We talked about it. | The “prezi” We promised the sun, the moon, and the stars | UTS@40: UTS has been building bridges We said that this was one of the projects that your donations were going to help support. | Re-imagine, Re-define, Re-position We kept the launch date quiet, till NOW | The new UTS website is coming in less than 3 weeks. Launch date Monday March 28

NEW YORK – When the word diversity is heard today it often implies a difference of skin color, religion or gender. When the Reverend Raymond Dyer (M.Div.‘12), pastor of the First Church of Illumination in Harlem since 1999, uses the word, however, he’s speaking of another form of diversity: a diversity of ideas and thought not confined to race, religion, ethnicity or gender. During his time as a student at the Manhattan campus of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) starting nearly a decade ago, it quickly became clear to him that he was involved in a very unique kind of...

New York – “Spiritual Mentoring” is offered as a 3 credit, Continuing Education Course (CEU), one of the UTS offerings in its lifelong learning program. It is held in Tarrytown, New York, and started on February 16, 2016. When I first heard the topic of the class I was interested right away. I have always considered myself a naturally spiritual person and mentor.   The information and assignments after having a few classes has already transformed my life. I use the term “transformed” because “changed” just does not suffice. The class has given me a stronger sense of self, the...

New York, NY, March 5, 2016 — At its session on March 3, The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) acted to accept Unification Theological Seminary’s monitoring report. The Commission ruled that UTS is now in compliance with all of the accreditation standards. The Seminary is required to submit a further monitoring report, due September 1, documenting adequate staffing, further development of financial planning and budgeting, and further implementation of assessment processes to evaluate and improve student learning. “Continuing approval by MSCHE is essential for...

First published in Huffpost Religion, February 25, 2016 Mette Ivie Harrison Ph.D. (Princeton) Mormon in progress, mother of 5, author of ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ and “His Right Hand,” All-American triathlete Talking to a family member who is currently serving in a role of pastoral care, I was surprised to hear him talk openly about the many, many members of his ward who came to him with massive problems: divorce, infidelity, financial ruin, children with disabilities, deaths, and every tragedy you can probably imagine. “How do you fix problems like that?” I said, since...

NEW YORK – There are as many “conversion” and “come to Jesus” stories as there are stars in the night sky. From a distance they can look very much the same, but on closer inspection each one has its own peculiarities and incongruities that separate it from the others. The story of Naresh Babu Gullapalli is one of these kinds of stories – oddly similar to so many others, yet so unique and different that it can’t really be called a story of faith, but, in fact, just the opposite, a story of non-faith, non-belief. A story of someone not running to Jesus, but running away from...

Dr. Ronald J. Brown, currently an adjunct professor with the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) at the Manhattan, NYC campus, is now in his fourth decade of teaching and his fifteenth year at UTS. NEW YORK – Whether instructing a large class of Orthodox Jewish students, a smaller, more intimate class of diverse seminary students, or leading a group on a tour of New York City, Dr. Ronald Brown can be counted on to enlighten and entertain his audience with his vast experience and knowledge of the world, and the world’s religions. A world traveler with a Ph.D. in...

First published in the New York Times, Sunday Review, February 14 2016 | photo: Dadu Shin Durham, N.C. — ON a Thursday morning a few months ago, I got a call from my doctor’s assistant telling me that I have Stage 4 cancer. The stomach cramps I was suffering from were not caused by a faulty gallbladder, but by a massive tumor. I am 35. I did the things you might expect of someone whose world has suddenly become very small. I sank to my knees and cried. I called my husband at our home nearby. I waited until he arrived so we could wrap our arms around each other and say the things that...