Please join us for the 2024 McPherson Lectureship on Sunday, March 10, with Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School.

Dr. Jennings is a graduate of Calvin College, later earning the M. Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and the Ph.D. in Religion and Ethics from Duke University. He taught at Duke Divinity School and served as the interim pastor of several North Carolina Churches, before accepting his current position at Yale. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister who is widely recognized for his writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology. He is the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale, 2010), Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (Westminster/John Knox, 2017), and After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans, 2020).

If you’d like to order copies of Dr. Jennings’ books in advance from Rofhiwa Books, please use this link.

Sunday, February 25 and March 3

In anticipation of Dr. Jennings’ visit, we will discuss some broad ideas from his writings in the Faith and Community Faith Formation Class. Steve Rimmer and Lea Bingham will lead the discussion on February 25, and  Susan Dunlap will lead the class on February 3. Participants could re-read Chapters 1-10 of the Book of Acts in preparation.

Sunday, March 10

Dr. Jennings will be speaking at the following events:

9:45-10:45       Faith and Community Faith Formation Class, Watts-Hill Hall

11:00-12:00     Worship Service

3:30-5:00         Community Conversation Watts-Hill Hall (childcare available, but please RSVP  by calling the church office)

The McPherson Lectureship is dedicated to enriching the faith and life of First Presbyterian Church as well as the Durham, NC community. This lectureship is made possible through an endowment initially given to FPC by the McPherson family in memory of lifelong members Dr. and Mrs. Samuel D. McPherson, Sr, and Dr. Samuel D. McPherson, Jr. It was established in 1999 by Mrs. Margaret “Peaches” McPherson (wife of Dr. McPherson, Jr.) and her family. Following Mrs. McPherson’s passing in 2018, the lectureship now also honors her life of service and generosity.

Monday, March 11

9:00-10:45        Clergy Breakfast, Watts-Hill Hall (please RSVP to the church office)