Louisville Seminary

Join us for Mosaic Symposium 2026: Woven Together: Where Humanity Meets the World Today and spend a day learning, worshiping, creating, and engaging in meaningful conversation alongside Louisville Seminary students and faculty.

This special opportunity is open to the public for non-degree seeking participants.

📚 Together we'll explore questions of humanity, belonging, faith, creation, and storytelling through:
✨ LPTS Faculty-led lectures
📖 Discussion of Klara and the Sun by Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro
🎨 A collaborative art experience with the Little Loomhouse
💬 A faculty panel on faith, meaning-making, and storytelling
🙏 Worship, reflection, and shared meals

Whether you're a lifelong learner, pastor, educator, book lover, or simply curious about the intersection of theology and culture, the Symposium offers a unique opportunity to learn alongside the LPTS community.

📅 Wednesday, September 2, 2026
💲 $30 (includes all sessions, materials, breakfast, and lunch)

Registration closes August 21.

🔗 Register today: https://lpts.edu/2026Mosaic

📸 Curious what Mosaic is like? View highlights from last year's symposium: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCt626

🌟 Registration is Now Open!
How is God calling your congregation to grow using what is already in your hands?

Join us for the 2026 Black Church Cornerstone Collaborative Rural Summit, a free hybrid gathering designed for pastors, ministry leaders, lay leaders, and faith-based community partners serving rural and small-town Black churches.

Theme: Big Enough: Using What You Have in Your Hands — Co-Laborers for Christ (Isaiah 54:2)

Together, we'll explore practical ministry strategies, inspiring worship, collaborative learning, and meaningful fellowship centered on:
✨ Evangelism
✨ Church Growth
✨ Sankofa (Heritage Through Remembering and Reimagining Black Church Practices)
✨ Black Women in Ministry Leadership

📅 Saturday, October 17, 2026
🕛 9:00 AM – 2:45 PM (ET)
📍 Clay Street Missionary Baptist Church | Shelbyville, KY
💻 Attend in person or virtually
💲 FREE (Registration Required)
🔗 lpts.edu/26BCCCRuralSummit
🗓️ Register by October 9

Whether you're leading a congregation, serving your community, or discerning new possibilities for ministry, you'll leave encouraged, equipped, and connected with fellow co-laborers in Christ.

We all live by (a) code. Whether we acknowledge it or not. Much like the software we encounter on a regular basis, a person’s code is not readily visible. However, code is responsible for the ways that things behave. Especially those things which depend upon its logic(s) to function. However, when it comes to people our code is rarely visible, even to ourselves. “Woven Together By Code” will explore our unexplored and unspoken programming/ways of life as a means to arrive at a more cohesive and interwoven way of living and being.

Join internationally recognized scholar Dr. Philip Butler for the 2026 Caldwell Lecture as part of Louisville Seminary's Mosaic Symposium.

This lecture explores the 2026 Symposium theme: Woven Together: Where Humanity Meets the World Today.

Come ready to think deeply, ask meaningful questions, and join a conversation that reaches beyond the lecture hall.

📅 September 2, 2026
⏰ 4:30 PM Reception | 6:00 PM Hybrid Lecture
📍 Louisville Seminary Winn Center & Online
📌 Free & open to the public
🔗 Register by August 21: lpts.edu/2026caldwell

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED to attend either in-person or online.

#

What does theological education look like in a rapidly changing world? How can seminaries prepare leaders to faithfully serve the church and their communities today?

Louisville Seminary President Rev. Dr. Andrew Pomerville joins Rev. Rob Tucker, Director of the Wesley Connexion at Louisville Seminary and Lead Pastor of Watkins Memorial United Methodist Church, for a thoughtful conversation on the Holy Roast Podcast.

Together they explore the Seminary's mission, the future of theological education, and the importance of equipping leaders for ministry in today's world.

Find the link to 🎧 listen here: https://linktr.ee/holyroastpodcast

📅 September 3, 2026
🕐 11:00 AM EST: Convocation | 12:30 PM: Community Lunch
📍Caldwell Chapel and lpts.edu/watchlive

You are invited to a special worship service celebrating the opening Convocation of the 173rd Academic year of Louisville Seminary and installation of Rev. Dr. Hee Jin Lee as Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

Dr. Lee's message titled, "What Will You Feed Them?" will be a theological interpretation of John 21:7-17. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he appears to his disciples, who have returned to their livelihoods, and prepares food and feeds them. Feeding is a critical metaphor to reveal various relational and emotional/psychological descriptions, including the preacher’s cultural identity. More importantly, just as he feeds his disciples, he leaves the message: “Feed my sheep.” From this scene, we can ask the most fundamental questions in pastoral and spiritual care, counseling, and theology: “Whom will you feed? And what will you feed them?” This sermon conveys that, just as Christ feeds us, we will be encouraged to nourish one another with the love of God in the world.

Following worship, join us in the LouSem Hope Cafe for a Community Lunch hosted by the Academic Dean's Office. All are invited to attend!

RSVP by August 21st here 🔗 https://lpts.edu/2026Convocation

☕ Update: July Coffee Break Series

The July 23 Faithful Formation Coffee Break has been cancelled but they are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, July 30! 💜

Join us for "Difficult Conversations with Pre-Adolescent Children" with Sarah Flannery.

