Hood Theological Seminary will hold a Service of Lessons and Carols at 6 p.m. Friday in the Aymer Center on campus.

The service originated at King’s College in Cambridge, England, in the early part of the 20th century and is observed widely today to celebrate the holy season of Advent.

The service is open to the public.

Ashley Dreff, director of United Methodist studies and student recruitment, will deliver the homily. Dreff holds a doctoral degree from Drew University; a master’s in American religious history with concentrations in Wesleyan/Methodist studies and women/gender studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School; and a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Arkansas.

Before coming to Hood, she worked for two general agencies of the United Methodist Church: The Connectional Table and the General Commission on Archives and History. At the Connectional Table, she headed the Human Sexuality Task Force, a group charged with shedding light on the current impasse on human sexuality within the United Methodist Church.

While here, she researched and wrote legislation for General Conference 2016.

At the General Commission on Archives and History, she helped researchers understand and navigate the resources available at the archives while helping build the archive’s online database. She continues the relationships with these and other general agencies through collaborations on how to help the denomination better understand the complexity of human sexuality.

Dreff teaches the five approved courses for the master of divinity degree as well as electives in Methodist history and American religious history.

Dreff’s research includes the history of Methodism and its complex relationship with ever-changing concepts of American sexuality. Her publications include past and forthcoming articles in Methodist History (A “God-Sent Movement:” Methodism, Contraception, and the Protection of the Methodist Family, 1870-1968). She also has an early 2018 book from New Room publishers (the publishing wing of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of UMC), under the working title “Testing the New Morality: A History of Methodist Sexual Ethics.”

Hood Theological Seminary, sponsored by the AME Zion Church and approved by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church, is a graduate and professional school where intellectual discourse and ministerial preparation occur in tandem within the framework of a diverse community of faith. Hood is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada.