annual Paul Wattson Lecture
Sixth Annual Paul Wattson Lecture
Consider attending this annual lecture series presented by the Catholic Theological Union with a theme, “Global Christian Forum: Reshaping the Global Ecumenical Landscape.”
RSVP via QR code is required.
McCormick Days 2024
SAVE THE DATES!
At the Intersection of Identity, Imagination & Impact is designed to inspire participants to discover their unique place in the world, cultivate creative ways to interact, and leverage their faith to create positive change
Make plans to join us as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of El Centro, honor the impact of our alumni & students — including celebrations for the classes of 1974 and 1999, our Distinguished Alumna, and our Rising Star recipient — and welcome our new president, Rev. Dr. Maisha Handy.
Registration is now open.
2024 Scherer Lecture
HONORING THE LEGACY OF DR. JAMES A. SCHERER
Join us for a FREE symposium honoring the late James A. Scherer, with guest speakers reflecting on Scherer as Lutheran churchman, eminent missiologist, ecumenist, mentor and beloved professor at LSTC.
Register for event.
MCHP Registration Deadline
The Trauma Healing Initiative at McCormick Theological Seminary is launching the Micro-Credential in Community Healing Practices (MCHP) program this Fall. The MCHP aims to equip faith leaders and community practitioners with trauma-informed and healing-centered practice. Find out more & consider enrolling at: https://bit.ly/thimchp
Commencement Service
Join us for McCormick’s
190th Commencement Service
celebrating the Class of 2024
on May 18th at 2pm.
The celebration will take place at
Hyde Park Union Church
5600 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
Seminary reception preceding at 1130am at
McCormick Theological Seminary
5416 S. Cornell Avenue
Room 210-BC
Cross Cultural Celebration
Come celebrate our PASO, KASA, and AELM graduates!
This hybrid event will take place in Room 201 A & B and via Zoom.
5pm - 545pm — Reception
6pm - 730pm — Worship Service Celebration
Please contact Priscilla Rodriquez (773.947.6310) to RSVP and receive the Zoom link.
MTS Open House
Come spend the afternoon with us!
Our beautiful, newly built-out space at the Catholic Theological Union (CTU), just blocks east of the campus we shared with LSTC, is now open and ready to support our impact far beyond its walls.
Come see our new space for yourself: 5416 S. Cornell, 5th Floor.
Free and open to the public. Light appetizers will be served.
RSVP via email or scan below:
2024 Annual Brawley Lecture
2024 Annual Brawley, Allen, and Zenos Lecture
The Immigrant in Your Midst:
Migration, Ministry, and the Bible
April 12, 2024 | 9am - 3pm
The Brawley, Allen, and Zenos lectures at McCormick Theological Seminary will unite to sponsor a full-day event on migration, ministry, and the Bible on April 12. Free and open to the public, this event will include:
Inspiring worship
An informative lecture on migration in the Bible
Lecturer: Dr. Francisco Lozado
Christian Theological Seminary
Unique opportunities for small group conversations with McCormick faculty and local practitioners serving migrants in Chicago
A lively panel discussion on how Scripture can inspire our ministry with migrants
Lunch will be available free of charge.
Registration now open.
Community Dinner & Jazz Vespers
Formation Week 2024 | Spring 2024
April 2
In our pursuit of rest as a command, rest as care for our body, and rest as worship, we invite you to join us for a guided reflection and Jazz Vespers service with Julian Davis Reid from Notes of Rest Ministry. The evening will begin with a community dinner sponsored by the Office of Student Services.
Formation Week 2024
Formation Week 2024 | Spring 2024
April 1-5, 2024
During Formation Week, we invite you into spaces and moments to be still, to rest. Rest, not as a luxury, but as essential to our being... to our formation. What if rest guided the rhythms of the fullness of life?
What if we, as a community, were still? What might we discover anew of the divine’s call?
Coordinated by The Trauma Healing Initiative & the Office of Student Support
2024 World Mission Institute
Climate change presents humanity with a kairos moment, a critical moment in time when God is leading us into decisive action. Almost forty years ago, the 1985 South African Kairos Document issued a prophetic word about apartheid. More recently, Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patirarch Archbishop Bartholomew has named the climate crisis as a kairos, a term the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and others have also now adopted. How can a biblical sense of kairos help our prophetic eco-justice mission of caring for God’s creation today?
