Chicago Theological Seminary professor to speak at Hood

Dr. JoAnne Marie Terrell, associate professor of ethics and theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, will be the featured speaker during the Hood Theological Seminary’s annual Heritage Lecture Series to be held Feb. 9 and 10. The two day event will feature three lectures and is open to the public. This year’s Heritage Lecture Series will be titled “An Uncompromised Liberation: The African American Love Ethic Through the Mind of Sojourner Truth.”

In announcing this year’s Heritage Lecture Series, Dr. Albert Aymer, president of Hood Theological Seminary, said, “Professor Terrell is an outstanding young theological scholar and we are honored to have her as our featured speaker at the Heritage Lecture Series.”

On Thursday morning at 10:10, Dr. Terrell will present the opening lecture titled “It’s Complicated: The Dialectics of Love in the African American Community from Slavery to the Present.” The second lecture on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. is titled “Channels of Love and Justice: Unveiling the Centrality of Woman in the Christian Salvation Story.” On Friday evening at 6 p.m., the third lecture will be presented and is titled “Of Weevils, Movies, and Politics: A ‘Helpful’ Guide for the Peripatetic Perplexed.”

She received her bachelor of arts degree from Rollins College in 1981 and her M.Div., M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary (NYC) in 1990, 1994, and 1997 respectively.

Dr. Terrell, an ordained elder in the Michigan Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, is the author of “Power in the Blood? The Cross in the African-American Experience” (Orbis, 1998).

As an African-American Christian and Womanist rooted in the church, Terrell enjoys exploring the antecedents of her own faith claims. Her research interests include a focus on Christian origins and their potential for enhancing future developments in black, feminist and womanist theologies on questions of doctrine. In addition, she enjoys the spiritual benefits of studying the ancient testimonies and sacred texts of other cultures.

Established in 1999, the Heritage Lecture Series honors the powerful legacy passed on to the Seminary by its namesake, James Walker Hood, the renowned bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Bishop Hood inspired others in the denomination to join him in creating Zion Wesley Institute in 1879 for the training of African-American youth for the Christian ministry. The Institute became a liberal arts college chartered by the state of North Carolina in 1887 and was renamed Livingstone College in honor of British explorer Dr. David Livingstone. In 1904, the theological department of Livingstone was upgraded to a school and named Hood Theological Seminary in honor of Bishop Hood.

Through over a century of change and growth, Hood’s mission has been to be an educational community in which Christian maturity and ministerial preparation take place together. In pursuing this mission, we incorporate into our programs the spiritual, personal, intellectual and professional components of a rigorous theological education. The Heritage Lecture Series plays an important supporting role in Hood’s ongoing commitment to excellence in education.

The lectures are offered free of charge and are open to all, but registration is recommended. Please make your reservations through the Seminary Development Office at 704-636-6926.

Hood Theological Seminary located in Salisbury and sponsored by the AME Zion Church, is a graduate and professional school where intellectual discourse and ministerial preparation occur in tandem within the framework of a community of faith. Its student body comprises persons from sixteen different denominations. Hood’s purpose is to educate and prepare its students for leadership in various ministries and vocations to which they feel called by God.