Mahle Lecture in Progressive Christian Thought

The Wesley Center

The 2022 Mahle Lecture Series was held March 10 to 13, 2022.

About the Mahle Lecture in Progressive Christian Thought

The Stephen and Kathi Austen Mahle Endowed Fund for Progressive Christian Thought was created to support the efforts of Hamline University toward exploring and articulating contemporary forms of Christian theology and providing students opportunities to learn its relevance to personal, social, political and economic life. Each year a progressive religious scholar is invited to Hamline's campus for several days of speaking and teaching in our community. This particular style of visit allows for community members to have the chance to interact with the scholar in a personal way. Classroom visits, local house of worship visits, and community conversations are just some of the ways past Mahle lecturers have engaged with the community in addition to their keynote lecture.

Each scholar speaks on a particular theme related to their work and the world around us. The Wesley Center also aims to identify a piece of artwork that conveys the message of the scholar through a visual medium.

Past Mahle lectures

  • "Let's Not Go Back to Normal: Racial Reckoning, Repair, and Reconciliation," Rev. Nekima Levy Armstrong, Joe Davis, Dr. Alton B. Pollard, III, Amanzi Arnett, Dr. Iva B. Carruthers, and Rev. Dr. Curtiss Paul DeYoung (2022)
  • "Who are We? Christian Nationalism, White Supremacy, and Pathways to Liberation," The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, The Rev. Adam Lawrence Dryer, Robert P. Jones, and Katherine Stewart (2021)
  • "Imago Dei in an Age of Selfies, Separations and Schisms," Bishop Karen P. Oliveto (2020)
  • "Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology," Dr. Carol P. Christ and Dr. Judith Plaskow (2018)
  • "Hearing Earth in our Time: Ecowomanism, African American Women, and Earth-Honoring Faiths," Dr. Melanie L. Harris (2018)
  • “Healing, Wholeness, Holiness: Religious Responses to Trauma and Illness,” Dr. Shelly Rambo (2017)
  • "Eco-Theology for the Heartland: A Bioregional Approach," Dr. Timothy Eberhart (2016)
  • "Religious Life, Public Life, and the Adventure of Civility," Krista Tippett (2015)
  • "Are the Gospels of Mary, Thomas and Truth Scripture? Imagining New Ways of Reading the Bible in the 21st Century," Dr. Hal Traussig (2015)
  • "Becoming Buddhist When Jesus Isn't Enough: A Third Wave Womanist Negotiation of Race, Gender and Religion," Dr. Monica A. Coleman (2014)
  • "Occupy Religion?: Reimagining the God of the Multitude," Dr. Joerg Rieger (2013)
  • "World Balance vs. Personal Salvation in American Indian Postcolonial Perspective," Dr. George 'Tink" Tinker (2012)
  • "Holy Food & Groceries: How Feeding and Healing Transforms Lives," Sara Miles (2011)
  • "Finding Beauty in a Broken World," Terry Tempest Williams (2010)
  • "Saving Paradise: A Life-Affirming Christianity for the 21st Century," Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock (2009)