📅 Thursday, July 30
🕙 10:00-11:00 AM
📍 Louisville Seminary
💻 In Person & Online

Bring a friend and register today.
🔗tinyurl.com/JulyCoffeeBreaks
We can't wait to see you there!

Are you a Black woman discerning or growing in your call to ministry? Join us!

Whether you're exploring God's call to ministry, beginning your journey, or seeking encouragement in your current ministry, these gatherings are designed with you in mind.

Join us this fall for five evenings of conversation, encouragement, prayer, and community as we gather across Louisville.

Fall 2026 Gatherings
• August 13 – Green Castle Baptist Church
• September 3 – Grace Hope Presbyterian Church
• October 22 – Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church
• November 19 – Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
• December 4 – Location TBA

🕕 6:00–8:00 PM ET, In-Person

Hosted by the Black Church Studies Program at Louisville Seminary in partnership with Green Castle Baptist Church.

RSVP to attend one or ALL gatherings today:
🔗 LPTS.edu/BWIM

📣 Announcement: Rev. Dr. Angela Johnson Appointed Director of Field Education and Lifelong Learning effective July 20, 2026.

For the past two years, Dr. Johnson has served as Interim Director of Field Education, where she has worked diligently to connect students with placement sites that align with their vocational goals and ministry interests. During her tenure, she has also developed and taught online co-curricular Field Education courses that have been highly valued by Master of Divinity students.

In her expanded role, Dr. Johnson will also lead the Seminary’s Lifelong Learning initiatives. Her educational background, organizational leadership, pastoral experience, and extensive connections throughout Louisville and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) position her well to cultivate innovative learning opportunities that serve both church leaders and the broader community.

A Louisville Seminary alum, Dr. Johnson earned her Doctor of Ministry degree in 2020, Master of Divinity degree in 2013, and Certificate in Black Church Studies in 2014. She currently serves as Stated Supply Pastor at Grace Hope Presbyterian Church in Louisville, where she preaches, teaches, and leads community justice initiatives.

In addition to her pastoral ministry, Dr. Johnson has served as an Adjunct Professor at Louisville Seminary, facilitating Field Education Reflection Groups and teaching Introduction to Basic Preaching. She has also held numerous leadership positions within Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, including Moderator, Vice-Moderator, and Chair of the Coordinating Commission.

“With an obvious dedication to the thriving of the church and the seminary, Dr. Johnson is uniquely suited to serve in this new role,” says Rev. Dr. Andrew D. Pomerville, President of Louisville Seminary. “I look forward to partnering with her to meet the needs of our community through lifelong learning.”

Read the full article here: https://conta.cc/4fcJ9qw

📣 Announcement: Dr. Verena Schmidt Begins Faculty Appointment in Marriage and Family Therapy

Louisville Seminary is pleased to welcome Dr. Verena Schmidt, who officially began her appointment as Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy on July 1, 2026. Following the completion of her Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy degrees from Louisville Seminary this spring, Dr. Schmidt now joins the faculty, bringing an interdisciplinary background that bridges theology, social work, research, and clinical practice.

Dr. Verena Schmidt earned her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work and Family Science, where her dissertation examined the incarceration experiences of older African American adults living with HIV using a constructivist grounded theory approach. She also holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Louisville and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Social Pedagogy from Katholische Stiftungshochschule München, University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Dr. Schmidt specializes in qualitative research, particularly constructivist grounded theory, and her scholarship examines incarceration, HIV, spirituality, systemic inequities, and the intersections of faith and lived experience among marginalized individuals, families, and communities. Her work has been published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and the International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies. She has presented her research nationally at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, the American Public Health Association, and other professional conferences.

Rev. Dr. Andrew D. Pomerville, President of Louisville Seminary, adds, “Dr. Schmidt is the ideal addition to our already extraordinary MAMFT faculty. Her experience and expertise make her uniquely positioned to succeed in her new position. I look forward to witnessing the remarkable work the MAMFT faculty will accomplish together in the years to come.”

Read the full article here: https://conta.cc/4fcJ9qw

📣 Announcement: Dr. Lesley Ann Earles Granted Tenure and Promoted to Full Professor

On March 25, 2026, upon recommendation of a faculty review committee and vote of the full and tenured faculty, Rev. Dr. Lesley Ann Earles was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of full professor. Dr. Earles, Director of Marriage and Family Therapy Program and Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy, joined the Louisville Seminary faculty on July 1, 2020, during a time of extraordinary challenge and transformation. As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted higher education across the globe, institutions were rapidly adapting to new methods of teaching and learning while implementing evolving health and safety protocols. Simultaneously, communities across Louisville and the nation were responding to the murder of Breonna Taylor and engaging in renewed conversations about racial justice, equity, and systemic change.

Throughout these challenges, Dr. Earles provided steady leadership, teaching with distinction while collaborating with program directors, faculty colleagues, clinical supervisors, and staff to strengthen the program.

Stepping into the role of program director, Dr. Earles has continued to focus on student experience, academic excellence, and theological integration as the program grows into the future. She has played a key role in faculty searches, maintained her professional credentialing requirements through the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and helped ensure the program remained in good standing with the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE).

“This well-earned promotion for Dr. Earles is reason for celebration. Her tireless work in the MAMFT program is just one example of her desire to serve our students, community, and world. It is a joy to recognize this exceptional colleague,” adds Rev. Dr. Andrew D. Pomerville, President of Louisville Seminary.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://conta.cc/4fcJ9qw