Guest Lecture with Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in St. Paul are jointly sponsoring a lecture by the highly esteemed American theologian and ethicist Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien. The free event will take place at 6:30 PM on September 25, in the main church at St. John’s and be live-streamed on St. John’s YouTube channel.

Dorrien, the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University, will base his lecture around two of his recent publications: Anglican Identities: Logos Idealism, Imperial Whiteness, Commonweal Ecumenism and the autobiographical Over from Union Road: My Christian-Left-Intellectual Life. Both books have a 2024 publication date.

In Anglican Identities, Dorrien offers a comprehensive historical examination of Anglicanism, encompassing the faith’s longstanding proclivity toward ecumenicalism and idealist approaches. He also argues that the religion’s aspirational ecumenical vision is directly antithetical to English Anglican’s entanglement with colonialism and white supremacy. 

Over from Union Road, on sale September 30, is a rich memoir that describes Dorrien’s unlikely journey from being an academically inattentive high school athlete to becoming a renowned social ethicist, theologian, and intellectual historian. The book also covers Dorrien’s participation in the civil rights movement and other social and cultural upheavals during his lengthy career. 

Dorrien will also participate in United’s Fall Convocation on September 26 as he joins us to celebrate the installation of his former student, Dr. Demian Wheeler, into the new Sophia Chair in Religious and Theological Studies. The Lecture at St. John’s and United’s Fall Convocation are completely free to attend!

View the venue address and information below.