Plenary Sessions
Hour-long sessions with all conference participants featuring one or more speakers,
with time for audience Q&A. All Plenaries will take place in the Buntrock Ballrooms
Monday, July 25, 2022 • 7 p.m.
Reimagining Christian Preaching and Worship: A Response to the Pandemics
Eunjoo Mary Kim
How might Christian churches respond to the pandemic-stricken realities? How can we renew congregational worship and preaching to be more relevant to the changing context? This session invites the participants to think together about these pressing issues and reimagine the theology and practice of Christian preaching and worship.
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 • 10:45 a.m.
Collaborative Creation: Queer Mysticism and Community Sacred Art
Katherine Parent
In times of change, sacred visual art practices can bring people together into profound experiences of collaborative creation. Creating art for and with congregations can be a form of mystical play, incorporating aspects of liberation pedagogy, queer theology and Holy Fool traditions. This playful work can help people process grief, connect, and share visions.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022 • 10:45 a.m.
Becoming a Community of Hope in a Traumatized World
Willie James Jennings, Deanna Thompson, Gary Wilkerson
What does it mean to be the body of Christ in a traumatized world? This panel explores how we make space in our worship and communal life for those undone by sorrow and injustice, and how a deepening capacity for lament creates room for the Spirit to move us toward hope.
Thursday, July 28, 2022 • 10:45 a.m.
Renewing the Christian Imagination
Willie James Jennings
This session will explore how we might renew the social imaginations of Christians in these racially divisive times. We Christians have underdeveloped resources for imagining life together and enacting new ways of living beyond social and racial divisions. My talk will explore some of these theological resources.
Worship Services
Our Worship Services this year will be in the Advent season, using Wilda Gafney’s A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary. Each service will revolve around annunciations from God, weave in the Magnificat, and offer ideas that participants can readily incorporate into worship in their own congregations. All Services will be live-streamed for our virtual track participants. All Services will take place in Boe Memorial Chapel.
Our preachers are:
Tim Rainey II – July 25, 1 p.m.
Eunjoo Mary Kim – July 26, 7:30 p.m.
Willie James Jennings – July 27, 7:30 p.m.
Katherine Fick and Matthew Marohl – July 28, 1:30 p.m.
Clergy Connection
The CWTA Clergy Connection is an opportunity for pastors and future pastors (seminarians, candidates for ordination) to gather, network, and consider the ways in which our teaching, preaching, and pastoral care is inspired and challenged by our current circumstances. Two connection sessions will be offered during the conference. Join these sessions for an opportunity to connect with other faith leaders around these important topics!
Concert Series
Watch this space for details regarding special musical performances that will take place during the conference