This endowed annual lecture was established to honor the Reverend Edward L. Mark’s preaching ministry at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church from 1964 to 1996.
Reverend Mark’s legacy is one of thoughtful, intellectually rigorous, Bible-centered sermons. In both his sermons and his life he has been animated by prophetic concern for the poor and oppressed.
In keeping with Reverend Mark’s spirit, each lecture features a highly regarded theologian or biblical scholar, whose scholarship is not simply an arid academic exercise, but rather something that can have meaning for active church members and others for whom religious faith is a vital part of their lives.
Recent Lectures
Pluralism in Place, Pluralism in Practice
How do we navigate the dilemmas and disputes of our multi-religious society?
November 17, 2024
Dr. Diana Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, and author of many books, including Encountering God, winner of the Melcher Book Award. She heads the Pluralism Project to explore religious diversity of the United States.
Elinor Pierce is the Research Director at the Pluralism Project. She leads the Case Initiative and is the author of the case collection Pluralism in Practice. We will discuss a segment of her recent film Abraham’s Bridge on the Tri-Faith campus in Omaha.
Cornell William Brooks is Hauser Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also Director of the William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice
at the School’s Center for Public Leadership, and Visiting Professor of the Practice of Prophetic Religion and Public Leadership at Harvard Divinity School. Brooks is the former president and CEO of the NAACP, a civil rights attorney, and an ordained minister. Under his leadership, the Trotter Collaborative supported several statewide and national campaigns led by social justice organizations that have advanced voting rights, transformed criminal legal systems, and spearheaded reparations research and advocacy for Black Americans.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the Trotter Collaborative partnered with eight cities to transform public safety policies and practices. In 2022, Prof. Brooks received the annual Innovations in Teaching Award from Harvard Kennedy School for his cutting edge classroom pedagogy.
Past Lectures
2022
“A Darkly Radiant Vision: The Black Social Gospel in the Shadow of MLK,”
Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien; Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University
Click here to watch on YouTube.
2020
“This Work Cannot Be Done by Proxy”: Frances Willard and the Conservative Radicalism of a 19th- Century Methodist Woman.”
Dr. Christopher H. Evans; Professor of History of Christianity and Methodist Studies at the Boston University School of Theology
2019
“New England Methodism and the Founding of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society: Higher Education, Women’s Empowerment”
Professor Dana Robert; Truman Collins Professor of World Christianity and History of Mission at Boston University
2018
“Resurrection Sciences: How Jesus’ disciples believed God raised him from the Dead”
Dr. Bruce Chilton; Dr. Chilton is a scholar of early Christianity and Judaism. He has taught at Yale University, Bard College, as well as universities in Europe.
2017
“Christianity and Human Flourishing: A Methodist Story”
Dean David Hempton; Harvard Divinity School
2016
“That We May Be for the World the Body of Christ: The Form and Life of Discipleship”
Rev. Kevin LaGree; Former Dean of Candler School of Theology, Emory University
2015
“Precarious Texts: Sex, Gender, and an Accidental Biblical Canon”
Professor Jennifer Knust; Professor of Religion at Boston University
2014
“Radical Love: Queer Theology for Reconciling Churches.”
Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng; Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Episcopal Divinity School
2013
“Praying the Song: Recovering the Song of Songs as a Text of Devotion for Christian Practice”
Professor Stephanie Paulsell; Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School
2011
“What Explains the Christian Virtue of Charity Toward the Poor?”
Professor Gary A. Anderson; Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame
2010
“The American Jesus-and the Galilean Jesus”
Professor Richard A. Horsley; Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion, Emeritus University of Massachusetts Boston
2009
“Parable and Parabler, Habitat and Humanity: Telling Gospel Stories Anew in the Face of the Ecological Imperative”
Professor Elaine Wainwright; Richard Maclaurin Goodfellow Professor in Theology and Head of the School of Theology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2008
“The Misunderstood Jew: How the Church Gets Both Jesus and Judaism Wrong”
Professor Amy-Jill Levine; E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt University Divinity School,
2007
“Reading and Responsibility Toward the Other: The Bible and Religious Difference” Professor Ellen Davis; Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School
2005
“The Prophetic Church and Human Liberation”
Professor Luke Timothy Johnson; Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University
2004
“THE DEATH OF JESUS AND THE INVENTION OF THE PASSION”
Professor Paula Fredriksen; William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of Scripture at Boston University
2003
“Jesus, Jefferson and Humanism”
Professor E. P. Sanders; Arts and Sciences Professor in the Department of Religion at Duke University
2002
“Biblical Images for Christian Life: Born Again and Kingdom of God”
Professor Marcus J. Borg; Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University
2001
“Why I Love the Bible”
Bishop Krister Stendahl; Former Dean of Harvard Divinity School