Conversations and Community Series

 

Hope has been described as a "uniquely Christian belief." But what does it look like in the places where Christian faith is lived out?

Join members of the PTS community for conversations on various aspects hope in our world. Each conversation will include content provided by the presenter and discussion. Participants are invited to attend chapel and lunch together as a group so the conversation can continue. Following the first session, the series will be open to individual date subscriptions. Conversations will be held one Wednesday each month between October 2015 through February 2016 and in April 2016 from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Registration and CEUs

Cost:    Individual session: $15 each

CEUs:  0.3 per session

Upcoming Session Themes and Leaders

Feb. 17, 2016 / Mission and Hope / Scott Hagley, Assistant Professor of Missiology, PTS

We cannot discern our participation in the mission of God without robust hope in the living God. This hope is cultivated by the Holy Spirit in the life of the congregation. In this session, we will explore the cultivation of hope in the congregation for the sake of learning to participate in the mission of God for the sake of God’s world.

April 20, 2016 / Social Change Ministries and Hope / R. Drew Smith, Professor of Urban Ministry, PTS

This session explores the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement as historical miracles that serve as testaments to the power of collective prayer and the belief that right prevails over wrong.  Contemporary contexts of social struggle will be examined as well for evidence of the confidence expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. that the “arc of the moral universe...bends toward justice” and by Allan Boesak that “prayer makes news.”

Prior Sessions

Oct. 21, 2015 / Atonement and Hope / Andrew Purves, Jean and Nancy Davis Professor of Historical Theology, PTS

Purves will offer an account of the relations between Jesus Christ, who is the incarnate Son, and the Father, the result of which is the atonement, for in the incarnate Son the relation between God and humankind is savingly established. That is to say, the atonement is to be understood primarily in filial rather than legal terms, since it involves Father-Son relations, our union with Christ and thus participation in his union with the Father. This perspective, in contrast to the western ordo salutis, will be presented in conversation with three magisterial Scottish theologians: John McLeod Campbell, Hugh Ross Mackintosh, and Thomas F. Torrance.

Nov. 18, 2015 / Proclamation and Hope / Lisa L. Thompson, Assistant Professor of Homiletics, PTS

This session will engage aspects of proclamation that make way for hope in the midst of difficult times. These aspects include providing space for a community to name, lament, and celebrate, as it determines a way forward.

Dec. 9, 2015 / The Diversity of Hope / John C. Welch, Vice President for Student Services and Dean of Students, PTS

The idea of hope in many respects connotes a longing for meaning, strength, love, peace, and connectedness in the context of struggle. While there may be similarities in what we hope for and despite being united in the Church of Jesus Christ, the roads we travel are different because we often travel from a different anthropological place.

Jan. 20, 2016 / Finding Hope at Life's End / Scott Fuller, Chaplain, LIFE Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Leanna Fuller, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care, PTS

While the end of life is a time of grief, it can also a time for sharing, love, and even hope. We will examine how hope may be experienced even in the midst of life's most difficult moments.

Conversations and Community Series

 

Hope has been described as a "uniquely Christian belief." But what does it look like in the places where Christian faith is lived out?

Join members of the PTS community for conversations on various aspects hope in our world. Each conversation will include content provided by the presenter and discussion. Participants are invited to attend chapel and lunch together as a group so the conversation can continue. Following the first session, the series will be open to individual date subscriptions. Conversations will be held one Wednesday each month between October 2015 through February 2016 and in April 2016 from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Registration and CEUs

Cost:    Individual session: $15 each

CEUs:  0.3 per session

Upcoming Session Themes and Leaders

Feb. 17, 2016 / Mission and Hope / Scott Hagley, Assistant Professor of Missiology, PTS

We cannot discern our participation in the mission of God without robust hope in the living God. This hope is cultivated by the Holy Spirit in the life of the congregation. In this session, we will explore the cultivation of hope in the congregation for the sake of learning to participate in the mission of God for the sake of God’s world.

April 20, 2016 / Social Change Ministries and Hope / R. Drew Smith, Professor of Urban Ministry, PTS

This session explores the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement as historical miracles that serve as testaments to the power of collective prayer and the belief that right prevails over wrong.  Contemporary contexts of social struggle will be examined as well for evidence of the confidence expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. that the “arc of the moral universe...bends toward justice” and by Allan Boesak that “prayer makes news.”

Prior Sessions

Oct. 21, 2015 / Atonement and Hope / Andrew Purves, Jean and Nancy Davis Professor of Historical Theology, PTS

Purves will offer an account of the relations between Jesus Christ, who is the incarnate Son, and the Father, the result of which is the atonement, for in the incarnate Son the relation between God and humankind is savingly established. That is to say, the atonement is to be understood primarily in filial rather than legal terms, since it involves Father-Son relations, our union with Christ and thus participation in his union with the Father. This perspective, in contrast to the western ordo salutis, will be presented in conversation with three magisterial Scottish theologians: John McLeod Campbell, Hugh Ross Mackintosh, and Thomas F. Torrance.

Nov. 18, 2015 / Proclamation and Hope / Lisa L. Thompson, Assistant Professor of Homiletics, PTS

This session will engage aspects of proclamation that make way for hope in the midst of difficult times. These aspects include providing space for a community to name, lament, and celebrate, as it determines a way forward.

Dec. 9, 2015 / The Diversity of Hope / John C. Welch, Vice President for Student Services and Dean of Students, PTS

The idea of hope in many respects connotes a longing for meaning, strength, love, peace, and connectedness in the context of struggle. While there may be similarities in what we hope for and despite being united in the Church of Jesus Christ, the roads we travel are different because we often travel from a different anthropological place.

Jan. 20, 2016 / Finding Hope at Life's End / Scott Fuller, Chaplain, LIFE Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Leanna Fuller, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care, PTS

While the end of life is a time of grief, it can also a time for sharing, love, and even hope. We will examine how hope may be experienced even in the midst of life's most difficult moments.