SAN ANSELMO, Calif. — San Francisco Theological Seminary is again offering a for-credit course for seminarians attending the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), July 3-10 in Minneapolis.

The course is designed to help students understand the structure and mission of the PC(USA), It will also provide a firsthand experience in how the biennial General Assembly meeting works and illuminate issues currently being debated within the denomination.

The course is sponsored by SFTS, the PC(USA)’s Committee on Theological Education and the Office of General Assembly. The co-leaders will be the Rev. David Tomlinson, SFTS professor of ministry, and the Rev. Jack Rogers, former GA moderator and SFTS adjunct professor who originated the class nearly 20 years ago.

Seminary credit through SFTS is available for either 1.5 semester hours or 3.0 semester hours for a more extensive program.

RICHMOND, Va. — At the Center for Ministry and Leadership Development (CMLD) at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Director of Program Development Stan Hargraves is merging the worlds of technology and ministry to help leaders in the church make sense of how to effectively employ the latest tools in technology for communicating the gospel.

In his new book, Telling the Story: The Gospel in a Technological Age, published by Smyth & Helwys, Hargraves explores ways in which the story has been told over the ages and suggests biblical and theological themes related to the use of technology for communicating the gospel today.

He addresses important questions: What challenges does this technological age bring to the proclamation of the gospel? What can the traditions of the church teach us about effectively using new communication tools? How can the gospel be communicated most effectively in this technological age?

Hargraves will also lead a seminar at the CMLD, April 26-28 on Sharing the Gospel in a Technological Age to examine these questions.

PRINCETON, N.J. — J. Kameron Carter, associate professor in theology and Black church studies at Duke Divinity School, will give Princeton Theological Seminary’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture on March 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Lounge of the Mackay Campus Center on the seminary’s main campus. His lecture is titled “An Unlikely Convergence: W.E.B. Du Bois, Karl Barth, and the Problem of the Imperial God-Man.”

Carter teaches courses in theology and Black church studies. He addresses the basic areas of Christian thought, especially Christology and theological anthropology, with a view not just to the church or to Christian believers, but to the broader humanities, particularly the fields of cultural studies, gender studies and philosophy and literature.

His book, Race: A Theological Account, was published in 2008 by Oxford University Press, and he is currently completing a new book, The Secular Jesus, on the ideological uses of Jesus in the modern invention of the human and in the making and sustaining of the present.

CHICAGO — McCormick Theological Seminary has announced the appointment of recent graduate Emily McGinley as the new director of The Common Ground Project. Made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Making Connections initiative, Common Ground is designed to address the challenges and generational shifts of pastoral leadership for African-American, Latino/a and Asian-American congregations.

McGinley, who also serves as vice moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly Nominating Committee, brings a wide range of technical, administrative and pastoral skills to her new role.

A graduate of the University of Washington, she has several years of professional graphic design experience and has played a significant role in the branding and marketing of McCormick’s degree programs and ministry centers as well the Common Ground Project and its predecessor, the AADVENT (Asian American Discipleship for Vocational Empowerment, Nurture and Transformation) Project.

PITTSBURGH — During Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s spring break — March 1-12 — 56 students, alums and others from the seminary explored mission opportunities abroad.

Ten students traveled to Egypt with the Rev. Scott Sunquist, professor of world Christianity. A second group of five students traveled with the Rev. Don Dawson, director of World Mission Initiative, and the Rev. Jennifer Haddox, ’06, assistant director of World Mission Initiative, to Southeast Asia. A group of 12 students visited Israel and Palestine with the Rev. Todd Leach, associate pastor at Pittsburgh’s Shadyside Presbyterian Church.

Seven others traveled to the Mexican border under the leadership of the Rev. John Welch, ’02, vice president for student services and dean of students. Also headed to Mexico was a group of six with the Rev. Keith Kaufold, ’07, pastor at Eighth Avenue Place, Homestead, Pa. Finally, a group of four went to Nepal with PTS student Jonathan Wagner organizing the trip.

These international experiences were coordinated through the seminary’s World Mission Initiative, a fellowship of Presbyterians dedicated to developing mission vision, nurturing missionary vocations and cultivating missional congregations.

DECATUR, Ga. — Forty works of art are included in Chari (from the Greek for gift or grace), an international traveling exhibit at Columbia Theological Seminary now through August 6. Columbia is one of several venues the exhibit will visit across North America, before heading to Asia in 2012.

Created by seven Asian and seven North American artists as an exploration of the theme “boundary crossings,” the works include paintings, sculptures, assemblage, fiber constructions, installation and video projections.

The exhibit is the outgrowth of the artists’ participation, along with art scholars, in a two-week immersive seminar in Java and Bali during the summer of 2008.

Rachel Hostetter Smith, with the assistance of Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk and Joel Zwart, curated Charis. Co-sponsors of the exhibit are the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the Nagel Institute of Calvin College with major support from The Crowell Trust, Walter and Darlene Hansen, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship, John and Mary Loeks and The Joan L. and Robert C. Gilkison Family Foundation.

LOUISVILLE — Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has removed 500 feet of brick fencing that borders the north end of the campus near its main entrance after it was discovered that a section of the ivy-covered fence had collapsed.

Estimates for rebuilding or restoring the boundary fence have topped $100,000 and given the current global economic situation it will not be replaced.

Louisville Seminary President Dean K. Thompson said that if there were individuals who wanted to fund the restoration, the seminary would certainly consider and welcome such support.

The seminary moved to its current location from downtown Louisville in 1963