About Union:inDialogue

jimkempster — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:15:07 +0000

On any given pass through the quadrangle or refectory, I hear snippets of animated conversations between members of the Union Theological Seminary community that pique my interest. I’m captivated by discussions about organizing to end poverty, scriptural support for marriage equality, poetry by womanist writers, or the double belonging of people of multiple faith practices. I’m often amused and confounded by the unexpected questions, the deconstructed responses, and the surprising reinterpretations of topics as old as scripture, as contemporary as the next new technology.

And I want to be a fly on the wall to all of it.

When I finished my theology studies in Berkeley in 1989, I experienced, as many do when their graduate programs come to an end, a loss of an active community that was my source of intellectual nutrition, creative impetus and spiritual support. Just when I needed it most, I found myself outside that necessary dialogue that could have supported me in my work and personal growth.

Our alumni/ae and friends who move away from Union often tell us of similar experiences. But unlike twenty years ago when I left Berkeley, modern communication now affords us so many more ways to keep in dialogue with one another.

Union:inDialogue is an ever-growing community of blogs sponsored by Union Theological Seminary, featuring online conversations between several members of the Union community. This will not only be an opportunity for each of us to be that fly on the wall to conversations between current Union scholars, but also a means for us all to take part in the dialogue, through suggested reading, posted media, and especially the comment features that invite insights and support from the world beyond the seminary to participate in the dialogue.

So I invite you to join the conversation in as many ways as you can. Step into as many of the current discussions as you like. And if you are a Union writer that doesn’t see your personal interested or fields represented, contact me about starting a dialogue of your own at jkempster@uts.columbia.edu or by phone at 212-280-1591. I’m always interested in getting in on yet another Union conversation.

Tell Somebody!