McCormick Day
Plenary 1: Reframing Healing and Activism
State of McCormick
Plenary 2: Connecting Theological Education and Professional Life
Plenary 3: Modeling Solutions
Alumni Celebration
Classes 1973, 1998
Celebration of Distinguished Alumna 2023
Rev. Carmen M. Rosario Riviere, MDIV 1984
Celebration of Rising Star Award 2023
Chaplain Maria Sullivan-Marrero, MAM 2020
Community Worship
The purpose of community worship at McCormick Theological Seminary:
We gather to worship the Divine as students, staff, and faculty at an institution of higher theological education. We take turns centering and affirming diverse affinity groups or theological schools of thought in the McCormick Theological Seminary community so that we can all share a variety of worshiping styles as led by those who claim them as their tradition.
When we are not focusing on one affinity group or theological school of thought, we will do our best to have representation of various identity groups who are part of our community.
SCHERER LECTURE 2023
Emmanuel Katongole is Professor of Theology and Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He previously served as Associate Professor of Theology and World Christianity at Duke University, and as founding co-director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation. He is the author of several books, including Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa (Eerdmans, 2017). Katongole is a Catholic priest of Kampala Archdiocese, Uganda where he was ordained in 1987.
For more information, contact: Ken Sawyer ksawyer@mccormick.edu)
Sponsored by McCormick Theological Seminary, Catholic Theological Union, and Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Virtual Public Lecture: Gun Violence and Police Reform: What Churches Need to Know Now
From the perspective of a leading anti-gun violence Christian activist and a practitioner involved in policing reform, this two-part conversation will focus on the current public discourse on ending violence.
Moderator:
Jia Johnson, Director, Solidarity Building Initiative
Conversation partners:
Dr. RaShall M. Brackney, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Practice at George Mason University and former Chief of Police in Charlottesville, Virginia
Pastor Mike McBride,
Executive Director, Live Free USA
Streaming on Facebook Live here.
Continuing Education Workshop Series: Anti-Violence Advocacy for Churches
Participants will interact virtually with Christian activists, scholars, and a police reformer engaged in anti-gun violence, effective gun control policies, and pro-community policing strategies.
Class held virtually, $250 registration. Click here for the registration form.
Led by:
Dr. Nolan Shaw
Affiliate Professor
McCormick Theological Seminary
Speakers:
Dr. RaShall M. Brackney, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Practice at George Mason University and former Chief of Police in Charlottesville, Virginia
Pastor Mike McBride,
Executive Director, Live Free USA
Jaime Fluker
Faith-based Organizer
Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL)
Dr. Christophe Ringer
Associate Professor of Theological Ethics and Society at Chicago Theological Seminary
2023 Commencement Ceremony
Join us for McCormick’s 189th Commencement Service celebrating the Class of 2023 on May 13th at 2:00 p.m. CDT. The celebration will take place at Hyde Park Union Church and will be hosted on zoom and streamed live to our Facebook page as well. A reception service honoring graduates will take place before the service in the McGaw Common Room.
Celebrate with us virtually on Zoom by registering here.
Celebrate with us virtually on Facebook by going here.
Our 2023 Commencement speaker will be Bishop Yehiel Curry, MDiv of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Learn more about our speaker here!
Through These Bars: A Behind the Walls Listening Session
Join us for a “Through These Bars: A Behind the Wall Listening Session” This is the public's first look into the protest songs created by MTS SBI students incarcerated at the Cook county jail. The evening's program includes a generative conversation, engaging with the students' songs, and a community art project. Attendees will have the opportunity to co-create themes for song lyrics with Richard Wallace and The Honorable Hakim Dough, leading to the release of a third song at our second pop-up event.
The Listening Party will be both in person and virtual, and yes, there will be food! We can't wait to share this powerful experience with you all.
To learn more about the event and register, click here!
2023 Cross Cultural Celebration
Join us before the event for a reception and to participate in a celebratory video to pay tribute to our 2023 graduates.
Reception 4:45 p - 5:45 p
Celebration Lipdub - 5:45 p - 6:00 p
Worship Celebration - 6:00 p - 7:30 p
The event will be hybrid, streamed on McCormick’s Facebook Live and in-person seating in the Common Room.
