PRESS RELEASE: 2025 Convocation to Feature Keynote on a Timely Subject: ‘Trauma, Grace, and Redemption’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rev. Larry Golemon, Ph.D.
Phone: (703) 232-5303 | Email: [email protected].
Reformed Institute 2025 Convocation to Feature Keynote on a Timely Subject: ‘Trauma, Grace, and Redemption’
Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, a leading theologian and educator, to speak January 25 at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.
[Washington, January 16, 2025] – The Reformed Institute announces that its annual Convocation will feature Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary, in a free event open to the public on January 25, 2025 at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.
The program begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 11:15 a.m. An a la carte breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. For information on RSVPs and a virtual option for those outside the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) area, visit www.reformedinstitute.org/convocation.
“Serene Jones is one of the leading theologians in the country, as she uniquely intertwines classic theological themes and figures with contemporary issues of paramount concern to the churches and the entire nation,” noted Rev. Larry Golemon, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Reformed Institute. “She also runs one of the most historic and progressive theological schools in North America. You will not be disappointed!”
Rev. Dr. Jones brings years of research and theological reflection about individual and collective trauma and its effect upon our capacity to remember, to act, and to love. Trauma from violence challenges our theological understanding of grace and how we remember the traumatic experience of Jesus’ life and death which are at the heart of the Christian faith. Jones focuses on the long-term effects of collective violence on abuse survivors, war veterans, and marginalized populations and the ways that grace and redemption are exhibited in these different contexts. This is a timely address given the level of violence in the neighborhoods, homes, social media, and halls of power in our nation, and the escalation of violent wars and genocides in our world.
A highly respected scholar and public intellectual, the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones is the 16th President of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. The first woman to head the 186-year-old institution, Jones occupies the Johnston Family Chair for Religion and Democracy. She is a Past President of the American Academy of Religion, which annually hosts the world’s largest gathering of scholars of religion. Jones came to Union after seventeen years at Yale University, where she was the Titus Street Professor of Theology at the Divinity School, and Chair of the University’s Program in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
She is the author of several books including Trauma and Grace and, most recently, her memoir Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World. Jones, a popular public speaker, is sought by media to comment on major issues impacting society because of her deep grounding in theology, politics, women’s studies, economics, race studies, history, and ethics.
Members of the media are encouraged to participate in the January 25 event, and interviews with Drs. Golemon and Jones are available upon request.
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About the Reformed Institute
The Reformed Institute was created in 2003 to address a growing need among Presbyterian churches in the Washington, D.C. area – to celebrate, support and enhance understanding of the Reformed (Presbyterian) heritage. For more information, visit www.reformedinstitute.org.
For more information, please contact Rev. Larry Golemon, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Reformed Institute, at (703) 232-5303 or [email protected].