Eden Theological Seminary’s 25th Annual Schmiechen Lectures
Constructing Mission and Peace in the Shadow of Empire

Click HERE to register for the Schmiechen Lecture!

How do we tell stories of peace and mutual understanding in places where polarization and division based culture and religion are entrenched?  What happens when suppressed theologies emerge and begin conversing with each other?  How can the churches provide space for this kind of emergence and conversation to take place?

In response to the publication of Worshipping at the Feet of Our Ancestors: Hendrik Kraemer and the Making of Contextual Theology in South Asia, by Eden professor Dr. Damayanthi Niles, the Seminary will gather four prominent theologians to spend the day in conversation – with each other, and with us. 

Wesley Ariarajah (Drew University Theological School), Judith Berling (Graduate Theological Union), Kwok Pui Lan (Episcopal Divinity School), and Shanta Premawardhana (Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education) will share new insights from their own scholarship, but also engage in “dialogic theology” with each other. The day will also include a reception in celebration of the book’s release. 

We hope you can join us.

8:30-9am        Opening worship

9-10:15           Movement 1: What is Empire?

10:15-10:30     Break

10:30-12pm     Movement 2: What is Dialogical Existence?

12-1                Lunch

1-1:30             Worship w/musical offering

1:30-3             Movement 3: What Does Dialogical Existence Look Like in Our Current Context?

3-:3:30            High tea and book signing