RSVP is required!
Solidarity in Community: Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow
McCormick is proud to sponsor “Solidarity in Community: Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow” on April 22nd 2023 at 9:00 a.m. This event will be presented by the Presbyterian Women in the Presbytery of Chicago and will feature guest speaker Jia Johnson from the Solidarity Building Initiative at McCormick Theological Seminary. 10 scholarships will be provided for students to attend this event.
Abolition: An Intro Study Group
Presbyterians for Abolition will gather for six weeks using the the Abolition Journal Study Guide and the seminal book: “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Davis to guide them. They will meet Thursdays @ 5:30 CT from April 20 – May 25. To learn more about the study and register, click here!
Book Signing and Conversation: Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times
Join us Saturday April 15th at 12:30 p.m. for a book signing and conversation with Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III about his best-selling book Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times. This event will be hybrid with in-person seating and streamed live through Zoom on McCormick’s Facebook page. Books will be available for purchase on-site. This event is hosted by the Office of Student Services at McCormick Theological Seminary.
Spring 2023 IKIGAI Formation Week
Formation Week is an intentional time in the life of McCormick Theological Seminary where we will gather as a community, in person and virtually, for a rich week of institutional learning, deepening connections, and sharing tools and resources to advance the mission of McCormick Theological Seminary and the work of student formation. The Spring 2023 IKIGAI Formation Focus is: “Purpose – What the World Needs.” Join us for amazing evening plenary sessions, focused “lunch and learn” workshops, focused conversation with faculty, food, fellowship and fun.
Sign up for Lunch & Learn Workshops
Sign up for the Evening Plenary Sessions
Theology Trek
Join us Saturday, April 1st and 9 a.m. for the Theology Trek 5k! Students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to run, walk, or bike a 5k (3 mile) route which winds through Hyde Park, passing by the theological schools in the neighborhood. Refreshments will be provided!
Register here!
HerStory Lecture 2023
Join us Tuesday, March 21st at 12:00 p.m. CT for the annual HerStory Lecture titled “Telling the Truth About Black Women’s Leadership: Defying Patriarchy, Defining Ourselves” featuring guest speaker Dr. Jeanne Porter King, Ph.D. BCC. This event will be streamed live on McCormick’s Facebook page. This event is hosted by the Center for African American Ministries and Black Church Studies.
To join, click here!
Reparations: Global Demands and Commissions
Left to right: Dr. Allan Boesak, Dr. Iva Carrurthers,
and Dr. Davide Daniels
"Reparations: Global Demands and Commissions" is a three-day workshop on reparations and reparatory justice led by Dr. Allan Boesak, the internationally-renown South African theologian. The workshop explores theological analysis, practical principles, and models of repairing harm from centuries of racialized oppression, white domination, and anti-black violence. Participants will examine, in both the U.S. and global contexts, specific models of truth-telling and reparatory justice strategies applied as acts of remedy and repair FROM the harm of racial oppression.
Renowned South African religious leader, Dr. Allan Boesak, with his unique experiences in the struggle against white dominion, will enrich this intensive learning time with his transnational and cross-cultural lens. Dr. Iva Carruthers will share additional insights on current U. S. models of reparatory justice employed by governments, universities, and denominations;
Dr. David Daniels will develop the discourse as it relates to the history of Modern Christianity and race.
The workshop has in-person and online options. Continuing education units will be awarded to participants who are enrolled and complete all assignments. Master’s level course credit is available for students who register for the course through McCormick Seminary as independent study and satisfactorily complete related advanced study course assignments.
The Power Behind Black Worship Workshop
Join us Saturday, March 11th from 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. CT for a workshop titled “The Power Behind Black Worship” lead by guest speaker Dr. Alisha Lola Jones, Ph.D. This event will be hybrid with limited in-person seating for 20 people. This event is hosted by the Center for African American Ministries and Black Church Studies.
To attend this event virtually, please email prodriquez@mccormick.edu
McCormick Theological Seminary Informational Session
McCormick has several distance-learning opportunities we would love to share with you, such as our online Certificate and Master's level programs! Please join us Tuesday, February 21st at 8 pm CST to learn about these and other programs!
To join, click here!