Reasoning together, being in dialogue, building partnerships, and working collaboratively for social change are key reasons why I find speaking in academic, congregational, and other settings so meaningful. Many of my research and writing projects emerge from conversations where common questions, dreams, hopes, and haunts arise. Below, you can find a selection of my speaking engagements. Contact me at ehinsonhasty@upsem.edu to schedule a speaking engagement, workshop, or retreat.

Planning for 2027

February 2027 – McPherson Lectureship Speaker, First Presbyterian Church, Durham, North Carolina. More details will be forthcoming.

January 2027 – Panel presenter for Social Ethics and Organizing Interest Group at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics in St. Louis, Missouri.

Events in 2026

November 10 and November 12, 2026 – Online workshop on Frameworks for Ethical Leadership at Bethesda Presbyterian Church, Bethesda, Maryland, sponsored by the Gordon L. Groover Fund. More details will be posted soon.

October 22-26, 2026 – Participating in “Standing Where God Stands: 40th Anniversary of the Belhar Confession” sponsored by the World Communion of Reformed Churches in Pretoria, South Africa. The Belhar Confession names racism as a theological heresy. You can read the text of the confession here.

October 19-21, 2026 – Presenting a paper at the Global Network of Public Theology Interim Meeting in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Paper entitled: “The Theological Politics of Erasure.”

September 19-21, 2026 – Visiting Scholar at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church, Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Details about this event are available on the church website.

Series Title: Courageous Moral Leadership from Common People

Presentation I: Overcoming Cynicism

Many scholars, journalists, and politicians argue that U.S. institutions are suffering from a moral leadership vacuum today. The lack of moral leadership in the U.S. is threatening our democracy and eroding the nation’s trust in public policies, governmental institutions, and organizations, including the church. The moral leadership vacuum fuels cynicism, and cynicism in turn breeds distrust. What do courageous moral leaders teach us about overcoming cynicism?  This presentation will focus on what we can learn from people who are doing courageous things every day. 

Presentation II: Living as Inexhaustible Reservoirs of Possibility

My interest in writing about leadership during a time of moral leadership crisis is to navigate the territory between spirituality and leadership studies and articulate a theory of living and leading grounded in an awareness of our intimate connection to the delicate web that sustains all of life. This presentation will focus on ways to lead from a place of wholeness and how to live as an inexhaustible reservoir of possibility as spiritual practices for Christian leadership.

August 23, 2026 – Led Worship at First Presbyterian Church, Rockingham, North Carolina. Sermon title: “Finding the Extraordinary in Ordinary Times.” Scripture reading: Mark 6: 30-34, 53-55.

May 31, 2026 – Led Worship at the Waldensian Presbyterian Church, Valdese, North Carolina.

May 24, 2026 – Led Worship at First Presbyterian Church, Rockingham, North Carolina.

May 3, 2026 – Led Worship at First Presbyterian Church, Rockingham, North Carolina. Sermon title: “You are What You Eat.” Scripture reading: John 6:24-35.

April 25, 2026 – Preached for the Homecoming Service at Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church. Sermon title: “A Meditation on Love.” Scripture reading: 1 John 4:7-21.

April 21, 2026 – Presented reflections on “Sustaining Rootedness in an Age of Instability” at the Trent Symposium, Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia.

February 22, 2026- Preached on “Transforming Prayer in the Wilderness” at Williamsburg Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. The sermon could perhaps be better titled, “Don’t Be Tempted to Believe that You are Peddling Solo.” Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11 and 6: 1, 3-6, 9-13.

February 18, 2026 – Led the Ash Wednesday Service at Paw Creek Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

February 15, 2026 – Preached on “Practicing Visibility” at Paw Creek Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Scripture readings: Matthew 17:1-9 and Exodus 24: 12-18.

February 2026 – My presentation on “Iconoclasm as a Symbolic Expression Transforming Public Spaces Once Dominated by Confederate Memorials” for the Meeting of the Global Network of Research Centres for Theology and Religion in Curitiba, Brazil contributed to a discussion on Public Memory. Scholars from the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Brazil, among other places, presented papers during the conference.

On January 14, 2026, Union’s Charlotte Campus hosted from 9:00-1:30 a Lenten Preaching and Teaching Planning Day for pastors and religious leaders.

The Society of Christian Ethics met in Washington, DC in January 2026. I presented a paper on the housing crisis in Charlotte, tentatively titled “Wrestling with Reparations, Redlining, and Displacement: A Case Study of Charlotte, NC.” Our panel organized by Dr. Ilsup Ahn focused on rentier capitalism.

Events in 2025

Union’s Leadership Institute, directed by Dr. Chris Burton, hosted a webinar on ” ‘Salt Always Melts I.C.E.”: Lessons from Charlotte for When Border Patrol Officers Come to Town” on December 5. Panelists included: Rev. Megan Argabrite, Rev. Dr. Bob Henderson, Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty (moderator), and Dr. Shea Watts.

Union’s Leadership Institute, led by Dr. Chris Burton, hosted a webinar on “Sunday Morning Politics” that is available at leadershipinstitute.substack.com. Panelists included Rev. Dr. Sam Adams, Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, and Dr. Alphonso Saville.

On June 13, I gathered with United Methodist alums of Union Presbyterian Seminary at their General Conference in Roanoke, Virginia to talk about my new book Authentic Christian Freedom.

Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina is developing a wonderful ministry grounded in disability justice. On June 1, I was honored to offer a lecture for Faith Talks to help friends there think through the theological basis of the work being done by the Inclusivity Team. You can view the session here: https://www.covenantpresby.org/adults

On March 18 and March 21, I zoomed with members of Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland for the Gordon Groover lectures. We talked about dutiful love and disability theologies. The conversation was lively, intentional, and including envisioning ways to incorporate disability justice into the ministry of a local church.

March 1 was a special day for me and my family as I was honored to be recognized as the J. Roy Davis Family Chair of Theology and History at Union Presbyterian Seminary. J. Roy Davis was a graduate of Davidson College and owned S&D Coffee. He and Sue were very generous to many local organizations. I am grateful to hold the chair that honors their generosity.

My first introduction to the Davidson College Reformed Symposium was on February 25. The theme for the this year’s symposium was prayer, worship, and social ethics. I talked about confessions as a form of prayer. What a gift to be in conversation with so many wonderful religious leaders.

February 10-11, I visited with the good people at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia to give the William Self Preaching lectures.

On January 5, I gathered with friends at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina for a Faith Talks forum on Religion and Reproductive Ethics. You can read more about Covenant’s speaker series here: https://www.covenantpresby.org/sunday-events